The Ministry of Deacons

January 9, 2023 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Book of Acts Chapters 6 and 7

One of the greatest statements in our lesson today is that Satan will change his tactics according to where he sees weaknesses in the Church.

The greatest weakness in the Church as I see it today, is that the modern Church has begun to reject the infallible truth of God and has begun to accept the world’s interpretation of the Word of God.

As Christians, we know that we will not be able to have a good understanding of God’s Word without the Holy Spirit living within us!

If lying and hypocrisy are allowed to live within the Church, the Church will cease to be “the pillar and ground for the truth”!

1Ti 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
1Ti 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

The truth of the Word of God is that “it is the mystery of Godliness”, and this truth is rejected by the world we live in today.

We must clearly understand that God will not allow these things to go on indefinitely.

Remember God’s plan moves right along as we see all these things unfold before our eyes.

We must never forget the command of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

As the Church begins to grow in Jerusalem, God will take this command and the errors that Satan is bringing upon the Church, and He will cause some changes in the direction of the Christian Church in Jerusalem.

Remember the Church in Jerusalem had not been obedient up to this time. Spreading the Gospel was only done locally.

These are all things the Church of today is to learn so these same mistakes are not made again.

The Book of Acts teaches us about the beginning of the Church, and we are never so far advanced that we cannot learn from the Book of Acts and all the Word of God.

Remember what God has said: 2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

God has said what He means, and God means what He says!

We are not to interpret the Scripture!

We pick up our lesson with the Church begins to grow:

*Act 6:1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

Here we see that the Church began to grow in numbers, but is this a true measurement?

Church growth should not be measured by the amount of people who attend nor by the number of people who join the Church as we will see.

Church growth must be measured by those who have accepted the complete Word of God and live their lives accordingly.

Only then can these certain ones become witnesses to the truth of God and therefore witnesses and missionaries to the world.

As missionaries and witnesses who speak the truth of God.

We are all to be missionaries in the place where God has allowed us to live!

“It is our job to just speak the truth of God and God will do all the work from that point on.

Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and “it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it”.

We need to have this clear understanding of the Word of God and just be obedient witnesses and allow God to do what God does which is.

“God can save anybody, anywhere, at any time”!

Act_2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Moving on, we see that there were some problems that comes when the people of the Church do not accept the complete Word of God.

Do not be fooled “murmuring” means problems.

We see here the clash of two distinct cultures.

Hebrew women: We should understand that men and women are on equal ground when it comes God and salvation.

In the Hebrew culture the men were the bread winners, and the women took care of the household and even then, they would contribute in every way possible in caring for their families.

It was the Hebrew family that was to take care of these mothers when her husband died and many times this did not take place.

God had given clear commands on this issue.

This became something that the Church took upon themselves to do.

As the Church grew from being for the most part Jews of Hebrew descent, it began to absorb mothers who were Jews of Greek descent.

We should understand the conquests of Alexander the Great had changed the culture of the entire world.

These changed people were known as Hellenists.

Alexander the Great encouraged his soldiers to take wives from the lands that were conquered and with the other things that he did, Greek culture was spreading like a wildfire around the known world at that time.

Even the Romans had adapted the Greek culture in many ways.

Governments always believe they know better than the average person.

Along with these things, philosophy and intellectual pursuits were the rage amongst these conquered peoples.

It is easy to see the clash that was bound to happen between these widows.

The Hebrews were more accustomed to the ways of Jerusalem, and the ways of the Law, than the Greeks and this would cause a conflict.

The Apostles tried to take care of these matters and it was hurting them in the pulpit.

Peter produced the answer.

So is born the “Deacon”.

*Act 6:2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.
Act 6:3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
Act 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

The word or title Deacon means to minister or to serve as a minister.

This is not a Minister in what many refer to a Pastor or Preacher but knowing the Word of God was certainly a requirement.

This is not to say the Pastor is not minister also because God has called the pastor or Preacher to do as he is led.

The Deacon should be able to manage day by day matters and the more serious events they can bring to the Pastor.

The Pastor is in charge of the things of the Church.

In this instance the subject was the care of widows.

The Apostles addressed these same issues.

If we want to help our Pastors, then we need to shoulder the majority of the visitations of our Church and our elected Deacons and committee people should shoulder this responsibility as they are able.

The Deacons need to study this passage.

They are not to be rulers as they are to be more like a waitress as Peter has described them.

We see that number seven and we should realize the seven is a perfect number so it could take more than seven in some churches, and it could take less than seven in some churches, but it should never be less than three in my opinion.

What were the keys to choosing these men?

“Honesty, full of the Holy Ghost, the wisdom of God”.

The wisdom of God is knowledge of the Scriptures

They must be appointed by the Body of Christ!

There must be proof of their faith!

Their job was to take the minor things off the shoulders of the Pastors and Preachers.

If a problem needed to go to the Preacher, then it should go these Deacons first.

The preaching of the Word of God is far too important to not give our Preachers time to prepare!

The Church then then be made aware of these things before they occur!

*Act 6:5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
Act 6:6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

We should notice a few things here. This Church in Jerusalem has met as a group in unity. The biggest part of these are Jews who left Judaism to become Christian.

Some were so bedded in Judaism that they thought Christianity was just a growth from Judaism, but this was never true.

To be Christian is to love and trust the Lord Jesus Christ and the Christian Church stands alone in this world as teaching that the Lord Jesus Christ the only means to ever get to Heaven.

It takes a personal relationship with Jesus to get to Heaven!

There are so many who reject this truth at their own peril!

This is not something we should brag upon; it is just the truth of God and the truth of the Word of God!

This Church acted out of love and humility.

No one spoke up at this time because of hurt feelings.

The Apostles had not denied that this was a problem, and it was the Apostles who brought forth the remedy provided by the Holy Spirit and this was the first qualification for such men, “to be noticeably filled with the Holy Spirit”‘

A Church cannot survive in this world if it is not a Holy Ghost (Spirit) filled Church!

It was the Grecian believers who seemed to be having the problem and God begins training the Church to manage all the problems that would come against the Church until the end of what we call time.

Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and “ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth”.

It was persecution that was in the near future for this Church, and it was time to prepare.

Problems in the Church can only be solved when the Church works as one unit led by the Holy Spirit!

The Church must be rooted in love for each other with the love of God!

Our Pastors must be given the time to prepare a message they have received of God, or “they will try to give us a message they have made up themselves” and that Church will fail.

It was the Church that chose these men not the Apostles!

Stephen was the first of these men chosen. Why? He was a man full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost (Spirit)!

Notice also it appears that Stephen was a Hellenist himself as were all these new Deacons that are mentioned.

In fact all these men had met the qualifications set down by the Apostles and these qualifications should still be the same today as any church chooses its officers and Deacons.

We had met Philip earlier, but this is not Philip the Apostle but Philip the evangelist.

Act 21:8 And the next day we that were of Paul’s company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.

Philip was a great preacher and spoke boldly as persecution of the Church began.

The Holy Spirit traveled with Philip as He does with al Christians but there are no miracles performed by the evangelist of today.

They bring with them the promise of salvation a healing of the soul.

It is Jehovah who is the source of all miracles, and He allowed some men to take credit for these things during the time of the early Church

Act 8:5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
Act 8:6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

There are no men in the modern Church who can actually perform such miracles today, no matter what some claim!

Next came Prochorus who we know nothing more about. Tradition says he could have become the Bishop of Nicomedia.

Next came Nicanor. We also know nothing more of this man. Tradition says he died in the early persecution of the Church.

We should also keep in mind that there are many men and women who are working in the background of every church, not ever seeking recognition but who keep the Church moving in the right direction.

Next came Timon. Timon is also a Greek name. In reality all these seven men may themselves have been Hellenists.

Parmenas another man that the Bible offers no more information.

Last comes Nicolas which the Bible adds was a Gentile who had converted to Judaism and now having heard the truth became a Christian also forsaking Judaism.

After these men were chosen, they were then presented to the Apostles who ordained them for the work that was given to them.

Notice this ordination was done in view of the Church because it was an official ceremony!

The Church set these men apart.
The Church prayed for each of them and the work they had been chosen to do.
The Apostles, the Preachers, laid their hands upon them in ordination.

The “laying of the hands” was a significant symbol for God’s blessing!

Mat 19:13 Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.
Mat 19:14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

For healing: Mar 5:23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.
Mar 5:24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.

For imparting the Holy Spirit: Act 8:17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
Act 8:18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
Act 8:19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.

We still see the laying of the hands in ordaining and commissioning men to the ministry!

What were the results?

*Act 6:7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

1) The Word of God increased as never before because those who preached the Word of God were not hindered trying to solve every little issue that came up in the Church but concentrated on the message of God.

2) The Church grew not just in numbers but also in knowledge of the truth of God which is far more important.
In many mega churches today the “Good News” of the Word of God is rarely mentioned. Witnessing the truth of God is not even mentioned.

3) Many new Preachers and Pastors were reached for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. These things are the job of the Church and will always be the job of the Church. So many churches have forgotten this today!

We do not need seminaries training our preachers, this is God’s job!

Seminaries have ruined too many men of God today!

Gal 2:19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

At the death of Stephen persecution came to the Church!

It is at this time that God reminded the Church to be obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

We must observe these things as commands.

We understand that the Lord Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, but we see something amazing in this passage as the Lord stands up in honor of His martyr Stephen!

Stephen preached a sermon exposing the truth to the people of Jerusalem and Judaism.

When they had heard the truth, it brought conviction.

*Act 7:54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

1) They had heard that their father Abraham was called of God before he was circumcised, before the Law was given to Moses, and before the Temple was built, which they had so high regard for.
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2) They heard that Moses and Joseph had not been treated very well by their own fathers they so bragged about. There was not devotion in their hearts, there was only persecution because of the truth.

3) They were reminded how their fathers behaved in the wilderness after receiving the Law they so bragged about keeping.

4) They were reminded how their fathers had fallen into idolatry over and over again. Just because Solomon had built the Temple they so bragged about, the Lord Jesus Christ cannot be bound to any temple nor to any building or place upon this earth. We can build immaculate places to worship the Lord, but we are fools to believe we can trap the Lord Jesus within walls nor to any religion.

5) They were reminded that it was their own fathers that persecuted and slew the very Prophets of God and it was they who were the betrayers and the murderers of the men God had sent to teach them the truth.

6) They were reminded that it was they, themselves that could not keep the Laws they so cherished!

The results: They were cut to the heart. Sometimes the truth will cut you to the heart. They were filled with anguish. They felt great pain. They became uneasy.
They became full of anger and indignation and Stephen became the object of their wrath. They began to show their hatred for the truth, and they were the bigots not Stephen.

How did Stephen react to their hatred?

*Act 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
Act 7:56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

Stephen may have been aware of what was going on around him, but his focus was upon the glory of God.

Joh_17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

You see when we rebel against God the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can become disturbed and tormented and it is then that we must make a choice.

Do we accept or reject the truth of Jesus Christ? When we accept the truth of the Lord Jesus then and only then can we be delivered from this sin filled world!

Once we know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, where else could we look but to Heaven!

This world shows no heartfelt sympathy to us. The Lord Jesus Christ came to this place called earth and bled and died for our sins just so we could spend eternity with Him in Heaven.

When we know the Lord, and this earth casts us out, then we know Heaven waits to receive us.

This is the truth of peace in our lives!

In the Book of Isaiah Chapter 6:1 through 13 we can see how this glory of Heaven is described, but Stephen sees this and something even more spectacular.

Rev 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

The Lord of Glory stands to His feet. The same Lord who had been rejected by this world stood up to receive His child with open arms.

1Co_2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

While those who were stoning Stephen to death were seeing victory.

While those who were just spectators saw an atrocity, one way or the other.

Stephen saw deliverance!

You see God is always present when one of His children is caused to suffer by this world!

Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Stephen was a man always filled with the Holy Spirit and he clearly understood what that meant while rocks and stones hit his weak body.

1Ti 1:16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

We can believe that what Stephen saw we will see just before we make this same trip to Heaven.

Those in the graves whose soul is already in Heaven will get to see the glory of God as they speed toward Heaven.

Glory, Glory, Glory, Lord God almighty.

What those who knew Stephen saw was a great testimony left behind for all the world to see.

Those who hated Stephen’s testimony saw something else but there would be one sinner who would never forget this day.

*Act 7:57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
Act 7:58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.

Law abiding citizens became murderers this day and the ultra-religious smiled as these were taking place.

We should know that the Holy Ghost is always busy.

We must know that all persecution is rebellion against God!

Those who lead in the persecution of Christians and those that follow them are acting against the Lord and not against that believer!

Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Rom 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Rom 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

They became murderers free to roam this earth because this earth was on their side!

This is the world we live in today and it is only going to get worse until the Lord returns.

This is the first time that Saul of Tarsus is mentioned in the Bible and this event makes an impression upon him.

*Act 7:59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Act 7:60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

The soul of Stephen went to Heaven, his body is buried somewhere in Jerusalem awaiting the call of the Lord.

We must remember as Christians we will suffer the trials of persecution, some much more terrible than others.

Remember Stephen called out for the Lord’s help, Stephen certainly felt the pain.

What we witness is the “grace” and the “strength” to endure these trials and many did become martyrs and there may be many more before the Lord returns in the clouds and calls us out of here.

The Lord wants us all to be with Him right now:

Joh 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Joh 14:2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Stephen was depending on the Lord Jesus as he says “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”.

Why? Because he knew this truth.

2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
2Co 5:9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

Then Stephen shows that loving caring spirit for all as he says, “lay not this sin to their charge”.

The truth is that death brings life to all those who love the Lord, and we should have no fear of death.

Just recently I tried to make my doctor understand this as I rejected my last Chemo treatment.

What did Stephen then do?

He fell asleep in Christ and all his pain was over and the Lord met him in Heaven and then returned to His throne awaiting the next saint of God.

Amen

God’s Plan is Always Moving Forward

September 4, 2022 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Joshua Israel’s New Leader

Book of Joshua Chapter 1

Who is this, Joshua?

The name “Joshua” as written can mean “Jehovah is his help” but it can also mean “Jehovah the Savior”.

Joshua is sometimes written Jehoshua, and Jehoshuah but in the New Testament we see it written as Jesus.

Act 7:45 Which also our fathers that came after brought in with “Jesus” into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;
Act 7:46 Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.

We should not be confused by these things and if we study the context of the Scripture we will not be.

We see the same thing happen in the Book of Hebrews:

Heb 4:8 For if “Jesus” had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Heb 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

Joshua did not have it in his power to give rest to the people of God, only the Lord Jesus Christ has this power!

Again look at the context of this Scripture.

This Joshua is the son Nun to distinguish him from any other man name Joshua and there were others.

Joshua as a child was born into the slavery of Egypt and reached the age for military as he traveled to freedom with Moses and all of Israel.

No doubt as a young man He worked in the brick fields of Egypt.

We can believe all these things because it is Joshua, led by the Holy Spirit who has written all these things for us.

It is Joshua who also wrote the final words of the Book of Deuteronomy after the death of Moses again led by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit does not make mistakes, so there are no mistakes in the “Received Text”!

We can say the Book of Joshua was written to the Israelites to teach them their great history and the mistakes they had made.

We also know that All Scripture is written for the Church!

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

The Book of Joshua shows us how Israel conquered and divided up the land promised to these descendants of Abraham by Isaac and Jacob.

The Book of Joshua shows all readers that God is faithful to keep His promises.

The main purpose to the Book of Joshua is to teach the Doctrines of God to the Israelites and to all readers of this precious book of the Old Testament, which means the New Testament Church.

Some of those Doctrines are:

The Doctrine of Faith.
The Doctrine of the Holiness of God.
The Doctrine of Sin. God will not tolerate evil and wickedness, not forever.
The Doctrine of “Mercy and Grace”. Yes, we can see the “Grace” of God in the Old Testament and His “Mercy”!
The Doctrine of the “All Powerful” God of Creation.
The Doctrine of the “All Knowing” God of knowledge.
The Doctrine of the Sovereign Ruler of all Creation.
The Doctrine that states that God places people in certain locations for His Own Purposes!

*Jos 1:1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,
Jos 1:2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.

Moses at the age of 120 years old had now been taken out of the picture by God Himself, his purpose complete and God told Joshua to fill in the gap that Moses left behind.

It is our duty to answer the call of God!

Moses was a mighty man of God. How could anyone fill in for him?

Moses had already selected Joshua by the word of God and had already begun his training.

Deu 31:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.

Deu 31:23 And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.

It was Moses that had established Israel as a nation through the guidance of Jehovah making him the father of the nation of Israel.

A band of Egyptian slaves had become the nation that had set back Egypt for many years which they have never really overcome.

It was time for Israel to leave off mourning for what was, and accept what God had planned for the destruction of the sinful nations of Canaan Land

Gen_15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

On a much smaller scale than the worldwide flood, Israel was the hand of God for the destruction of the sin full people of Canaan Land.

They needed a strong leader and God gave them Joshua.

Joshua was now the Commander-in-Chief of the new nation of Israel.

We should understand Moses was a great man of God, but his death did not affect the plan of God.

God simply selects some other human to keep the plan of God moving forward at all times!

If Joshua for some reason rejected the call of God, God would simply have chosen someone else.

When God plan is in action, He will then provide all the tools and materials necessary to keep moving forward in the work God has given all the Church to accomplish.

The “providence” of God is always in His hands, and it does not depend upon any one upon this earth, or anywhere else humans are seeking to run and hide.

*Jos 1:3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

It was the death of Moses that opened the door for Joshua, so we see that it is God who is the giver of life and only He can take a life.

Satan may have had the power of death before the work of the Lord Jesus was completed, but he could not cause death at his will, he needed the permission of God, and he still does today.

Satan answers to God, Jehovah God and he is also condemned to Hell which is why the world is moving so fast toward wicked, immoral corrupted, iniquity.

Some of the promises God made to Abraham were becoming reality.

The walk of Abraham had defined the boundaries of the nation of Israel more than four hundred years prior to the day of Joshua.

Moses had led the children of Israel right up to the shores of the River Jordan, right at the most awkward time of the rainy season, but God had a reason even for this.

It would be Joshua that led the crossing of Jordan!

What were the boundaries that God set aside for the nation of Israel?

*Jos 1:4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

South: the desert of Negev.
North: Lebanon. Mount Lebanon the tallest mountain of Syria.
East: the Euphrates River.
West the Mediterranean Sea.

To this day, Israel has never possessed all this land and will not until the return of Christ Jesus.

Why? Many of them became cowards.

Many of them refused to obey the Word of God.

The closest that Israel ever came to control of all this land was in the days of King David and King Solomon.

It is at the death of King Solomon when Israel became a divided nation and disappeared from History for a time.

A divided nation cannot stand in this world of sin!

America is more divided today than it has ever been in our brief history and America could disappear from history and it is because of our corrupt, and wicked, and immoral government!

Why is this so true? Because America has booted God out!

Why did Israel begin to show dominance for many years? It was because God was with them until they demanded God to leave.

What was God’s promise to Israel?

*Jos 1:5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

What wonderful words given to a new leader.

God promised Joshua that no nation would be able to stand against him.

To us this means as a believer, we will have a full life, a victorious life, if we continue to serve the Lord with all our heart!

We know that as this new nation of Israel moved forward, they would face many obstacles.

We can also say the same thing about them today as much of the world hates them without a reason.

This tiny nation of Israel has met many a foe on the battlefield, all of them trying to erase them as a nation, but God has not allowed this to happen, and the Bible says He will not allow it to happen.

God promises those who love Him a full and victorious life, but we must also move forward claiming victory over the obstacles we face.

We can do this because we are never alone!

With the power of God there is no obstacle that we cannot overcome!

It begins with obedience!

1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
1Jn 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

We have the promise of our Savior that He will never forsake us.

Even on those days we may not feel our Lord God, we have the assurance that He is with us.

Our life is not about feelings, our life is about the promises of God!

This is one of the greatest promises God has given to us, that He will never forsake us!

No matter what trouble, no matter what difficulty, no matter what problem we face, God will never leave us and He will walk with us through these things!

*Jos 1:6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

Joshua had been an eyewitness, as these people had rebelled against Moses many times.

The challenge of Israel was very great to be a conqueror of the many nations of Canaan Land.

They needed a leader who was equipped to manage these times and it was Joshua.

Joshua was God’s man!

What was Joshua first task? He was to trust God! He was to be strong and very courageous!

When God calls us, He knows that our task will not be easy. If it was easy, then anyone could do it without God!

The army of God must be strong and courageous.

When we put on the armor of God we are not dressing for peace, we are dressing for war!

We are to be obedient to the Word of God.
We are to never stop sharing the Word of God.
We are to meditate on God’s Word day and night!

The result of obedience to God will always be prosperity and success! This does not mean riches.

It means all that we put our hands to, that is in the will of God, will prosper!

Again, it takes strength in the Lord and obedience to overcome discouragement!

*Jos 1:7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.

God did not place Joshua in this position of leadership to be lord over this people!

They would follow Joshua if he continued to follow the Lord.

Until till the last days of Joshua’s life, every day brought a new enemy to defeat.

Every year brought a new enemy.

Every day he had to send the young people of Israel into battle, and he would witness the blood shed of many of them.

These things are hard on any commander. Joshua would need much courage and strength.

No matter where we are on the battlefield of the Lord, we must know that we cannot do these things in our own strength so our relationship with the Lord must be steady and enduring.

We must follow the Word of God not veering to the left or to the right.

The pathway to Heaven remains a narrow path and few will ever find it.

Mat_7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

God will reveal to us the obstacles we will face by teaching us the deep things of God!

1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
1Co 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The key to our prosperity in this world is obedience to all the Word of God!

Again this does not mean riches!

How are we to study the Word of God?

*Jos 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

In order for Joshua to succeed as the Commander-in-Chief of Israel, he was to know and obey all the Word of God. (Which is a type of Christ)

This has not changed for every national leader today! They have the same instructions, no matter who they are or where they are located!

We must never turn our backs to the Word of God as we see this world do so today.

If there is a godly leader in this world today, they are noticeably quiet and ashamed of the Word of God, because they are too silent!

God will give us purpose, a sense of achievement and a fulfillment throughout our Christian Life, but only if we obey God by meditating in His Word day and night, throughout our lifetime.

In other words, we should always be doing what God says to do!

Deu 5:29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

This is the key to our success in the plan of God!

Again, we must be strong and courageous in the things of God!

*Jos 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

If God says a thing one time, then it is enough, but when God says things three times then He knows how easy it will be for us to get discouraged when we see what is going on in our world.

We must never let these things keep us from serving the Lord!

We must be strong and courageous as we walk through our Christian Life.

We must know that when God gave these lands to Abraham, all Abraham had was his faith and he had enough faith that he could trust the Word of God is true.

Abraham trusted in the promises of God, and it is no different for us here today.

Now in this day of Joshua more than four hundred years later, Joshua is in position to begin fulfilling some of God’s promises to Abraham.

We should know that the land promised to Abraham was indeed the land called Palestine. Palestine is an area and not the name of some country.

We should also know that the land promised to Abraham also refers to the New Heaven.

Canaan Land is just a symbol of God’s Promise.

Rom 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

The inheritance that Abraham had so much faith in, refers to the entire world, the New Universe which God is going to recreate in the very end.

It is not this world we live in now that is so full of sin, immorality, and wicked corruptness!

This world that is wasting away, deteriorating, running down, that our world calls “Climate Change”. They have seen nothing yet!

2Pe 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
2Pe 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2Pe 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
2Pe 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

The promise to Abraham refers to the New Heaven and the New Jerusalem, our Heavenly Home!

Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

All these things Abraham knew and, on this day, Joshua would begin that journey with Israel as they would cross the River Jordan.

This is where Joshua would derive his courage and his strength!

It was the promises made to Abraham that drove Joshua to be the great man of God that he was, and we should be encouraged just as Joshua was encouraged.

Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Joshua told this new nation of Israel, “let us go an obtain the promises of God”.

This is exactly what the Church is doing today!

*Jos 1:10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
Jos 1:11 Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.

After forty years the long-awaited command came. “prepare the people for we are going to cross the River Jordan”.

We should remember that this people of Israel would have been several million people.

There is not an army on the face of the earth that can go from rest to moving forward for war in three days, which shows us how Moses had prepared this army.

This was not just the army but also all their families and livestock.

We should also think about those three days!

Three days to our Lord Jesus was the time of His death to His resurrection.

In three days, this rag tag bunch of slaves would resurrect as the nation of Israel.

We should be able to see the typology of all these things.

What do we know? We know that God had spoken to Joshua and the crossing of the Jordan was to be done at once.

As Israel had been at camp until this command came, they had certainly seen that the River Jordan was running out of its banks at this time of the year.

In our service to the Lord, we had better understand that the natural things must be exhausted before the supernatural is brought in.

At this time we believe the “manna” had ceased and the word “victuals” would mean the food that was natural to their surroundings.

Jos 5:12 And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

We also believe that before this command was given, that Joshua had already sent out those spies to Jericho, and they had returned.

On this side of this flooded river was Israel ready for war and on the other side stood the walled city of Jericho, which had to fall for Israel to be successful.

Jericho had already heard of the wars Israel had already fought, and won, and the city was afraid of Israel.

Between them lay a vast expanse of rushing water.

Joshua commanded this people of God “to prepare”, then “passover” and then “to possess”.

We must understand as a soldier in God’s Army, we must always be prepared, and we have that “Heavenly Manna” with us at all times if we are carrying the Word of God.

We must feed on the Lord Jesus Christ; He is our Passover!

No doubt that many of these people had the fear of death for war brings death!

But to the child of God, death has but one meaning and that meaning is New Life.

There would be no possessing of that land until they crossed over the flood waters of the River Jordan.

As Christians we have nothing on this side of Jordan, but the New Heaven, the New Jerusalem lie on the other side.

What lies on the other side will be the treasures of God!

A share of the inheritance of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Still that raging river seemed unsurpassable.

But the Lord will always say:

Jos 3:5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.

When the flood waters of this world are raging, then this is when we need to trust the Lord the most!

Mar_6:50 For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.

We must never forget that as we travel in this life, the Lord Jesus Christ will walk before us showing us the way!

We know that God would stop the flow of the River Jordan and several million Israelites would cross the River Jordan on dry land!

Amen

God’s Unconditional Love

August 12, 2022August 12, 2022 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

A Better Love

Book of Hebrews Chapter 12 Verses 1 through 11

How can we describe the love of another person?

We could say that love is showing affection to that person, accompanied with an ardent desire to promote this person’s happiness!

1) By abstaining from all that could cause injury to that person.
2) By doing all that can promote that person’s welfare, that person’s comfort, that person’s interest, whether that person appreciates that effort or is indifferent to that effort.

Love must be something personal, coming from one person and directed toward another person.

A relationship develops when both these persons feel the same toward each other.

As Christians we know that God is “Love” and He portrays to us absolute, never ending, enduring, love!

God proves His love for His creation by the things He says, and He does!

1Jn 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
1Jn 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1Jn 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

It is because God has this love that we also should learn to love as God loves!

Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Joh 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

So when we begin reading this passage that talks of a race, then we must accept that our race in the will of God is a LOVE race.

*Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

It is a race to know God and His love and to commune with and fellowship with God both now and forever.

If we love God as He loves us then, we will believe Him and all the Words He has given to us, and be obedient to Him and all the Word of God!

We will believe in all the promises of God, and we will believe the love He has shown us in His Son!

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

There is so much we can learn from the Word of God, but if we can just believe He has this love as described here, the rest will be easy!

There is great power in faith.
There is even great power when our faith is combined with our true love for Him.

It is the baggage of a wicked world that has lost its affection for regular people and serves only the elite and powerful, that drags down each of us, unless we can lay aside these things and strive to match the pace God has given to us in His Son Jesus.

God has provided something much better for those who love Him!

Heb 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

You see we must continue to fight that good fight of faith just as those in the previous chapter!

1Ti 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

When we read of the New Testament saints, we should see them as witnesses for the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We must clearly understand that anything that does not build us up, is then tearing us down!

Anything that does not improve our Christian life, is then detrimental to our Christian life and our faith!

When we attend a Church service, then it must be to hear the message God has for us that day and fellowship with our likeminded brothers and sisters, and not for entertainment.

If we miss that service, then we have missed God’s message for that day and the importance of it!

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Author of our salvation and without Him there would be no salvation!

*Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

**Looking; we are to fix our eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ as the object of our “faith”!
We are to fix our eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ as “the only” means of our “salvation”!

**Author; the Lord Jesus Christ is the “Originator” and the “Preeminent Example” of a life in Christ, being obedient to our Heavenly Father.

**Finisher; the Lord Jesus Christ is our “Perfector”! It is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ that will carry us through to “perfection”.
The Lord Jesus Christ does not start something that He does not finish!

Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that “he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”:

**The joy; The Lord Jesus Christ got no pleasure in the pain He endured. He got no pleasure in the way the very humans He created treated Him.

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and “was heard in that he feared”;

Remember the Lord was 100% man and 100% God. He absolutely did fear the scourge, because it caused the death of so many before they reached the cross. The Lord Jesus had to die on that cross!

Joh_3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

He got joy in knowing that He had completed the work of salvation for every human who has ever existed.

His work for our salvation is finished:

Joh_17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth: “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do”.

The Lord Jesus Christ felt joy knowing that salvation was now in our hands for He had completed the payment for our salvation that we did not have the power to do.

Our part is to believe Him and what He has done. This is why “faith” is so critical!

God will not tolerate those who reject His Son because of the work He had to do.

There is still joy in Heaven every time some lost soul is saved.

Luk_15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner “that repenteth”.

You will notice that it is not just salvation that brings joy to Heaven, it is that fact of repentance!

The joy of the Lord came to Him because He had accomplished His Father’s will.

What is His Father’s Will?

1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4 “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth”.

**Right hand; His work completed, Our Lord Jesus returned to His place at the right hand of God, but not just as Sovereign God of all His creation, but also as the High Priest and Mediator and Intercessor for each and everyone who have now committed to having that “Saving Faith”.

The right hand is the place power, authority, and honor.

Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

The Lord Jesus Christ is our example of the results of “faith” as we will also return to the Father if we can show this same “faith”!

*Heb 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

How can we survive this cruel world? By keeping our focus on the things that the Lord Jesus Christ had to accomplish so that we can have this great salvation that is for eternity!

If we compare our own suffering to the suffering of Christ Jesus, we will see that there is really no comparison to the suffering and shame of our Lord as He paid our sin debt.

This will keep us from getting weary, meaning exhausted, tired, worn out, or even just relaxing as we go about the work that the Lord Jesus has given us to do.

There is no neutral ground when we serve the Lord.

We either are or we are not !

Discouragement can ruin our testimony for Christ!

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

We must resist the temptations of this world and focus on Christ who has already defeated this world!

Most all of us can say we have not resisted until death.

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1Co 10:14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

We must never count the chastisement of the Lord toward us as punishment, when it is only the Holy Spirit who is keeping us on that narrow path to victory.

We must never question the love of God for His children!

If we would just take the time to study all the things our Lord has done for us simply because of His Great Love, we would not hesitate to show Him our love.

*Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

We should also be clear on this issue. God will discipline His believers!

God will not discipline non-believers!

He chastens, corrects, and rebukes believers!

God cannot be tempted with evil, nor does God tempt any human being.

Jas 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Notice it is lust that conceives, that brings sin into our lives.

It is the lust between a man and a woman who refuse to take responsibility that makes a need for abortion.
It is the lust between two people male or female that cause the queer life style.
It is the lust for power that ruins politicians.
It is the lust for riches that has corrupted our world!

Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

It is sin that alienates us from God!

God does not cause temptation, nor does He cause us to sin.

God does not cause devastation, accidents, destruction, sickness, death or sufferings, trials or troubles and problems.

These are all things of this world!

God will go through these things with us if He allows them!

God does not cause terrible things to happen, nor does He cause evil!

God’s concern for us is not to cause us problems!

**God allows some of these things to happen to us to teach, to train us, and instruct us, on how to deal with these type things, to make us stronger.

We are to stand on the truth of God!

God does not want any of these things to defeat us and they will not, if we stand firm upon the Word of God, for He will be with us at all times.

Php_4:13 I can do “all” things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

There is a reason for that word “ALL”.

These things will only make us stronger if we allow God the Holy Ghost to do His work of sanctification!

When we come under attack we must immediately turn to God and ask for help!

All these things are only directed at us to allow God to work in our hearts to make us stronger.

We must never lay around in self-pity.

Many things are blamed on God that are just not true.

For instance, a small innocent baby is crippled in an automobile accident by a drunk driver. This is not being chastened or corrected by God!

This happens because we live in a corrupted world full of sin.

This is the same for drive-by shootings and other such things.

God simply does not cause such things, “love” simply does not act this way!

We will not see the wrath of God during this period of the “Grace”

All of God’s instruction is to teach us to trust and depend more upon the Lord Jesus Christ!

**When we fail or cave into a trial or sin, God will let us reap what we have sown!

We will always bear the results of our sin, but it does not cause God to love us any less.

When we deal with the bad and evil things of this earth, God did not cause them!

We must not despise discipline!

When we are being taught by God, we need to cherish it and know that God is using these things to make us stronger so we will be able to help others who may go through the same thing.

We must get accustomed to the tug and pull of the Holy Spirit and even the little tugs can have critical meaning.

Jer 32:33 And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.

When we endure the chastening of the Lord it shows we trust our Savior and our love will grow even stronger.

*Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

We must understand that when we are going through a period of chastening and suffering because of it, and we see someone else going through something similar with relative ease we must not get confused.

If God has received us as His children, we should expect our Heavenly Father to keep us straight just as we do our own children.

This shows the great love that God has for us!

He may even spank us to get our attention, but it is still done in love.

It is such a great honor to know you are a child of God and many times as we go through these things, thank spanking hand feels more like a comforting hand because this is the way God is to His children.

We must endure the discipline of God.
We are to stand fast in our trials and troubles.

We must become soft to the feel of the Holy Spirit!

We are to follow the Word of God and the Holy Spirit will direct us by the Word of God.

The Holy Spirit will never lead us away from Jesus Christ!

Our Heavenly Father is a Loving Father!

Now that one who is going through something similar with relative ease may not even be a child of God.

God does not discipline those who do not love Him!

They too are subject to the curse upon this world and exposed to the wickedness and corruptness of it.

God does not discipline those who do not love Him because they are already subject to His “wrath” to come!

This person is the child of Satan.

Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

These people will act just as Satan acts!

The Bible says these are “bastards” and not sons.

Bastard used here means the offspring of non-believers who have rejected the truth of God and not taught their children the Word of God!

Pro_22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Furthermore.

*Heb 12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb 12:10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

If we have grown up having a father who loves us, then we have surely been disciplined by him and maybe that mother or both and we know it was done out of love.

Much of the troubles we have today are caused because of broken families and this is the work of Satan!

What we see today is children raised without discipline and it shows up so much that it is changing this entire world.

In fact, many of them have grown up to become leaders who now have no respect for the law and choose to not discipline those who break the law.

Living in this world of today we see that love of life has truly little meaning.

Rom_1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

2Ti_3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

The discipline of God brings life and life eternal!

The discipline of this world brings death, maybe not physical death but eternal death and separation from a Holy God!

They will be delivered to this death the very moment they leave this world, whereas the child of God knows that death is just a steppingstone to eternal life in the glory world.

Pro 11:19 As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.

As we were growing up, our parents only had a few days to try to get us to grow up in a righteous manner in ways they thought were good, and many times they used too much discipline for the wrong things and too little discipline when they should have been tougher.

God does not ever make this mistake and God has our lifetime after salvation to get us ready for Heaven and useful for the work He has for us in this world.

If we are not partakers of His holiness, how do we ever expect to come face to face with Him.

There are no places to hide in Heaven! We either are or we are not!

Any move we make toward sin is a good reason to see the discipline of God!

*Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

It could be said that pain teaches us our nothingness.

We do not have it in power to stop our pain especially that mental pain for a terrible situation that is going on in our lives.

Health permits us to swell in pride and self-esteem, but pain knocks us down a level and shows us our feebleness.

Pain shows us we are not in charge even of our own bodies!

The fact of the matter is that we need solid “Grace” when we are thrown into the furnace of affliction and if Jesus is not there with us, we will be burnt to a crisp!

It is “faith and love” that teaches us to bear all things good and bad because we trust in a perfect Savior!

There is peace that comes to those who are going to the trials and temptations of this world because we know we are not alone.

There is a lot that can be said of that person who can stand and face God and say, “be merciful to me God, I am but just a sinner that loves you”.

There is “Mercy and Grace” at the Throne of Love!

Amen

Freedom Comes At A High Price

October 2, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Freedom Through the Blood

Book of Exodus Chapter 12

Those ten plagues had crippled the economy of Egypt and had God stopped at this point those children of Israel would have remained as slaves of Egypt.

All those ten plagues had affected the Egyptian people much more than this rich king who was full of pride and arrogance.

There would be one more plague, but this one would be vastly different from the others.

The Passover deals with the “Judgment” of God, but also the Deliverance of God!

God began a principle in the Book of Genesis that will be followed throughout all the Bible.

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

In the Book of Genesis we know that the sin of Adam and Eve brought the curse of destruction to this world we live in.

We are seeing the results of this curse increasingly today, in what many call climate change which is the reality of that curse upon this world.

Before Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, God made clothes for them from the skins of animals.

This demonstrated the principle of forgiveness through the shedding of blood.

Later we saw that it was Abel’s sacrifice that was accepted by the Almighty God.

Gen 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

This principle of “Freedom” through sacrifice is repeated throughout the Bible.

We see it here in the Book of Exodus as the “freedom” of the children of Israel would require a Blood Sacrifice.

Before these children of Israel could be set free, they had to pave the way for a new beginning.

This thing of escape from the tyranny of the world would be documented on a new calendar which the Jews still use today.

What do we know now that we have accepted the work of the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation? Sin has an extremely high cost!

*Exo 12:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
Exo 12:2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

The Passover deals with the “Judgment” of God but also the “Deliverance” of God.

This “Judgment” will be upon all those who cannot accept the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ!

This “Judgment” will be upon all those who are evil oppressors, those who are ungodly, and those who are unrighteous in this world.

The “Deliverance” will take place to all who believe in and diligently follow the Word of God and the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ!

We should notice that the beginning of this new calendar for the children of Israel did not begin on the day of the Passover but fourteen days before the Passover.

We should understand this gap as a type of “grace”.

My new calendar began when the day I was “Born Again” to a “New Life”, and regenerated by the Holy Spirit coming to live within me.

Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Notice I have no righteousness of myself, but now because the Holy Spirit lives within me I have the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

All the sins of my past are forgiven! My new life had its beginning when I realized I was a sinner and in need of a Savior.

For the children of Israel, their new life would begin from the month in which the Passover occurred not the day of the Passover.

The Passover was the most significant event in the history of Israel and is still celebrated today.

Those who practice true Judaism still observe the Passover today, but they have no place to offer their sacrifice.

The Passover marked the very night that God “delivered” the children of Israel from the tyranny of Egypt, which is a type of the world we live in today, where we see persecution increasing and the taskmasters still delivering their slave tactics.

This first new month was called Abib which corresponds to March and April on the Roman Calendar.

The word “Abib” means “a young head of grain”, “an ear of corn”.

The beginning of a new life for the nation of Israel was marked by a new calendar.

The life of Jesus Christ was also marked by a new calendar.

When the Lord Jesus arose to New Life and left that borrowed tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea, to a life to live eternally in a New Heaven it astounded the world so much that the world measures its seasons and its history from the date of the Birth of Jesus Christ.

This should be enough proof for all the world that the Lord Jesus Christ is a real Savior, a real “Deliverer”!

****Exo 12:3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
Exo 12:4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.

We next see that Israel is now called a congregation, a Holy Community by the Lord God Himself.

A congregation is the people of God who gather to worship Him or to hear the Word of God!

We also see that each household, each family, was to celebrate the feast of the Passover.

Each family or group of people were to secure one lamb on the tenth day of the month of Abib.

This lamb was to be singled out from the flock and appointed to death four days before it was to be sacrificed.

For four days they were to keep this Lamb separate and feed and care for this lamb.

When the Lord Jesus was beginning His ministry John the Baptist said:

Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Joh 1:36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

Notice also each person was to eat the Passover meal for them self.

This is the same way we take Jesus today, individually, then the family, and then all the congregation.

This describes the worship of the Church, the Body of Christ.

We then share what we learned in the Congregation, take it home to our families and then as individuals we become Ambassadors for Christ.

This lamb was to be without blemish, or we would say perfect.

*Exo 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

Any animal less than perfect offered for sin would be an abomination to the Lord.

An animal that had no reason for their life to end so abruptly, which represents pure innocence.

Each sinner represents one who is guilty of breaking all the laws of God.

Jas 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

The acceptance of the yearling goat was allowed for those who were poor, who might have an animal more for its milk rather than its market value of wool for clothing.

A male animal would be considered superior to the female animal in this sacrifice for sin and therefore more appropriate for a sin offering!

Lev 1:10 And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish.

This Lamb was to be a type of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Lev 21:21 No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.

The Lord Jesus Christ would be both High Priest and King of Kings.

This lamb was to die in the fulness of its strength!

Before we move on let us see another important thing.

Verse three said “a lamb”.
Verse four said “the lamb”.
Verse five says “your lamb”

If you do not have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, then He is not your lamb!

Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

*Exo 12:6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

A few things we should note here is the things of this fourteenth day.

1) When we read the whole congregation, we should think there was some great gathering of the people.

We should understand this as the head of each household.

In type we know the whole nation is seen as a nation of priests, just as each Christian is to be a priest to his own family.

Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

It is the family that was begun first in the Book of Genesis with Adam and Eve being the first family and Adam being the first head of that family and the priest to his own family.

2) We should also understand that it was not just the chief priest and the elders and not just the scribes and the Pharisees who put Jesus to death, but also by the vote of the people.

Mar 15:9 But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
Mar 15:10 For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.
Mar 15:11 But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.
Mar 15:12 And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?
Mar 15:13 And they cried out again, Crucify him.
Mar 15:14 Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.
Mar 15:15 And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.

In fact, I also have to take my own responsibility for the death of Christ Jesus, because it was because of my sin and the sin of everyone that caused our Savior to be put to death.

3) On this fourteenth day the Lord Jesus died between the evenings.

Between the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the month of Abib (Nisan)

If we study the Scriptures, we will see that the Lord Jesus died at the exact time that the lambs at the Temple were being slain which would be at our three o’clock, or the nineth hour.

This would have been just before that soldier pierced the Lord with his spear because the Lord Jesus gave His life, no one took it from Him.

Joh 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
Joh 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

When we consider this and then add to it all the things that happened.

It was finished: No more would lambs need to be destroyed for the forgiveness of sin.
It was finished: The veil was rent we can go before the Lord at any time without the assistance of some priest.
It was finished: The earthquake declared the power of God.
It was finished: It was the end of His suffering for our sin.
It was finished: The Lord Jesus was forsaken by His Father and that was now over, and His fellowship was restored.
It was finished: Satan was forever defeated.
It was finished: It was finished, Jesus had made “atonement” for all our sins.

One man wrote: Though millions of sacrifices had been offered; yet nothing was done to purchase redemption before Christ’s incarnation… so nothing was done after His resurrection, to purchase redemption for men. Nor will there be anything more done to all eternity.

Like our lesson states “Freedom Through the Blood”.

It is all about the blood of the Lamb!

*Exo 12:7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

In the twelfth chapter of Exodus we never see lamb in the plural because there was only one Lamb that could accomplish what God required!

As the blood is to life, it is also the essence of sacrifice! Essence meaning the nature of our being that distinguishes it from all others.

God did not make any of us alike! Until the sin of Adam and Eve, we all became sinners.

It was the blood applied on the outside of the house that kept those saved on the inside of the house!

Notice the blood was applied in the shape of the bloody cross of our Savior.

It was an act of “faith”. If you believed God would save you behind the blood applied to your house, then you would be saved.

If you did not have this “faith” and did not apply the blood, then you would see the death of your first-born child and the first born of your animals.

Heb 11:28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

The Lord Jesus Christ was our substitute:

Lev 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

So many things we see in this passage from the Book of Exodus.

Once the blood was applied it was safe to eat the Passover meal!

We must make sure that we are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.
We must make sure our families are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.
We must make sure our homes are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.
We must make sure the place we gather to worship is covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.

When the Blood of Jesus is applied to our homes it becomes a public profession of faith!

Our “faith” is to be in the promises of God just as He promised the Children of Israel at this first Passover.

*Exo 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
Exo 12:9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.

This lamb sacrificed for freedom was to be eaten.

It was to be roasted and not boiled and eaten by those inside the house.

A journey lay before these of God’s people and this food would give them strength.

Jesus said:

Joh 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Joh 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

It was to be eaten with unleavened bread.

The Leven represented sin and there was no sin in the house that is washed in the Blood of Jesus.

Joh 6:48 I am that bread of life.
Joh 6:49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
Joh 6:50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
Joh 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

The “bitter herbs” would forever remind them of the bitter days of their slavery in Egypt,

This is a picture of our own slavery to sin.

Our hearts are always to be broken over sin.

Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

For the children of Israel this lamb was to be prepared in a peculiar way and this way was never to be deviated. These are God-given instructions!

God given instructions are never to be changed!

One of the many things we see in these things is that the Church is to be family-centered!

Few are today.

Most of the Churches of today try to please those sitting in the pews when God instructs them to preach the entire Word of God.

We must accept the Lord Jesus Christ exactly as He was prepared and offered by Jehovah God!

There is no other way to be saved, Jesus said so Himself!

Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

None of this food was to remain in the morning.

*Exo 12:10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.

What we see is that the “death” of this sacrificial lamb has become the food for life!

That lamb was to be eaten the same night it was slain.

The rising sun was to see no part of the slain lamb.

No part of Christ is to be left out! We accept Him as He is, the truth of eternal salvation!

Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

In like manner the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ is complete, it is not a progressive thing over the period of our lives!

Our salvation is not in the process of being accomplished, it has been accomplished.

It is accomplished immediately upon accepting the work of Christ for our salvation!

One man wrote, “For God’s suffering Lamb the dark night of “Judgment” is no more, and He lives on High eternal sunshine of Divine favor and love”.

And how shall we eat the Lamb of God?

*Exo 12:11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover.

We must clearly understand that today, not tomorrow, but today is the day of salvation!

2Co 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

Upon hearing the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ we are to immediately accept Him, repent and rush away from this world and begin our New “Born Again” life.

Our new life marching toward the Promised Land of the New Heaven!

We must wear the right clothes and not get entangled in this world again, this world has no benefits!

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

We must wear the right shoes.

Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

We must lean on our Savior for we cannot travel alone. Just as Moses had the staff of God, the Lord Jesus Christ is our staff.

Psa 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psa 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

We are only pilgrims passing through this wicked land.

1Pe 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

We are always to know that the Lord Jesus could return at any moment, and we must expect it!

We must understand that the Lord Jesus Christ is the substitute for our own “Judgment”

*Exo 12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
Exo 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

As we have studied this Pharaoh understood when Moses laid down the staff, he carried it was in defiance of the false gods of Egypt and Pharaoh accepted that challenge and Pharaoh chose the wrong side.

Pharaoh finally accepts the defeat of his gods when he said, “Go then, serve Jehovah; and bless me also”.

The children of Israel gave the glory to Jehovah at this time, but they were a rebellious bunch.

They did not behave as if they owed any gratitude to Moses or Aaron.

Deu 32:16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
Deu 32:17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
Deu 32:18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

The “Judgment” of God is harsh on those who reject Him!

God was speaking to the children of Israel through Moses and God said:

1) I will pass through the land of Egypt as a destroyer in “Judgment”.
I will enter every house of the Egyptians and kill the first-born child of both man and beast.

2) God said: “I will do the same to your houses and if I do not see the blood on the door posts of your houses, I will do the same to you.
You will escape this plague if I see the blood.

3) God said again: Against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute “Judgment”.
Animal worship was an important part of the religion of the Egyptians and some of these Jews never forgot this and it caused problems all the days of Israel till God dispersed them through all the nations of the earth.

The blood that was placed on the door post and over the door should remind us of a bloody cross.

This blood was not a token to the Children of Israel, but to God for them!

The Destroyer would Passover each home where the blood could be seen!

This method of deliverance involved the sacrifice of innocent life.

This is the only method for complete deliverance!

This method requires faith in the Almighty Covenant Keeping God!

Mar 14:22 And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.
Mar 14:23 And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.
Mar 14:24 And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.
Mar 14:25 Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

The Lord Jesus Christ is that Lamb of God who was sacrificed for each and every sinner and will save each and every believer!

Amen.

God’s Wonderful Promises

February 21, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Promises For the Future

Book of Genesis Chapters 48 through 50

One of the greatest things we have learned from the Book of Genesis, the Book of the Beginnings is, that God has a plan for this world.

God’s plan is to bless those who love Him and who are in His will, and the greatest blessing is for those who love Him to spend eternity with Him.

God had promised Abram a promised land, but though Canaan Land is that “promised land” to the Jews, for many of us, it is not the place God was talking about.

Our “Promised Land” is Heaven itself!

The Hebrew people were a small people that needed to multiply until they became a great nation.

God used this time in Egypt to make this happen.

God had placed Joseph in Egypt to prepare for and then care for his family.

They were given the best land with one job and that job was to take care of Pharaoh’s herd.

Remember there were only 70 of Jacob’s family and Pharaoh had a large herd.

Joseph provided all their needs while the Egyptians paid dearly, some all they owned, to receive the food that they could eat until this famine was over.

The land then belonged to Pharaoh and they became tenants on the land they had at one time owned.

The children of Israel had prospered during all this time.

It was reaching the end of Jacob’s time and he knew it, and there were some things he had not accomplished before he died.

He had not yet placed the blessing of Abraham on one of his children and he had not yet chosen the blessed son.

He had, but he had not formally told this to his children.

Joseph had always been the son the Jacob loved the most, but he was now Governor of Egypt.

So Jacob puts his plan together and he begins to explain these things to Joseph.

We must realize that El Shaddai had spoken to Jacob many times in visions and dreams, so Jacob (Israel) was also a prophet, at least to his family.

Jacob began recalling the experiences of his early days.

*Gen 48:3 And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
Gen 48:4 And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

Remember to Jacob, Luz was “Bethel”, even though it had not been named that at this time. Bethel meaning the “House of God”.

Gen 28:16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
Gen 28:17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

To the Church, the House of God is truly the gateway to Heaven but by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Without the Lord Jesus there is no “House of God”!

The promise of Abram had been passed down to Israel, but it would not be passed to Joseph who was the first born of Rachel but not the firstborn son of Jacob.

The birthright claim would be given to Joseph but only through his two sons. Jacob (Israel) would adopt those two sons and make them his own.

But the genealogy that came by Abram, through Isaac, and to Jacob, would be passed down to Judah.

1Ch 5:1 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.
1Ch 5:2 For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph’s:)

We should understand that these things were against the future Jewish laws.

Deu 21:17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.
Deu 21:18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
Deu 21:19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
Deu 21:20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.

We must understand that El Shaddai does not limit Himself to man’s laws!

Rom 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:

We should understand, though it would seem the King David would be that chief ruler to come from Judah, and he was that earthly ruler for a time, but the true chief ruler is the Lord Jesus Christ, who came by the tribe of Judah.

King Jesus, the Messiah, has not yet come to rule this earth for 1000 years.

We know this is true but at first Shiloh(The Messiah) will come, Jesus the Messiah who came to save!

Joseph would receive the birthright, but not in the normal fashion.

*Gen 48:5 And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.

Jacob had been deprived of spending 20 good years with Joseph his beloved son.

Jacob could not give Joseph and inheritance in Egypt because Pharaoh had already done this.

Jacob could adopt those two boys and by doing so, he would be giving a double portion of inheritance to Joseph.

They would be treated as the sons of Jacob and therefore the sons of Israel and they would receive equal portions according to their numbers, in the division of the land of Canaan.

Reuben, the firstborn son, would not receive the double portion because of his incest with Jacob’s concubine.

Gen 35:22 And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:

When we get to the Book of Revelation, we will see where the name Ephraim is replaced by Joseph though Manasseh remains.

Rev 7:8 Of the tribe of Zabulonn were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

We are not required to understand these things, but the Holy Ghost did require that these words be written for us to learn from.

It was Jacob’s last moments in his flesh, and he had more things to say to all his children.

We can understand these things as prophecy just as these twelve men should have.

*Gen 49:1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.

Now Jacob becomes a prophet to his own sons.

We should understand that we will reap what we sow in this life.

If we are good, we will reap good but if we bad, we will reap bad!

We can see that many seem to do good in a life of sin and never seem to suffer for it, but we must also remember that they will spend eternity in Hell suffering greatly.

God will have a true “judgment” no one will be judged for things they did not do!

Jacob had been ill most of his last years and on this day, we could say the family was called into the bedside of Jacob.

On this day, all twelve sons of Jacob were together with him in one room and not one would be quarreling with the other.

They knew their father was about to die and they wanted to hear what he had to say.

Since the time of Adam, God had dealt with the individual but after the time of Jacob, we will see the birth of the nation of Israel and we see God begins to deal with nations, especially the nation of Israel.

The time of the patriarchs comes to an end and in a short while the time of the Law will begin!

Much time will pass until the Birth of Jesus Christ and God will begin to deal with the Church.

In reality, God will go silent while Israel grows into a nation and this will last just over 400 years, when God will hear their cries because of a wicked and evil Pharaoh and God will send them a deliverer by the name of Moses and the period of the Law will begin.

Jacob gave each of his sons a prophetic warning and then he blessed each one of them and Jacob then made them promise not to bury his body in Egypt.

A brief look at these things will be something like this!

Reuben the firstborn son of Jacob should have received the birthright(the double portion) but he had proven to be weak and unstable and the tribe of Reuben would be the same. Reuben did not possess the discipline to control himself.

Simeon and Levi, the sin of these two brothers was anger, cruelty, and vengeance. Their behavior was inexcusable.

They would be divided and scattered throughout the “promised land”. They would never again be able to band together in an evil plot of anger and cruelty.

We know how the tribe of Levi was used of God and Simeon was given land in the midst of Judah.

Judah. We know that Abraham and Isaac had passed the birthright of the first born and that of the “Promised Seed’ both to the same son but in Jacob’s case, it would be Judah that Jacob passed the genealogy of the “Promised Seed” and it would be Joseph who would get the birthright of the firstborn son.

We could see how the life of Judah was being transformed into a leader and a spiritual leader.

Judah was a picture of the Christian growing spiritually.

To Judah was the blessing of Shiloh.

We also see as we study the Scriptures that once King David had the leadership of Israel it stayed in the family.

The scepter never departed from Judah.

Zebulun was to dwell toward the sea but not on the sea as Asher would dwell on the sea.

Issachar was to be like an animal of strong strength. The tribe of Issachar was a strong and sturdy people who were on occasion complacent.

In fact they could become so complacent in their comforts they were willing to be enslaved rather than lose their comforts.

Sounds a lot like the America of today!

Dan. The tribe of Dan would produce capable rulers and the most well-known was Samson. What a story he had.

Dan also could be like a snake a deadly opponent for his enemies.

Dan had to always be on guard against treachery, double dealing, and dishonesty.

Dan was the first to take up idol worship.

Not many realize it, but Jacob actually used for salvation, the word (Yeshuah) the Hebrew name for Jesus.

Gen 49:18 I have waited for thy salvation(Yeshuah), O LORD.

Jacob may could not have known about the Lord Jesus Christ, but he did know where his salvation came from!

Gad would be successful in struggling with his enemies.

1Ch 12:8 And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David into the hold to the wilderness men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains;

Asher was the tribe that sat along the seacoast. Asher gave into luxury and wealth and never really helped the other tribes.

They loved worldly pleasures.

We are warned against worldliness in the New Testament!

Naphtali was known for their swiftness in combat.

Notice also they were known for speaking and singing songs of beauty and in the time of Jesus, He spent a great deal of time in this area.

The most beautiful words ever spoken are the “Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ”.

Joseph was awarded the family birthright through his two sons.

This tribe produced Joshua, Gibeon, Abimelech, Jair, Jephthah, and Samuel came from the heritage of Joseph through his two sons.

Benjamin was the tribe to be like a ravenous wolf. The tribe of Benjamin was courageous and bold. At times, these same traits were used for evil.

Jacob told his sons to be on guard for the bad traits and try to excel in the good traits and then he gave up the ghost.

*Gen 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
Gen 49:29 And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
Gen 49:30 In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.

Jacob remembered his forefathers Abraham and Isaac and at his death he wanted his body to be laid with their bodies.

Many today have similar wishes.

Sons want to be buried next to their father, wives next to their husbands, husbands next to their wives but we see today these things changing as the families are not as close as they once were.

Abraham had bought a cave with a piece of property in the field of Ephron from the Hittites.

He was buried there along with Sarah and Isaac and Rebekah and Leah was also buried there.

This where Jacob wanted to be buried and later, we will see where the preserved body of Joseph would also be buried.

Of course when we say buried, we know that in a cave a spot would be carved in the sides of the wall and the body would be laid there much like the burial of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This place is called Machpelah.

Through the years an ancient Christian Church was located at this place but sadly this church has been converted into a Mohammedan Mosque but a sacred enclosure at the entrance of this cave it is still looked upon as a relic of Jewish architecture thought to be built in the time of David and Solomon.

*Gen 49:33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

After all these things on the mind of Jacob he died. The phrase “gathered up his feet” indicates the Jacob was dead.

This phrase gathered has another meaning.

We know that God had said He is not the God of the Dead but the God of the Living, therefore the Hebrew people felt that their Patriarchs were therefore still living in another form, so Jacob was gathered together with them.

We know that as the “Born Again” children of God we will certainly be gathered together with all our brothers and sisters in Christ because the Christian will never die though this body goes back to the dust it was made from.

1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

This is the difference that comes by the “Grace” of God only to those that love Him!

*Gen 50:7 And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
Gen 50:8 And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.
Gen 50:9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.

We read this and then pass right on by it, but this funeral procession had to travel more than 250 miles one way and it could have been 500 miles depending on which way they traveled.

The Patriarchs of Israel would have had the same standing as a Pharaoh of Egypt or any other national ruler even before Israel became a nation.

We might understand that God was much closer to Jacob than we understand by the Scriptures.

Jacob the last of the Patriarchs and the father of the nation of Israel.

Jacob had always thought he would die without his children, but now all his sons and so many more, accompanied his body to be buried with his own fathers.

We should remember the Egyptians had no love for the Hebrews, in fact much hatred even at this time, the main reason the family of Jacob was kept separated from the Egyptians and most of that hatred was over a cow because the Egyptians worshipped the cow.

In many ways Jacob had prepared his own funeral and had given specific instructions for his burial.

This was a great procession with all the sons of Jacob all Jacob’s house except the small children but all the elders of Egypt, including the council to Pharaoh.

We can be sure there was a great military presence also with chariots and Calvary.

This thing did not even begin until after 72 days of mourning were over. This thing was treated as a royal funeral.

Much different from the three-hour rush to get the Lord Jesus Christ, the true King, into His grave, but He did not need it but for three days and the bones of Jacob are still in his grave.

The body of Jacob was embalmed so he could make this trip as was Joseph’s.

Jacob was buried with his fathers because they all had the same hope of the “Resurrection”!

Gen 50:13 For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

And Joseph and his family returned to Egypt.

Gen 50:14 And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

The brothers of Joseph did not know what would happen to them after the death of their father, so they confronted Joseph on this issue.

*Gen 50:18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
Gen 50:19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?

In these last few lessons we have followed the life of Joseph and it can be said the Joseph had integrity.

Integrity can be said to possess a sound mind, moral soundness, purity, in-corruptness, uprightness, and of sound moral character.

We can see that God knows those who will stick by Him no matter what happens in their personal life.

Joseph was bold when he said he belonged to God and he was just a man as they were.

As Christians we can say we belong to God and any goodness others see in us, is because we belong to God.

Joseph was not in the place of God nor did he mean it this way as he tells them.

*Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Gen 50:21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

Joseph said do not brag on me but brag on our Lord and Savior.

Psa 105:17 He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
Psa 105:18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:
Psa 105:19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.
Psa 105:20 The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
Psa 105:21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:
Psa 105:22 To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.

We, as Christians, are not better than any other human being, but by the “Grace of God”.

Act 3:26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

We are still dirty rotten sinners saved by God’s “Grace” and only then because we have accepted the work of the Lord Jesus Christ toward our salvation.

We are nothing without Jesus!

Joh_15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Joseph felt exactly the same because he knew this truth. He was nothing with the Lord!

What are our instructions?

1Th 5:15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
1Th 5:16 Rejoice evermore.
1Th 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
1Th 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1Th 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.
1Th 5:20 Despise not prophesyings.
1Th 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
1Th 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
1Th 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord makes it simple for us, when He says, His disciples obey His commandments!

Joh_8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

Again Jesus Keeps it very simple!

Joh_13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

What is wrong with us today? We need more Jesus!

Amen

Being In The Will of God

February 14, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Jacob Moves To Egypt

Book of Genesis Chapters 46-47

The safest place we can be is in the “Will of God”! This is much more important than our physical location.

During this Covid 19 plague we have forgotten this!

As Christians we must learn how to prosper in these last days. Even during the times of plagues as we see right now.

Many of God’s people have given up and lost their faith but the Lord will not ever leave us to battle these things alone!

Jacob the patriarch of Israel would have never left his homeland if not for the providence of God.

What had God told to Abram?

Gen 15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
Gen 15:14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

There were many reasons that Joseph as a teenager was taken away from his father by his own brothers by evil and wicked means and had made it to Egypt.

We all get caught up in the reason Joseph gives which is true!

Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Though this was a very good reason and very true, there was another reason Joseph was taken away from his father all these years.

His father Jacob would never have left his homeland if not to go see his son Joseph.

Gen 45:28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

If Joseph had remained in Hebron, Israel would not be the nation that it became and as it still exists today!

In chapter 45, it was Jacob’s heart that fainted for his lack of belief, but it was Israel that decided to go to Egypt!

*Gen 46:1 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.

We should never begin any journey before we spend some time with the Lord!

In fact, in these last days we need to spend more time with the Lord and every time, just before we leave the house, as we step out into this evil and wicked world that is now also full of plagues.

These things may not ever change before the Lord takes us home!

In fact the Holy Ghost states that things are going to get worse.

To remain in the will of God, we cannot just hide from these things and be too afraid to go out as the world will have us to believe.

We keep forgetting that we are not afraid to die! Jesus Christ took the fear of death away from each believer!

This does not mean we can step out in front of a speeding train, but it does mean that continuing in the work God has given us to do, is the safest place to be.

God still says to be obedient to our leaders as best we can without going against the Word of God!

God still says to be at peace as long as we are able to be at peace with the enemy!

To prosper during these times is to manage these things guided by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.

Israel took this journey to see his son Joseph!

We must continue on our Christian journey to see our Lord Jesus Christ!

We must stop and make some sacrifices along the way!

We must commit all we have to the work of the Lord remembering the Lord wants “Living Sacrifices”!

*Gen 46:2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
Gen 46:3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
Gen 46:4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

God does not ever ask from us bits and pieces God demands our all!

When we give God our all, then He will go with us.

He is still God our Father in fact He is Abba Father!

Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

We have gotten so used to compromising our faith, that we just give up far too easily in the path of the storm before the storm even arrives!

The Lord says, to fear not, to Israel just as the Lord tells us to fear not!

Joh 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

Just why are we so afraid?

Good Christians say, “I am just so afraid I will catch this plague”.

Someone offers a vaccine that may stop you from catching this plague and the first thing out of these Christians mouth is, “well I am not taking no shot, not matter what”.

This exactly the position our wicked governments want us in, afraid to do anything, afraid to make the right choices so the government can make our choices for us!

I can imagine Joseph with his fears, after all his great grandfather Abram had been run out of Egypt.

God had stopped Isaac from going to Egypt, but now this same God was speaking to Israel in visions in the night.

Israel was listening. We must always be open to hearing what God has to say!

God said listen Israel, “I am going down there with you”!

Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

God promised Jacob (Israel) that Joseph would be with him until the day he died, if he would just take all he had and go on down to Egypt.

Israel took all his family and everything he owned and listened to what God had to say.

Jesus is telling us the same exact thing today! To give Him all we have and stay on our journey to Heaven.

It will still be sweeter every mile of the trip and as God said, “and Jesus shall put His hand upon our eyes”.

*Gen 46:5 And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

Remember we truly do not need to go anywhere without knowing God is with us, but there are many places God will not go!

God had promised to make Israel into a great nation. It would not happen unless Jacob went to Egypt.

God had promised to go to Egypt with Israel. This will not happen unless Israel was in the Will of God.

God had promised to bring Israel back to the promised land.

God promised Israel that he would not be separated from his son Joseph again before his death.

With all these promises from the Lord, how could Israel say no?

Look at all the promises the Lord has made to us, how could we ever say no to the Lord Jesus Christ?

Our faith is based upon the promises of God!

Jacob (Israel) now traveled free of fear of what laid ahead of him.

We seem to forget this from time to time! We already know our future and have no reason to fear the things of this world!

If God is traveling with us, just what should we be afraid of?

This may be the most important thing to remember as we go through these plagues and this new administration!

Israel (Jacob) did not leave anything behind, he took all his possessions with him and he took all his family with him.

*Gen 46:6 And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:
Gen 46:7 His sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.

We should understand that we should be quick to do what God has told us to do!

There is no benefit to being disobedient to God!

We must understand that when God speaks to us, it is for our benefit!

God is able to do all that He says He will do!

God warns us because He loves us, and God will never lead us to do the wrong thing!

When God warns us, then we need to move quickly!

There was no longer a benefit for Israel to remain in Canaan land at this time.

God did not want a godly presence left in this land and God had His reasons!

Gen 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

God had determined that the Amorites, the inhabitants of Canaan Land, had not reached that degree of iniquity that He would cause their destruction.

You see this is what God is waiting upon today!

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

God removed Jacob and all his possessions so he could not influence Canaan Land in his absence.

God will remove the Church from this world so the world cannot be influenced by the Church! This is called the “Rapture of the Church”.

So when God tells the Church to do something, then we had better listen and, then do what God has told us to do without hesitation, for we are not going to Egypt, we are going to Heaven!

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

God moved this family all in one group and they would remain in one group while they lived in Egypt.

It was just 215 years since God made His covenant with Abram.

We know it would be over 400 more years the time they would spend in Egypt.

God’s promise would still be true, and His covenants are still real, and they are still true!

*Gen 46:28 And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.

It was Judah who had the idea to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites and it would be Judah who would lead Israel to the land of Goshen.

Goshen was a district of Egypt where Israel would settle in and remain until it came time for the Exodus.

Before Israel left Goshen, it was called the “Land of Rameses”.

Gen 47:11 And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

It was not Rameses when Israel first came to Goshen.

Goshen was a place of some of the best land in Egypt suited to the raising of animals and was not far from the herds of Pharaoh and probably not far from his residence.

Gen 47:5 And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:
Gen 47:6 The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

After the plagues God placed upon Egypt, the land of Goshen is now no more than a desert.

*Gen 46:29 And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.
Gen 46:30 And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.

It was a wonderful thing to not have to worry about that famine, but Jacob would have never left the land of Canaan because of this famine.

It was a wonderful thing that there was food in Egypt, but Jacob would never have left Canaan because the only food source was in Egypt.

The only reason Jacob left Canaan land was because he could see his son Joseph, and God promised Jacob he would be near his son the remainder of his days, which were 17 more years.

Jacob was not concerned very much about the future because he knew the future lie in the hands of God.

Jacob was only concerned with the time he would spend with his son Joseph!

We should feel these same things about Jesus!

It is not important how much time we have left in this flesh because we know we will live eternally in the presence of the Lord!

The messenger of Jacob was now Judah.

It was Judah’s plan to sell Joseph and now it would be Judah who would lead his father Jacob back to Joseph.

Judah would remain in the forefront of all Jacob’s children, the tribes of Israel.

It is amazing the irony of all these things that happened.

It seems Judah had seen a dramatic change in his ways.

Jacob was a Godfearing man, so he felt great pride in seeing how God had worked through his son Joseph.

What do we know? God can work anywhere to see His Will progress upon this world!

After 22 years the entire family was in one place at the same time.

The whole land of Egypt was suffering from a famine but Joseph who was in charge of all the food, took the time to welcome his father and his family.

Joseph was now a prince in the land of Egypt, but he was not ashamed of the shepherd, his father.

We can see typology all through these passages of Joseph in the Book of Genesis.

Jacob was now at peace with his life and assured of Joseph’s happiness, he had nothing else to live for, he considered his life fulfilled.

When we know the promises of God and the salvation brought to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, we can be at peace with this world and God would have taken us home to Heaven except for the fact that He has things for each of us to do.

We must be witnesses to this lost and dying world!

When we meet Jesus, we will then get the best of God’s creations!

*Gen 47:11 And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

We should see that Israel was not just allowed to live in Goshen, but they were allowed to own the land, and this was a command of this Pharaoh.

This land would not be known as Rameses for probably at least 300 years.

Exo 1:11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

What we see is that while most all Egyptians were perishing in their own land, God supplied Israel and his family with the food of the Egyptians.

God will make the His enemies supply the needs of His children!

Isa 65:13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed:
Isa 65:14 Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.
Isa 65:15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name:

God proves over and over that He knows how to take care of His children!

*Gen 47:12 And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.
Gen 47:13 And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.

As we read through this passage, we will see that these children of Israel were given the best land to settle in and Joseph provided all their needs.

Doing this, while the people of Egypt were getting poorer, in the end having to sell themselves to the government to buy food for their families.

We will see that by the time this famine ended, Pharaoh had control of all the money in Egypt and all the land except for the land of the false priest and the land of the children of Israel.

Hunger will cause many things to happen and many of those things are not good and hunger will drive the people of the Seven Year Tribulation after the Rapture of the Church.

To the Egyptians, Pharaoh was more like a god for what he had accomplished.

Gen 47:25 And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.

This is the way Governments operate today. This is the way the Antichrist will operate!

Saying this, no doubt tight controls were needed for Egypt to survive at this time in history, but the people should never have to give up their land.

Pharaoh could have fed his people without taking all they had from them!

What were the children of Israel doing all this time, multiplying! All their needs were met!

Joseph was operating under divine guidance!

We should remember it was God who interpreted Pharaoh’s dream!

It was God who saw that Joseph was exalted!

Pharaoh the pagan ruler was used of God to care for God’s children even better than he did his own!

Pro 21:1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.

God does make use of unbelieving leaders like this Pharaoh and He still does this thing today for His own purpose.

We should remember how God used Cyrus.

We should remember how God used Nebuchadnezzar.

How God used Pilate even with him knowing Jesus was innocent of all charges!

God still uses unbelieving leaders today to get His will done!

If we need to know more, all we need do is study the Scriptures!

*Gen 47:27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.

Even during a long famine we see where God will take care of His people if we just do as He says.

We may have to move as did Jacob to a foreign land, but the results were that a nation was formed according to the will of God.

God was fulfilling his promise to Jacob and as He had promised Abram and Isaac.

Gen 46:3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
Gen 46:4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

We might ask ourselves, why did the children of Israel not leave after the famine was over, but we must see that it was not in the will of God at this time to do so.

We know that the children of Israel continued to grow until they may have outnumbered the Egyptians.

The problems came to Israel when they began to spread themselves throughout Egypt, where they began to learn the ways of the Egyptians who worshipped many pagan false gods. They all should have remained in Goshen until God called them home!

Again they forgot the promises of God.

Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

Jacob the old man now Israel as a nation grew at his feet died in peace!

*Gen 47:28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.

Jacob may be the last of men to live for such and age as 147 years.

As he raised Joseph, he felt he was in his last years.

For 17 years Joseph had cared for his ailing father until he was sold into slavery, but the Lord was with him.

Twenty-two years passed and Joseph reappeared as Governor of Egypt and Jacob got to spend the last 17 years of his life with Joseph still taking care of his dad.

Jacob died in peace after 22 years of mourning for his son and 17 more years learning the truth!

A couple more things we see is, how a government operates with a 20 percent flat tax on its subjects.

One more thing we see that the government owns all the land, and the people are only tenants on that land.

Our own government is leaning this way today.

Egypt still operates with a system close to this today.

Amen

God Is Working Behind The Scenes of This World

February 7, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Providential Provision for Israel (God Has This Plan)

Book of Genesis Chapters 41 through Chapter 45

We do not have to study the Scriptures long, until we will realize that the Lord is working behind the scenes in His created world to make sure there is a positive ending.

The plan of God is amazing!
The plan of God is sure!
The plan of God is unstoppable!

God knows what is best for each of us and He will actively work in our lives if we are willing to allow Him to do so.

Why does God do these things? Because He cares!

1Pe 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

If something is bothering you, then you need to go to the Lord!

He wants to hear about it even though He already knows what is going on in your life.

You want to be in the family of God? Then you need to be in the will of God!

Mar 3:35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

We cannot be a part of this world and be in the will of God!

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The Lord will never give you something to do without He goes before you to prepare your way!

We know that Jehovah had told Abraham that Israel would spend 400 + years in a foreign nation and leave that nation with a great substance.

We now know that these things began when God moved Joseph into position.

Now we may not agree with everything Joseph had to go through, but we do know the Lord was with him and kept him safe while He trained Joseph to be second in command of Egypt the most powerful nation of that day.

Joseph is now in prison because he would not give in to temptation from the wife of Potiphar.

These things began with dreams and it would be dreams that would bring Joseph before Pharaoh.

*Gen 41:14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.

If we do not see anything else, we had better see the power of God behind the political world and the governments of the world.

Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

God never puts rulers in place to do bad things!

Joseph had now waited a long time for his deliverance, but he knew it was coming, he just did not know when.

It is the same for the Church today. We are bought and paid for by the blood of the Lamb of God. We are awaiting on the Lord to take us home!

We should also be able to see that it was not for Joseph’s sake that he was called out of prison, it was because a mighty Pharaoh had a need that he did not understand.

Joseph recognizing this made himself presentable. As God’s children we should never look like the world.

Joseph was not recognizing the Pharaoh’s power he was recognizing God’s power!

The world of that day needed the blessings of God to survive just as it is for the world today. We live in a dying world!

Pharaoh does not beat around the bush, he needed answers to these dreams that he did not understand.

Notice also Joseph is just as calm in the presence of Pharaoh as he was in the prison.

*Gen 41:15 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.
Gen 41:16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

Joseph listens calmly as Pharaoh make his case, and the reason he had asked to see Joseph.

There was no one in all of Pharaoh’s council who could interpret this dream of Pharaoh and this man had enough sense to not let it go.

To Pharaoh this thing seemed too important to let go and he was right.

In this dream was not just the plan to feed the family of Israel, but to feed all of Egypt and much of the world of that day.

We should understand that there is never a day that God does not make sure there is enough food to feed the world.

It is the governments and rulers who allow for people to starve to death!

Joseph takes only a moment to tell Pharaoh that he does not have the ability to interpret dreams, but it is the God of the Hebrews, who only can interpret these type of dreams!

In other words there was no false god that could have such an ability!

Psa 25:14 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

Pro 3:31 Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.
Pro 3:32 For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous.

The world simply cannot see nor understand the truth!

Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

2Co 3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;

Joseph clearly understood things that many Church members do not understand today!

Pharaoh then tells Joseph his dream and the Lord gives Joseph the proper interpretation.

*Gen 41:28 This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.

This message was for Pharaoh not Joseph or the children of Israel.

It would be Pharaoh who would have to make the right decision after he heard the interpretation of his dreams!

By showing Pharaoh the answer to these dreams, Joseph is now accepted as a Prophet of the Hebrew God, Elohim.

It was only later that God said He was the Great “I Am”.

We must also understand that there is no “science” in interpreting the Word of God.

God says what He means, and God means what He says!

This is the message Joseph gave to Pharaoh as did Daniel.

Dan 2:27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
Dan 2:28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;

No government leader should be swayed by his councilors until he knows he has the truth. If he is not satisfied with their answers then he will need to go outside that group of people and there is no better man to go that the true man of God.

I do not need to know what my government says, I need to know what my God says!

For all those who think that “science” must confirm or agree to the Word of God for the Word of God to be true are only foolish.

Just accept a literal translation of the Word of God, “rightly divided”!

Science changes as time goes by but the Word of God never changes because the truth will always be the truth.

*Gen 41:29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
Gen 41:30 And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
Gen 41:31 And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.

Remember how Moses became God’s Prophet to Pharaoh well we see that Joseph had set the example as Joseph was now God’s Prophet to Pharaoh.

It is a fact that God has the power to give His servants understanding and insight!

God still does this today, but He uses His written Word to tell us of our future so there is no need for prophets.

God tells us to study the Word of God.

2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

If our new president needs some insight of the things of our world, and he does, then he should just study the Bible just as God told all the kings of Israel and all rulers then and today.

It is not enough to swear upon a book you have never read!

What was soon coming to Egypt? A famine such that has never been seen by the people of Egypt and the surrounding lands but before this occurred there would be seven years of plenty above what was normal.

Decisions have to be made in the good years because bad years always come.

In other words, we need to prepare for that bad day because it is certainly coming!

Again God had to get Jacob and his family to come to Egypt and it would never have happened without this famine!

Did God cause this famine? No, God does not do bad things! He does allow them to take place!

We must repeat this over and over. God does not do bad things, but He does allow many of them to take place!

It is Satan the Deceiver who caused this bad thing to happen.

Now do not get me wrong, God does have some rules as God told the children of Israel.

Deu 11:16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
Deu 11:17 And then the LORD’S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.

Could God have stopped this thing? Yes, and He will explain it all to us one day!

Again, it was Satan trying to destroy the path to the Messiah and he will try many more times before the Lord is born in Bethlehem.

Seven years is nothing in the plan of God and remember God has written it all down for us to see that the only path to eternal life with Him is through and by the Lord Jesus Christ!

When God takes the time to tell us what is about to happen, He does this so we can prepare for the worse.

Today God tells us what will happen if we do not believe what He says, and we are fools if we do not take the Word of God serious!

When God repeats Himself, then we can expect things to happen soon!

The famine that was coming would wipe away all the good thoughts of those years of plenty.

These things were certain!

*Gen 41:32 And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

Notice how the Holy Ghost now gives us a Biblical study tool.

When God has to repeat Himself then we can be sure these things will happen soon!

God repeats Himself because of His “Mercy”. If God warns us one time then that is enough, but because God loves His creation, He repeats Himself many times.

Joseph could speak boldly because he was speaking the truth!

It is the same with every true Prophet in the Scriptures. They speak boldly because they speak the truth! The Word of God is that truth!

Joseph was so sure he then goes on to teach the most powerful man in the world of that day just what to do.

We will see that this Pharaoh was a pagan, but he did have some intelligence.

*Gen 41:38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?

Joseph had told Pharaoh that he needed a man who knew how to get Egypt through these 14 years.

Obviously, this wisdom came by the Lord, but we can see this young man named Joseph was certainly a special young man.

This man in charge would buy up one-fifth of all the grains that were harvested in those seven years of plenty.

Remember these were seven years of plenty so the crops would be greater than in a normal year.

All this grain would be stored in many cities safe and secure from the elements and with the seal of Pharaoh.

It would be much easier to handle the distribution of this food when the time came to do so.

This food would be held in reserve, unused for anything else, but those seven years of famine.

By this Egypt would be secure from economic collapse during the coming famine.

God has the power for our voices to be heard at His timing!

God will provide the wisdom that we need as He promises!

Psa 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

Psa 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Pro 2:6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

If we belong to the Lord and are following in His Will, He will give us understand and wisdom and speak through us, but we must have “faith”!

if we make ourselves available to the Lord, He will use us! God loves volunteers, ask Isaiah.

Joseph did not shy away though he stood before the earthly ruler of the world on that day.

Joseph knew that it was Elohim who was the God of all power and we are all puny in any power we think we have.

*Gen 41:39 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
Gen 41:40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
Gen 41:41 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.

This free advice, given to Pharaoh was sound advice, in fact, so sound that even if the famine did not come the government of Pharaoh could not lose have control of such a valuable commodity.

Joseph was a man with the gift of God, the spirit of wisdom.
Joseph was free of selfishness.
Joseph was not plotting for advancement.
Joseph was pure used of the Holy Spirit.

Pharaoh was the sinner.
Pharaoh was rich and had need of nothing, or so he thought. (Reminds us of the last Church Age)
Pharaoh began to see that there was a God that he did not know about.

If Joseph had just interpreted the dream and said nothing else, Egypt would not have survived because Pharaoh lacked the wisdom to do the right thing.

If Joseph had not been selected to make sure these things were handled properly then Egypt would not have survived.

God was not so much set on the survival of Egypt as he was the survival of Israel, and this will never change.

The world needs to wake up to this fact today!

God knows what will take place at all times now and all future times, as long as time last!

Joseph had come out of the prison one day because he was requested by the Pharaoh of Egypt.

Before this day was over Joseph was wearing the signet ring of Pharaoh that was used to for signing public documents.

Joseph then began to wear a coat of fine linen. See even the coat made by his father Israel was a picture of prophecy!

He also wore a gold necklace, a badge of rank, indicating his rank and authority.

Joseph also had the privilege of riding in the state chariot.

A Pharaoh would have two chariots. One the state chariot, the other a war chariot.

There would be someone crying before him which said, “bend the head, bow the knee”.

Joseph would be treated as royalty, as long as this Pharaoh lived and maybe longer as long as the family of this Pharaoh lived.

We know it was over 400 years before a wicked Pharaoh wanted to destroy Israel by making them all slaves.

*Gen 42:6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.

Joseph was now Governor over all the land of Egypt.

All merchantmen from every nation had to appear in person before Joseph to buy or to sell.

Remember Israel (Jacob) was a very rich man, who sent his sons to do business in Egypt, but Joseph had no responsibility to sell them anything.

After 22 years Joseph and his brothers were again face to face and according to the early dreams of Joseph, they bowed the knee with their faces toward the earth.

Gen 37:6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
Gen 37:7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
Gen 37:8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
Gen 37:9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
Gen 37:11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

His brothers did not yet know this was Joseph and they did not recognize him with his new coat and position.

And Joseph did speak roughly to them as they had to him.

We see that nothing can stop the plan of God for He influences many rulers of this world and sets them all in power, though we may not understand why certain men become rulers or why they do what they do.

The survival of the nation of Egypt and maybe many other nations depended upon Joseph, but also the survival of Israel and his family was now in the hands of Joseph.

The world thinks things just happen by accident because this is the teaching of evolution!

The pure fact is, that all the things of this world happen according to the “providence of God working in our lives”!

There are no accidents!

Very seldom if any at all, does things happen to people unless someone breaking some law or someone involved was breaking a law.

Even trips and falls happen because we are reckless and stubborn.

Think about it and you will know this is true.

It is God who holds all life in His hands, and He knows what will happen to each of us daily and in our future.

God is under no obligation to extend the life of any of us!

God and God only, knows those who will return to Him!

Isa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Isa 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God knows those who will return to Him just as well as He does those who will never turn to Him!

Joseph finally had to tell his brothers the truth.

*Gen 45:3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

When you have been concealing the truth for 22 years and the reality of that truth confronts you, you will not know what to say.

Num 32:23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.

It is by the providence of God that the truth will surface and lies will be exposed.

Yes, it will happen in our own government sooner, or later, not because I say so, but because God says so.

Joseph could no longer hold back his emotions.
Joseph had received “Grace” so now he offered “Grace”.
Joseph understood why all things that happened to him, happened.
Joseph never took his eyes off of the Lord God Almighty.
Joseph understood what forgiveness really means!

Rewards can happen upon this earth, though most of our rewards will take place when we meet Jesus in the clouds.

Joseph’s rewards were not his position nor his riches in Egypt.

Joseph’s reward was being reunited with his family!

In this instance, by typology, Joseph is a type of our Heavenly Father!

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

God did not create Hell for humans, Hell was created for the Devil and his fallen angels.

Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

Jud 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

If you end up in Hell, it will be because you have rejected the truth! There is a place called Hell!

Joseph must yield to his love for his family.

*Gen 45:4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

Joseph had always loved his brothers and never understood why they did what they did.

It took 22 years and a great distance for these 10 men to know love for their brother.

Joseph forgave his brothers because Joseph realized that the hand of God was involved in his purpose.

Joseph was treated badly by his brothers because of envy, jealousy and hatred because that this is what they had seen all their childhood days.

They had now spent 22 years seeing how this thing had affected their father and they were more mature.

If we study the Scriptures, we see that Joseph had reacted with love toward his brothers just as the Bible teaches.

God had not caused these men to mistreat their brother Joseph.
God had not caused Joseph to be sold into slavery, but God used it to further His plan for Israel.
God had not caused all the things that had happened to Joseph while he was in Egypt, but God had been with Joseph every moment of his life and caused him to prosper in all the things he had done.

Joseph wanted his brother to come closer to him because there were some things the Egyptians did not need to know, and Joseph wanted to put them at ease.

God wants us all to be just as forgiving as He is!

Mar 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Mar 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Mar 11:26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Joseph had forgiven them.

They knew what they had done and after reminding them just to show he was Joseph, not much more needed to be said.

Forgiveness shows love!

*Gen 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

When we realize that we are in the plan of God, and He has His hand upon us, we get to see the bigger picture. Somewhat like God sees His plan in action.

These brothers needed to establish some trust now that they had been reunited and the first step was forgiveness.

Jealousy, envy, bitterness and hatred had to be put aside for God’s plan to become real.

When we look back at all the foolish things and serious sin, we have done all our lives, we can become discouraged, but Joseph did not want his brothers to feel this way.

God can bring good out of every mistake and God has more forgiveness than we have error.

But we must repent and repent still means much more than saying “I am sorry”.

There must be some action in our repentance.

These ten brothers were forgiven by Joseph and it was time for them to get together and save this family that God intended to build a nation from.

They were just a small part of the nation of Israel that exists today.

Joseph was sent before his family to make preparations, by the hand of God!

Psa 105:16 Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread.
Psa 105:17 He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
Psa 105:18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:
Psa 105:19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.
Psa 105:20 The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
Psa 105:21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:
Psa 105:22 To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.
Psa 105:23 Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
Psa 105:24 And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies.

One of these days we will wake up and see that God knows what He is doing.

He has given us a purpose.
He has given us commandments.

Our one and only duty is to obey!

Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecc 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Lets let God be God and stay out of His way, while we are obedient to do what He has called us to do!

Joseph told his brothers that this famine had just begun, and it was going to get worse.

This is the same message we have today.

The persecution we see today is going to get worse before the Lord takes us home!

Amen

The Lord Has A Plan For You

January 31, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Joseph Is Protected in Egypt

Book of Genesis Chapters 39 and 40

As Christians we will be further tested in 2021. Persecution is on the rise and it will increase. The amazing thing about Christian persecution is that the Church always grows when persecution increases. God does not cause Christian persecution to allow this to happen!

The world will treat Christians shamefully just as the world did to Joseph. Much of the persecution of the Church will come by many so-called Christians already in the Church such as our own president who stands against all the Word of God though he claims salvation though his own pastors will not pray in the name of Jesus Christ.

If you do not claim Jesus, you cannot be Christian, and your salvation has no merit!

Today we will see that the Lord is true to His Word as He will never abandon us nor will He forsake us as the world turns against us.

Joseph was treated shamefully by his own brothers.

We will see that these 10 brothers held the truth of Joseph from their father for near 22 years when Jehovah stepped back into the picture to show Jacob (Israel) the truth of his son Joseph.

Joseph never forgot his roots and he knew his roots were in the Almighty God.

We know there were no Christians in the Old Testament because to be a Christian is to come by Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who began a New Covenant based upon better sacrifices.

A new and living way.

Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
Heb 10:21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

In typology Joseph was a great example of what a Christian should be like given to us from the pages of the Old Testament.

Joseph was God’s child, but he was not Christian!

*Gen 39:1 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.
Gen 39:2 And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

Let us not miss the fact that slavery was alive and well in these days of Joseph, and we need not think that Joseph was the only human that was robbed of his dignity and his freedoms as we can be sure that there was a great market for the sale of humans in that day as there is today.

Why do we continue to allow this to go on today?

Egypt was the greatest of powerful nations at this time in history.

All powerful people believe they should be able to have slaves!

We need to understand things are going to happen to us that we just will not like. We live in a wicked world no matter how our politicians dress it up!

We live in a world that denies its Creator and blames everything upon humans when all these things could be stopped if not for wickedness in high places.

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

We must never overlook this Scriptural truth!

It is the truth today just as it was in the days of Joseph if not more so!

Joseph was now a slave with no rights and no freedoms.

Joseph came from a rich family, but he was now just a poor slave who would become a servant to Potiphar.

This sounds familiar as we know our Savior gave up the riches of Heaven to put on the clothes of a servant in order that we could be saved from this wicked dying world.

Joseph had someone on his side throughout all his days in Egypt!

The LORD was with Joseph!

When the title Lord is spelled with all capital letters, it means Yahweh, the self-existing God, Jehovah as the Hebrews would say.

It is the Lord who made Joseph to be prosperous even as a slave in a foreign land.

The one thing Joseph had to do was to not forsake his Savior!

Tit 2:9 Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again;
Tit 2:10 Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.
Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

We must understand that the Word of God does not ever change according to our own circumstances.

The Word of God remains the same and the meaning of the Word of God is always unchanged.

God says what He means, and God means what He says!

The important thing to us as it was to Joseph is that The LORD will never forsake us if we love Him!

*Gen 39:3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
Gen 39:4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

We should know it was not the sin of Joseph that caused him to be a slave in Egypt.

Yes, Joseph was a sinner, but it was the sin of his brothers that caused him to be in Egypt.

Nothing in God’s plans for Israel, changed at all when this thing happened!

God does not adapt to the things of the world. God’s plan moves along at His own pace and nothing and nobody can change what God has planned from the very first day of Creation.

Joseph found “Grace”!

Grace is the unmerited favor of God.

The word “Grace” is seen in the Bible 170 times and the actions of God’s “Grace” are seen many more times than this.

We need to understand God wants to show us His “Grace” and not His “Judgment”!

Psa 84:10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Psa 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Psa 84:12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

Grace is not just a New Testament word!

Even as a young man of 17, the work ethic of Joseph impressed this Egyptian soldier.

*Gen 39:5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.
Gen 39:6 And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.
Gen 39:7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.

Joseph ran the household of Potiphar so well Potiphar could concentrate on his duties but there was one duty that was being neglected, his wife.

Notice how her sin began in her eyes.

She cast her eyes upon Joseph. She saw a goodly person. She saw a young man well favored by all that knew him.

What do we know?

We all need to make a covenant with our eyes!

Our eyes will get us in trouble!

Job 31:1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
Job 31:2 For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
Job 31:3 Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
Job 31:4 Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
Job 31:5 If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
Job 31:6 Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.

We see that Job had the right answer.

We also see this woman was daring and shameless in her sin.

1Jn_2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

By the words of Jesus, this woman had already sinned.

Mat_5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Jesus said this of a man, but it is the same for a woman!

Joseph had done nothing to cause this but maybe he could have made himself more aware and been more ready for what did happen. Perhaps!

Joseph knew better than to sink to this depth of sin!

Pro 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
Pro 6:24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

Pro 30:20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

Joseph also began to realize the scorn of a woman.

Pro 21:19 It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.

*Gen 39:8 But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
Gen 39:9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me “but thee”, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

Joseph was being trained for things that were in his future and we must understand that we must survive temptation!

Pro 22:14 The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.

No doubt Potiphar knew something of the ways of his wife because he had warned Joseph.

We should not doubt that this was a beautiful and attractive woman and she certainly held power in her political circles.

The one thing we will understand from the Word of God is that He will help us to escape temptation.

God also warns us about these things when we are young.

2Ti 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
2Ti 2:23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.

Joseph chose to do the right thing. He ran.

Joseph might not have known what would happen, but he knew he would remain innocent in the eyes of God and God would protect him.

We can just imagine Joseph as he might say to himself, “what would Jesus do” when he did say “how then can I do this great sin of wickedness against God”?

This woman would not have known the meaning of what Joseph had said because her gods had no such rules.

We see that “sex” outside of marriage is indeed a “great wickedness” in the eyes of God.

We live in a world where these things are blessed by the government and if mistakes are made then it is alright to solve that problem by murdering that unborn child.

The master of the house had trusted Joseph with all his possessions but not with his wife.

We must understand that all sin is first against God and God alone!

Deu 25:16 For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.

Sin always interferes with our relationship with the Lord!

Psa 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

If our prayers and our conversations with the Lord cease to be heard, our life will become miserable.

This woman could not stop her lusts for Joseph, or she refused to, and she lacked opportunity.

*Gen 39:10 And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
Gen 39:11 And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.

You know the Lord will never accept the excuse “well I just had to give in, she would not stop”.

When we look to other humans from a human point of view, we will not always get the right answer.

But when we look to humans from Heaven’s point of view, we can see right from wrong.

Potiphar’s wife treated Joseph in a humiliating way by requesting him to her bedroom and doing so very often.

She saw Joseph as no more than a slave who should have been obedient to her.

In reality, there is just no way defend sex outside of marriage.

Joseph was not about to sacrifice his purity or his integrity just to please his master’s wife.

Joseph may not have been a teenager anymore, but he was not going to ruin his adult life by disobeying God!

Joseph had to fight this battle every day until this day when he was alone in the house with this foolish woman.

Maybe Joseph should not have put himself in this position but as a hard and devoted worker, he may not have even noticed he was alone with her.

The world does not know the meaning of sin!

Potiphar’s wife had probably set these things up and we will notice these men were close enough for her make contact with them quickly, if things did not go her way.

What should we know? The Word of God.

Pro 5:1 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
Pro 5:2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
Pro 5:3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
Pro 5:4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
Pro 5:5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
Pro 5:6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
Pro 5:7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Pro 5:8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
Pro 5:9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
Pro 5:10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
Pro 5:11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
Pro 5:12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
Pro 5:13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

Joseph allowed this woman to get a little too close to him and she caught him by his garment.

*Gen 39:12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.

Joseph ran out of his garment as a man escaping for his life and in reality, this would have been true.

Joseph did not stop to argue with this woman, it was time to get away from her no matter the consequences.

This is the second time someone removed the coat of Joseph!

What is our lesson here?

When we are in the habit of referring everything to God we will not be easily deceived by the appearance of things in this world.

Joseph was not about to get into a pulling match with this wicked wife of his master Potiphar.

She then changed her approach and blamed Joseph when, “by her holding onto the garment” should have been obvious, she was the blame.

She explains herself to her husband.

*Gen 39:16 And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home.
Gen 39:17 And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me:
Gen 39:18 And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.
Gen 39:19 And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.

We should immediately notice that this woman laid the blame on her husband saying, “this Hebrew servant you brought onto us”.

Wicked women know how to remove the blame from themselves.

Potiphar became enraged as most men would do.

We must understand that God’s people will face false accusations and these things will increase.

The world has no other way to battle the truth.

Pro_12:17 He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.

Pro_12:19 The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

A charge of rape or attempted rape has never set well with any people.

Of course Joseph was innocent, but he would never be able to convince Potiphar of the truth even if he knew about his promiscuous wife. The politics of his position would not have allowed it.

Joseph is wronged by his master for political reasons and Joseph expects to be killed but this is not in God’s plan and Joseph has spent enough time in the house of Potiphar to see how the political things work in Egypt.

Joseph will not be killed but he will be placed in prison.

*Gen 39:20 And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.

In many ways this is seen as a mild punishment, but we must see that Joseph is being protected by the Lord, after all he is innocent of all charges.

We can also suspect that Potiphar may not have believed all the things his wife had said and to me the evidence proved she was lying.

I believe Joseph was imprisoned for appearances and Potiphar had placed a lot of trust in Joseph and I believe Potiphar actually believed Joseph but none of these things mattered because Jehovah knew the truth.

Once we are “justified” by the Lord it does not matter what the world believes.

We live in a heavily biased nation with politicians ensuring that it stays that way.

Many similar things were going on in Egypt in that day of Joseph.

1Pe 2:19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
1Pe 2:20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
1Pe 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

All these things are examples of the things that happened to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Isa_53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

It would not be long before Joseph would be running this prison still learning things God wanted him to learn for what lied ahead in his future.

*Gen 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

The truth is gates and bars cannot shut out the mercy of God!

Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Joseph receives the same confidence from the Jailer as he had with Potiphar.

We can be sure there were no loose women in this place.

Our light can shine in a prison as well as it does outside a prison and those who are witnessed to cannot run away.

Joseph had no special traits that made him better than anyone else.

As Christians we are not better than any other people but by the “Grace of God”.

It was the Lord who was on the side of Joseph!

Remember, the Apostle Paul, was content wherever he was located, and God had to put Paul in prison so he could give us the Epistles.

Paul would have never slowed down long enough to write these precious books if he had remained free all those years.

For Joseph, prison was his next steppingstone, to being second in command of all of Egypt.

God certainly does work in mysterious ways!

Isa_55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Joseph became second in command at the prison.

You know, it must have been an absolute pleasure to watch this young man work!

It is a pleasure to work around Christians rather than around those who are lost.

We have different goals as Christians!

Joseph did not have any friends and family around him, but he did have his God with him at all times!

*Gen 39:22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.

Psa 106:46 He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.

As Joseph had grown up, he had witnessed the power of God.

Joseph had dreams that he knew where real.

Joseph knew that God had been with him in his service to Potiphar.

But now even in prison Joseph was seeing that God was with Him and a very great lesson lie before him.

We must all be patient and wait on God!

Joseph may have been in prison, but he was respected, and he had a purpose even in his bounds!

*Gen 39:23 The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.

What is it that gives one special power over men? It is not great natural gifts! It is not superiority of the mind! It is not the gifts of rank and fortune!

The thing that gives one special powers over men is the fact that the Lord is with him!

The only thing Joseph needed to know was that the Lord was with him!

The only thing that can put space between us and God is our disobedience!

Yes, the world had treated Joseph terrible, but this is what the world does. The world will turn on you in a moment if you go against the world.

If we will continue to serve the Lord, praying for our forgiveness and being obedient to the Word of God, we will find that we can prosper even if we are locked up in a prison.

Our prosperity and our success do not depend upon circumstances.

Our prosperity and our success depend upon our integrity, and our attitude, and our character, and our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

If our character is more like Jesus, then we will be successful and blessed of God.

If there is one other thing we must clearly get in our heads, it is that we must patiently wait on the Lord!

Psa_27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

The one thing that Joseph did not forget to do was to act like the Lord is the boss!

Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
Col 3:24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
Col 3:25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

Eph 6:8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.

These things may sound hard to do, but if we remember our ending, then this little time we spend in this flesh upon this earth is really nothing when we compare it to the Glory World!

Amen

From Riches to the Slave Market

January 24, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Joseph and his Brothers

Book of Genesis Chapters 36 through Chapter 38

As we go through these last lessons in the Book of Genesis, we need to remember the time these children spent in Mesopotamia.

How they witnessed the envy and jealousy of the wives of their father.

How two sisters were locked in a bitter feud over them as they were born.

How their grandfather had treated their father Jacob so deceitfully.

How in all their time had had not seen much love from their parents and their grandfather.

They had witnessed envy and jealousy and strife all their days.

We can just imagine how these mothers had taught hatred.

And then Jacob got in on this thing by choosing to show favoritism to Joseph because he was born of Rachel the only wife he truly loved.

This is no way to raise children and we will begin to see some of the results of these things in our lesson today.

Did God also show favoritism to Joseph or does God just try to show how He cares for abused children?

The life of Joseph is expressed in many words in the rest of the Book of Genesis and there are many lessons we can learn from these chapters of Joseph’s life.

Israel would soon need an earthly savior and God chose Joseph to be that earthly savior.

Joseph is a prime example in the Old Testament of what a Christian should be in the New Testament!

Joseph was raised in a wealthy home, but he spent many years as a slave before rising to a place of power.

As a slave he worked hard enough to become the manager of his master’s estate.
As a prisoner he worked so hard he became manager of the prison.
As a man of God, he was called upon to give spiritual guidance to Pharaoh and became second in command of Egypt.

All these things happened because he was a willing servant of God!

What did the Apostle Paul teach us?

Php 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
Php 4:12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Joseph never took his eyes off the Lord at any time in his life!

We must also never forget that Joseph was just a sinner used by the Lord to accomplish certain things.

Joseph became the deliverer of Israel as Israel grew from a family into a nation!

God has a plan for each one that He saves if we will be just as willing as Joseph, and be content as Paul no matter our circumstances.

We may be called upon to do many things in these last days.

We must completely understand though many things happen that we do not agree with, the Almighty God is the supreme Ruler of this world!

We must never blame Jehovah for the way the world is going, we must accept that God knows what He is doing and do the work he gave us to do right up till the sound of the trumpet.

God is the Sovereign Ruler of this world that He created that we are in the process of ruining.

*Gen 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.

The first thing we see is that Jacob is still showing favoritism in this family, this time aimed at Joseph.

These other sons and daughters have witnessed these things all their days.

When you have one father and four different mothers there will be problems in the house as each mother tries to do the best for her own children.

Favoritism causes division within the home. It did then and it does now!

When Joseph was old enough, he began feeding the flocks along with his other brothers.

We know Israel was rich and richness was counted by the number of animals he owned in that day and Israel had many animals.

From the stories of Laban and his daughters we found that Jacob was good with animals and his sons would have learned from him.

Joseph was with his brothers trying to learn the skills necessary to be a shepherd.

The truth is Israel (Jacob) should have had more sense than to single out Joseph for special treatment as he had been a part of these sort of things all his own life and it was multiplied as he had spent 20 years with Laban and been misused himself.

Joseph was his favorite son because Rachel was his favorite wife, and all the children knew these things to be true.

For God’s own plan, he had equipped Joseph with some skills it did not seem his brothers had but we know God does not show favoritism to anyone, especially His own children, whom we are.

We all play a part in the plan of God for this world and He is making all the arrangements for our future home with Him in His House.

We are all different and we all have different skills, but it is how we use those skills that can be a benefit in the work of the Lord.

Once we are saved then the Holy Spirit will decide what else we need, and He may even increase those skills we have or turn us to an entirely different set of skills.

Now we cannot be sure just what a coat of different colors would look like, but we can be sure none of the other children who were all grown men at this time had one like it.

And it being hand made by dad made it even more hated by the others.

It was a rich looking garment of royalty that a shepherd would have no need of, but it is here where we can see in typology our Savior.

Our Savior took off the robes of royalty to put on the coat of a shepherd.

Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

None of these things set well with Joseph’s brothers.

Here again we will see another type of Christ as He came to His own and was rejected by them.

*Gen 37:4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

As we already know from previous Scripture, Jacob loved Rachel far above his other wives.

No doubt all the other boys who were now grown men had lived in this scenario all their days.

They had been eyewitnesses to the deceit of Laban their grandfather.
They had been eyewitness to the envy and jealousy of Leah and Rachel because they lived in the middle of it.
They now witnessed the favoritism of Jacob toward Joseph.

Joseph was partially beloved for his mother’s sake.

But Joseph was the only son who was at home with his father during Israel’s older years as Joseph had just turned 17.

And no doubt Joseph was just special in his ways and just a little bit different from the other boys.

When Jacob started dressing Joseph in finer clothes, it just brought all these things to a head and we already know “envy” brings with it, untold sin.

Pro 27:4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

In a family we are born to help one another, and we should take this mindset out into the world, but envy causes us to destroy one another, even if they are close family.

Joseph’s 10 brothers hated him so much that they could not even speak to him in words of peace. They could not offer him peace. They could not even wish him well.

Then God steps in with prophetic dreams.

*Gen 37:5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
Gen 37:6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
Gen 37:7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.

We do not know if Joseph could feel the presence of the hatred of his brothers.

We can be sure that Israel (the man) did not realize just how much Joseph was hated by his brothers and we see that the mothers are not even written about which means that the Holy Spirit did not think it relevant to tell us about their ways at this time.

We can be sure this was not a happy family!

We know the future of Joseph so we can only say that God was already preparing Joseph for his future.

We should understand that God will always prepare us for some future part of His plan if we make ourselves “teachable” and “available” as our Pastor preached just recently.

If we already think we know everything then God cannot teach us anything about the truth.

We know that Joseph told his dream to his brothers, but Joseph never got the opportunity to interpret his dream as they did this themselves.

We should understand that it was the sons of the two handmaids that had become concubines that Joseph was telling his dream to.

These four young men probably felt less love from their father Israel than them all.

This dream did not set well with them according to their own interpretation.

We know from the Scriptures that they did indeed bow down to Joseph once Pharaoh had made Joseph second in command of all Egypt.

Gen 42:6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
Gen 42:7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

Again, we find that these things are written more for the Church than for these sons of Israel.

We also can see that when Joseph knew his brothers, he spoke rough to them as they had to him all their days when he was a young teenager.

We can see that these four brothers of the handmaids had it in their mind that Joseph would never get the opportunity to rule over them, they would kill him first.

*Gen 37:8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.

if you have read the entire Book of Genesis you know that these sons of Israel had made the right interpretation of Joseph’s dream.

On the day of the dream, they knew Joseph could not rule over them because they would not allow it under their own power.

If Jacob made Joseph to be the head of the family, they would not ever agree with Joseph!

Joseph was despised even more.
Joseph was hated even more.

Makes us think of the days of Jesus Christ.

We are told that the Lord Jesus Christ will one day rule this entire world.

Every knee will bow to Him!

Rom_14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

All those who already despise the Lord, certainly hate Him even more when they are told that they will bow to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Satan goes berserk when you tell him this!

Satan still has a belief that he can defeat Christ Jesus and so do his followers. They are so confused to the truth.

The truth will still hold to be the truth and every soul that has ever lived will bow to the Lord Jesus Christ!

Php_2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

The true Church, that is hated today will be even more hated on the day of the Rapture.

We can just imagine how much hate boils over at the resurrection of the dead and they face the Lord God Judge of Righteousness.

Rom_1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

Mat 22:31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
Mat 22:32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

But Joseph dreamed another dream.

*Gen 37:9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

This dream is similar to the first one in that it was Joseph who his family would bow to.

In the Bible we know that most all dreams were prophecy of some future event.

Jacob (Israel) had such dreams and though he rebuked his son, he did observe the saying of his son.

Was Joseph being cocky? Was Jacob rebuking Joseph to ease the hatred of his other sons?

This dream is a similar dream to the first and it insured the truth of the first dream.

Gen 41:32 And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

Joseph could say this to Pharaoh because he had experienced it himself.

What we must realize is, that God is working behind the scenes to carry out His own will. He is still doing this today and He will continue until things reach their peak as described by the prophets and by the Book of Revelation.

Just as God put things in place for Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy, God is putting things in place with Joseph and his family to fulfill prophecy.

What had God told Abraham.

God used a teenage son of Jacob to get these things started.

None of his brothers could understand what was happening, but they too would be used of God and they did not even realize it.

His brothers had decided to get rid of Joseph and God used them to do this thing.

They would not be allowed to kill Joseph.

Watch how God’s plan works.

*Gen 37:23 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;
Gen 37:24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

Notice these four sons of the handmaids who hated Joseph and would have killed him, while the remaining sons were satisfied just to get rid of him and not kill him, but these to also despised that coat made by their father.

Envy could have caused murder, but it also would cause their own father to suffer for many years when they all knew the truth.

For 21 years they allowed their father to mourn for Joseph even though they knew what happened to him!

In typology we know that the Lord Jesus Christ was stripped of His robe.

Psa 22:18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

Mat 27:28 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.

Also in typology we see the pit as a place called Hell.

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Hell is also a place without water!

Luk_16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

All the lost have a fear of the pit!

Isa_24:17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.

Those bound for Hell have rejected the truth of God.

Isa_38:18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

Joseph would be saved from the pit or from Hell, just as every born again, child of God, because of the “Grace of God”!

Isa_38:17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

We can also see this pit as the empty grave of the Lord then Reuben found this pit to be empty.

The grave of Jesus is still empty!

The enemy will deliver Joseph to the auction block as a slave.

*Gen 37:28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

If not for these seed of Ishmael, Joseph may have been left in that pit to die.

God’s plan was to safely get Joseph to Egypt so He provided transportation!

We see that where envy reigns there is no pity!

Humanity is forgotten when envy reigns.

Have we not seen all these things the last few months in our elections?

Those who have envied and hated president Trump, have not just shown that hatred, but they certainly will not show pity and they want his life destroyed.

Why do not the American people see this and put a stop to it?

The brothers of Joseph continued until Joseph was completely out of their site and out of their lives, or so they thought.

We see malice is like a deadly poison.

Pro 27:4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

Joseph had begged his brothers for his life, but their ears were closed.

Only Reuben seemed to have some feelings for his younger brother.

*Gen 37:29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.

It may have been Reuben’s plan to slip away to do something and then return to get Joseph out of that pit and take him to safety, but the others may have caught on.

Gen 37:22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. ?

It is also curious to see that it was Judah who suggested to sell Joseph.

Gen 37:25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
Gen 37:26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?

It was also a Jew who betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ for silver.

Life was just not precious enough in those days and we live in a world where life is not very precious today.

This is why the Lord teaches us to choose life because all that Satan has is death.

Deu_30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Reuben had warned his brothers about harming Joseph, but they had paid him no attention.

Gen_42:22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.

We should understand God always hears the cry of the innocent!

Psa 9:12 When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.

When Reuben rent his clothes it showed his brothers how disappointed he was in them, but Reuben never told his father Jacob the truth for some reason.

What is the truth?

Pro 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

This is another law that God will never break.

We will never be able to defy God and get away with it!

No matter what we think about the politics of our nation this tiny Scripture in the Book of Proverbs will hold true.

God will not be mocked for very much longer!

*Gen 37:30 And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?
Gen 37:31 And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;
Gen 37:32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.

Reuben asked his brothers how would he ever explain to his father the things about Joseph?

These wicked brothers already had devised a scheme.

They killed one of the goats and dipped that special coat of colors into the blood and sent by a servant to their father.

They were unwilling to face Israel until they knew his reaction!

Their story would be that the coat was found, and they had not seen Joseph.

All those who do such things should know that there will be another special coat dipped in blood one day soon.

Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Rev 19:12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
Rev 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
Rev 19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

These ten sons of Jacob did not have the fortitude to witness the outburst of grief from their father.

They did not want to be there to answer any questions Jacob might have.

These who were willing to kill their own brother but sold him into slavery. became cowards willing to hide their crime and each one had to agree to never let this information come out so their father would know what they had done.

God has another little rule about these things.

Num_32:23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and “be sure your sin will find you out”.

All the hidden wickedness and corruption in our own government will eventually be found out. We can be sure of this!

Another thing we might not realize is, there were some wild animals in that day that would attack humans.

*Gen 37:33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
Gen 37:34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Gen 37:35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.

When we think of lions, we think of the African lions that roar on the plains in Africa. Few people know that there is actually another lion species, the Asiatic Lion, that used to roam Asia as well.

So, there were wild beast in this area in that day and humans were attacked by these animals. It was not too farfetched, for Jacob to believe his son was killed by some wild animal.

It would be 22 years before Jacob would see his son Joseph again, but Jacob did mourn for his son longer than what we would call normal for that day. If there is a precise time of mourning for such a loss.

We should notice that these wicked sons did not actually say that Joseph was dead, but they left their father with very little choice, but to believe Joseph was dead saying they did not find his body which was no doubt rent to pieces.

What do we know is that once Benjamin was born Jacob became ever more protective of him!

We also know that Jacob had deceived his father Isaac.

As parents we also think the worst when something happens to our children. Though Jacob mourned, Joseph was safe in the arms of God stationed to save all his family and preparing to build a nation.

No human could sit down and make such a plan as this plan of God!

*Gen 37:36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.

Joseph had some hard lessons to learn at such a young age. We know he was only 17 years of age at this time.

As far as Jacob was concerned, all the things that happened to him after this were against him.

Gen_42:36 And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.

In reality, all these things had a purpose because he was living in the plan of God which can never fail!

Now this does not mean that God approved of what happened to Joseph, God already knew what He was going to do.

God never approves of the mistreatment of any human being!

God just takes something bad and makes something good come out of it!

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Our God is so great that He can work out His purpose even when people are doing their worst as we see today.

The plan of God cannot fail nor can it be hindered by any human being or any group of humans.

Amen

Coming Back to the House of God

January 17, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Back to Bethel

Book of Genesis Chapters 34 and 35

As we study the Old Testament, we see that these people who preserved the Word of God were just historical people as we are.

These are real people with real problems who found out that it is Yahweh who has all the answers.

These stories of life in the Old Testament are real and they are true.

We see that it is not always easy to be a believer.

We will face many challenges as we try to serve the Lord.

The best solution is the solution the Lord gives us, which is to keep the commandments to God, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jacob had to live with the decisions he had made, and he had to find God’s “Grace”.

The best place to begin in search of God’s “Grace” is at the House of God!

We must always understand God does not need our sacrifices God needs our obedience!

*Gen 35:1 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

Jacob had made a vow at Bethel. God had kept His side of the vow, but Jacob had wavered in his vow.

Gen 28:20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
Gen 28:21 So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:
Gen 28:22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

Many a Christian today, who were on fire for God, when they first asked Jesus to come into their heart, have now cooled off and they need to go back to Bethel, the House of God, and renew their vow as did Jacob.

Jacob had been blessed many times over. Jacob had not given his tenth and Jacob had not given his heart to God which is far more important.

During this “Covid” Plague, many of God’s children have grown cold and afraid and they no longer give their heart to God.

In fact many have even forgotten to support the House of God!

They have just quit on the Lord no matter their excuse!

Ecc 5:4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
Ecc 5:5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

We make a vow to the Lord the day of our salvation, the very moment of our salvation, or we are not saved!

God wanted the heart of Jacob just as he had the heart of Abraham!

Jacob did not need to go alone, he needed to take all his family so they too could join him at the altar of God.

But there are always some things that need to be left behind!

*Gen 35:2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:

No matter who we are or where we come from, as Christians we need to renew our commitments to the Lord first and then to each other.

The second will not work without the first!

The family is the first government that our Creator endorsed.

We might say “I have never had strange gods in my life”, but we are fools to think so!

Gal 4:8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

All these things are false gods that we have allowed into our lives without thinking that they are false.

Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

We must keep the Lord “first” at all times and those weak and beggarly elements, which are worldly things, need to be replaced with the Word of God, that is the Word of Truth!

We need to be clean!

The Bible does say come as you are, but in this instance, we are talking about the children who are already in the family of God.

We must cleanse ourselves because we spend every day in a wicked and sinful and corrupt world.

Jesus said to Peter:

Joh_13:10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.

To wash our feet as Christians is to walk holy and undefiled.

We must wash the filth of this world off before we make request of the Lord.

It is called recognizing we are sinners, asking for forgiveness every day and asking for a refilling of the Holy Spirit every day or more often as the need arises.

We still live in this filthy flesh!
We are still dirty rotten sinners saved only by God’s Grace!

That “Grace” comes only by Jesus Christ!

In our Spiritual life, that has been “justified” by the Lord and purified by the Lord, need not think that we are undone if in our walk in this life we will contract some stains.

We need to wash away those stains!

We get this same meaning where it says a change our garments.

We need to wash away the filth of this world and the Word of God is that cleansing agent.

Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

This washing occurs as we are doers of the Word, we are obedient to the Word of God!

1Co 6:11 And such were some of you: “but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God”.
1Co 6:12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

We cannot allow ourselves to be brought under the power of this world when our power is of the Lord.

We just need to go to the “House of God”.

*Gen 35:3 And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.

We are foolish if we do not remember from where God has brought us from.

Where were we?

1Co 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
1Co 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
1Co 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

We must never forget the power of our “faith” in the Lord Jesus Christ!

We must remember our deliverance!

The Lord will always, “Always”, deliver those who come to Him in faith and repentance!

2Sa 22:2 And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
2Sa 22:3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.
2Sa 22:4 I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: “so shall I be saved from mine enemies”.

If we love the Lord, truly love the Lord, He will always deliver us from our day of distress!

As far as Jacob was concerned Laban was in the past and it was Esau, his own brother who brought these fears to him.

Jacob may not have known just how to approach Esau but as God does, God said to “let his journey begin at Bethel, the House of God”.

This is a great lesson for us all.

No matter what we are going through, we need to go to the Lord in prayer and there is no better place to pray than the altar at the house of God.

Yes, we are to go to our closet and get alone with God.

But a Spirit filled House of God, where others who love the Lord can bring great peace of mind.

God is our deliverer!

Psa 18:17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.
Psa 18:18 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.

Jacob had asked his family to give up all false gods and to go with him to the House of God.

Anything people worship is to them a god!

Anything we put before the Lord has become our god!

But there is only one true God!

*Gen 35:4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
Gen 35:5 And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

If we go back to where Jacob had begun his journey to escape from Esau, we will understand this better.

Jacob had vowed a vow to Yahweh and God was doing His part and had done His part.

God always does what He says He will do!

We must repent of our old life and walk in the Word of God!

We must bury our old gods and seek the Living God!

Isa 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We must put away our own thoughts and seek the “Mind of Christ”!

1Co_2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

What was the mind of Christ?

To do the will of His Father!

Joh_8:28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

When we are doing the will of our Heavenly Father, we will be doing the will of our Savior!

Until the Lord takes us home, we will still be amongst our enemies!

Sometimes we are our own worst enemy!

*Gen 35:6 So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.
Gen 35:7 And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

Luz was a royal city of the Canaanites.

By the direction of God, Jacob was directed right into the mouth of the enemy.

This is the location of the Church today.

As long as we are upon this earth we will live amongst our enemies.

In reality, this nothing to be frightened of.

We are strangers and pilgrims in the land.

Even in the midst of our enemies we can find the “House of God”!

Mat_18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Notice that Jacob had found something that is more important than the House of God.

Jacob came to realize if God is not in the House, then it is not a true House of God.

It is El-bethel, the “God of House” that makes a true Church!

So many places of worship today have forgotten this.

Jesus is finding that in America, He is no longer welcome, much like when He came the first time.

Luk_9:58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

My question is how have we allowed this to happen?

We as Christians have to be the laziest people on the face of the earth!

We think once we are saved, we can forget the world we live in.

We are left in this world to make a difference and we are failing because we refuse to do the work of God.

It is the “God of the Church” that makes the difference, and He must live within us!

We cannot abandon our places of worship as we are told to today, but we had better bring Jesus with us when we go.

We need revival in America.

Not just for lost souls, as many believe, but to revive all the Church, the “Body of Christ”!

There can be no revival if it does not begin with each Church member, each believer!

Jacob built an altar to sacrifice the tenth he had promised to complete his vow, and he was now much closer to the Lord, the God of the House.

It was not the animals that made the sacrifice, it was the heart of Jacob that was important if he was to be Israel.

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

If we do not look to Jesus, then we have not laid aside every weight we carry, and we will be worn out before our journey begins.

It was not the journey Jacob made to get to the House of God, it was the journey he made after he had been to the House of God.

Will the God of the House be with him?

Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.

It was a good time for one to repent and give her heart to God.

*Gen 35:8 But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.

We do not know for sure, but Deborah would have been more than 140 years old at the time of her death.

Gen 25:20 And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.

Compare

Gen 35:28 And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years.

Deborah had left Haran with Rebekah 140 years before this death.

“Allonbachuth” means, the “Oak of Weeping”.

No doubt this nurse had spent many of Jacob’s early years teaching him and helping to raise him.

If we set our roots down in a Bible believing Church, we will see over time, many of the Saints of God go home to glory.

These will be days of sadness until we wake up to the fact that they went to where we want to go, to the Glory World of Heaven.

Death and burial is in all our future unless the Rapture of the Church takes place before our day comes!

We must also understand that on our journey to Heaven the true “Promised Land”, we will not be exempt from the things that happen to all humans.

Our journey will not always be easy nor is it intended to be.

Life is not all that fun especially as we get older, but we live, knowing that a life given to the Lord is a life that cannot die.

I am so glad I am no longer a “dead man” but am alive forever in Christ Jesus!

So Yahweh came to visit Jacob another time.

*Gen 35:9 And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.
Gen 35:10 And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.

We might miss this if we are not looking.

God takes the time to remind us who we are!

God provides us that assurance we need to stay motivated!

Once Jacob had given his heart to Yahweh, The Almighty God, He then reminds Jacob he is no longer the supplanter, but he is a prince in the family of God and the priest of his own family.

Rev_1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev_5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Our Lord God likes it get up close and personal and He tries much more than we do to get close to us.

We sometimes forget just how much we are loved by our Creator.

And God said:

*Gen 35:11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;
Gen 35:12 And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.

The great “I Am” said call me “El Shaddai” there is nothing in this Universe as powerful as the Almighty God.

Why do we express the fears that we do?

He is God “All Sufficient”!

He is able to make good on every promise He has ever made!

We must allow El Shaddai to do His work at His own pace and in His own time.

We can see that He had His watchful eyes on Israel, the man, as He has always had His eyes on Israel, the nation.

Part of those promises given to Abraham would be given to Israel and many of those promises are not yet fulfilled even today, and we should understand that we can only be a living part of God’s plan if we listen to what He says and then do as He has commanded us.

Israel would be the father of a great nation.

The tiny nation of Israel today stands a small but powerful nation, because of these blessings given to Jacob on this day we are reading of.

Also the Lord Jesus Christ is the “promised seed” and all nations have within their borders those who love and serve the Lord.

We know that Heaven where the Lord is today is that true “Promised Land”, open to all to give their heart to God Almighty, El Shaddai!

Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Eph 3:21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

The things of this world from Creation until today, have come about exactly as the Word of God has said, and things will continue until they reach their climax at the return of our Savior.

We have no reason to doubt the Word of God!

How can we doubt something that has proven to be true over and over again?

*Gen 35:13 And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.
Gen 35:14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.

We know God did not meet Jacob face to face or Jacob would have died on the spot, but God did meet with Israel in some visible display of His glory that hovered over him while God talked to Israel just as He did in the time of Moses over the Tabernacle.

When Jacob had first met the Lord at Bethel, he set up a stone he had used for his pillow.

Israel now took the time to erect a more stately and more lasting memorial probably placing that first stone in some part of it.

Israel then hallowed it with freewill offerings.

If our offerings are not given freely then they are meaningless!

This is the first place the drink offering is mentioned in the Bible.

In many places we will see the English word wine, but alcohol would have never been used in an offering to God.

The Bible says we are not even to look upon fermented grape juice.

Pro_23:31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

We know that God will never go against His own Word!

Many so-religions forsake these words, but Israel would not have.

This grape juice was to be poured on the altar as a sacrifice!

There is more to a drink offering than we think!

We can call it symbolism, but we use the phrase “typology” which is more appropriate.

He first poured a drink offering of wine and then he poured oil over it.

If we look closely, we can see Jacob was prophesying about the sacrifice of Jesus by his actions.

We know that Jacob was the father of twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel.

The Lord changed Jacob’s name to Israel.

One of Jacob’s sons was Judah; where we get the word Jew, and we know that Jesus was a Jewish Man from the tribe of Judah.

Jesus stated emphatically, “Salvation comes by the Jews”.

Salvation came by the Jews in their act of preserving the Word of God and teaching us by example!

Jacob poured the offering on a stone that he had set up.

Jacob did not just see a stone and use it; he set it up to make an altar. It was a pillar it was a cornerstone!

The Bible says God was going to lay a Cornerstone of salvation, a sure foundation.

The scriptures tell us Jesus is that Cornerstone, set up by God!

The drink offering of wine or grape juice symbolizes Jesus’ blood, poured out for us.

After the ‘blood’ came the oil, which symbolizes the third Person of the Godhead; the Holy Spirit, Who has been poured into Christians for us to
‘drink’.

We know of course, we receive the Holy Spirit after we have been washed in the blood of Jesus; so Jacob poured the offerings in the correct order.

The “blood of Jesus” is poured upon that lost soul, then the oil the Holy Spirit is pour into that lost soul to cause a New Life!

We see over and over again we can find salvation in the Old Testament played out to teach the Jews of the coming New Covenant by the “Blood of Jesus Christ.

God would never use some fermented corrupt liquid to show us these things!

“Fermentation” is a corruption of the “Fruit of the Vine”!

Jesus Christ was without sin and without corruption.

if we want to pour out our own drink offering, then when we go to the altar, we need to pour out our heart to a “Righteous Savior” and not some “fermented substitute”.

The best place to do this is at the House of God!

*Gen 35:15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.

Remember the only city that was near this place was Luz a royal city of the Canaanites.

In the future this place would be named Bethel.

In this day of Jacob (Israel), he was saying the House of God!

God will speak to us anywhere and at any time but there is just something special about meeting with the Lord at the House of God.

Isa 43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
Isa 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

Amen

LESSONS IN GOD'S WORD

Taking time to read the Bible

Book of Genesis

The Ministry of Deacons

God’s Plan is Always Moving Forward

God’s Unconditional Love

Freedom Comes At A High Price

God’s Wonderful Promises

Being In The Will of God

God Is Working Behind The Scenes of This World

The Lord Has A Plan For You

From Riches to the Slave Market

Coming Back to the House of God

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