Revelation 4 -- Praise To The Creator

This chapter shows us the importance of worship.  According to my commentary, “Tue spiritual worship is perhaps one of the greatest needs in our individual lives and in our churches.  There is a constant emphasis today on witnessing for Christ and working for Christ, but not enough is said about worshipping him … to use all that we are and have to praise God for all that He is and does.”

Everything centers on the throne in John’s vision of heaven.  “No matter what may happen on earth, God is on His throne and is in complete control… John is emphasizing the glory and sovereignty of God … There is no possible way for human words to describe what God is like in His essence.”

My commentary sees the image of the rainbow as it was seen in Noah’s day – as a sign of hope – that God is merciful, even when He judges, and it sees the creatures as symbolizing the wisdom of God and as proclaiming the holiness of God.

God the Creator seems to be the focus in chapter 4, it says, while in chapter 5 it’s God the Redeemer.

Daniel saw the thrones set up in heaven, but empty, in his vision, but now John sees the thrones occupied by 24 elders.  My commentary suggests that they may represent the people of God in heaven, enthroned and rewarded.

There were storm signals coming out of the throne – thunder and lightning – reminding us of God’s impending judgment and His awesome power, it says.  Also, the clear crystal sea supposedly symbolizes God’s holiness and the mingled fire, His holy judgment.

It may be hard for us to understand the importance of the constant praise for God here, for we often forget to praise Him on earth, but when the four creatures glorified God, the elders would fall before the throne and praise Him.  I just wondered why they would ever get back up and sit on their thrones again!

The praise given to the Creator here is the first step toward trusting the Redeemer, my commentary added.

Father, I fail miserably in praising You enough!  Over the years, I’m thankful that You’ve allowed me to see Your sovereignty and Your omniscience, and I know You are absolutely worthy of all praise, yet the things of this world turn my face from the things of heaven.  I can’t wait to one day be undistracted in my praise and worship of the One who loved me enough to create me and save me!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Revelation 3 -- Word To The Churches

Jesus was delivering a variety of messages to these churches, not to unbelievers.  My commentary pointed out several:

When the Spirit is grieved, the church begins to lose life and power.  When sin is confessed and church members get right with God and with each other, then the Spirit infuses new life.

It is when the church’s leaders and members get accustomed to their blessings and complacent about their ministry that the enemy finds his way in.

The first step toward renewal in a dying church is honest awareness that something is wrong.  When an organism is alive, there is growth, repair, reproduction, and power; if these elements are lacking in a church, then that church is either dying or already dead.

A remnant of dedicated people often exist in even a dying church.

The warning here is that we not grow comfortable in our churches, lest we find ourselves slowly dying.  The encouragement is that no church is beyond hope so long as there is a remnant in it, willing to strengthen the things that remain.

It is not enough to love God and our fellow believers; we must also love a lost world and seek to reach unbelievers with the good news of the cross.

Christ is the Lord of the harvest and the Head of the church, and it is He who determines where and when His people shall serve.

Satan is the accuser and he uses even religious people to assist him.

There are both opportunities and obstacles.  Unbelief sees the obstacles, but faith sees the opportunities.  And since the Lord holds the keys, He is in control of the outcome.  Nobody can close the doors as long as He keeps them open.  Fear, unbelief, and delay have caused the church to miss many God-given opportunities.

God has set before us many open doors of opportunity.  If He opens the doors, we must work; if He shuts the doors, we must wait.  Above all, we must be faithful to Him and see the opportunities, not the obstacles.

The church cannot be a ‘closed system’.  Jesus said, “Without Me, you can do nothing.”  The Laodicean church was independent, self-satisfied, and secure.  But all the while their spiritual power had been decaying.  The Lord was outside the church, trying to get in.

Father, help us to each take an honest look at our churches to determine where we are, where You are, what we are doing, and what we’re missing.  Let us grab the opportunities You present us with and know that we are in Your will.  Help us to be at work where You are at work.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Revelation 2 -- A Standard Of Speaking The Truth In Love

As I began to read God’s words to these churches, my commentary reminded me:  “It is individuals who determine the spiritual life of the assembly.  So, while reading these messages, we must apply them personally as we examine our own hearts.”

It called Ephesus the Careless Church, and said of it, “Some churches need to be cautioned to worship the Lord and not their pastor … What we do for the Lord is important, but so is why we do it … The church that loses its love will soon lose its light, no matter how doctrinally sound it may be.”

My commentary found no words of accusation for the church at Smyrna, but God did tell them, “Don’t be afraid!”  “Their time of tribulation would not be long.  The important things faithfulness, standing true to Christ no matter what …”

The church at Pergamos was seen as compromising.  “A group of compromising people had infiltrated the church fellowship … This group of professed believers lorded it over the people and led them astray … The church as Pergamos would feel the Sword of Christ – the Word – if they did not repent.  This is not a reference to our Lord’s return but to a present judgment that comes to a church when it is disobedient to the Word of God.”

Thyatira was called a Corrupted Church in my commentary.  “No amount of loving and sacrificial works can compensate for tolerance of evil … how to compromise with the Roman religion and the practices of the guild, so that Christians would not lose their jobs or their lives,” was what concerned them the most.

Some words in the summary really stuck out:  “The Ephesian church was weakening in love, yet faithful to judge false teachers; while at Thyatira, they were growing in their love, but too tolerant of false doctrine.  Both extremes must be avoided in the church.  ‘Speaking the truth in love’ is the biblical balance.  Unloving orthodoxy and loving compromise are both hateful to God … Like Ephesus, we can be zealous and orthodox, but at the same time lose our devotion to Christ … It is not only lost sinners who need to repent, but also disobedient Christians.”

Father, please examine my heart and the hearts of all of us in our church.  Look into our hearts and show us what You see.  Help us to be about what You say is important.  Help us to be devoted to Christ and loving to those You are working to reach through us.

Your Brother In Christ,

Revelation 1 -- What To Remember And Expect

My commentary had a lot to say about how we as Christians are to approach this book – “as wonderers and worshippers, not as academic students”.  We need to firm up in our hearts and minds that “today, Jesus Christ is a Priest-King … and we are seated with Him on His throne … exercising spiritual authority and serving God in this world.”

It had likely been sixty years since John had last heard Jesus speak audibly.  What a wonderful surprise that would have been to hear that voice again!  His voice was described as the sound of many waters.  My commentary says, “Christ gathers together all the streams of revelation and is the Father’s last Word to man.”

“This vision of Christ was totally different in appearance from the Savior that John knew in the flesh when He was ministering on Earth.  He was not the gentle Jewish carpenter … He is the risen, glorified, exalted Son of God, the Priest-King who has the authority to judge all men …”

It said this is the apostle who’d leaned on Jesus’ chest, now falling at His feet as though he were dead!  That’s what a vision of the exalted Christ does to us!  “We need this attitude of respect today when so many believers speak and act with undue familiarity toward God … What the church needs today is a new awareness of Christ and His glory.  We need to see Him high and lifted up.  There is a dangerous absence of awe and worship in our assemblies today.”

Father, as I begin reading this book again, keep me in awe of You and Your Son – of the majesty and honor that is always due You.  Remind me that You gave us the awesome privilege of glimpsing the end so that we’d have no fear, trusting in Your mighty power to conquer Satan.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 50 -- What A Way To Close A Book

Jacob died and Joseph and his brothers, along with a host of Egyptians, carried his body to Mamre in Canaan to be buried with Abraham and Isaac.  And yes, the brothers then doubted Joseph’s good will and life that Jacob had required Joseph to forgive them.  But the most touching story in this chapter changed for me this time, due to something I read in my commentary:

“Joseph’s coffin in Egypt was a constant reminder to the Jewish people to have faith in God.  When their situation changed in Egypt and the Jews found themselves slaves instead of resident aliens, they could look at Joseph’s temporary burial place and be encouraged.  [Joseph certainly had heard from God that they would one day leave Egypt and go to the Promised Land.]  During their wilderness wanderings, as they carried Joseph’s remains from place to place, he ministered to them and urged them to trust God and never give up.  A coffin in Egypt may appear to be a discouraging way to close a book, but from the viewpoint of faith, it couldn’t be more encouraging…. ‘He who does the will of God abides forever.’”

Father, that’s what I want.  Help those I visit with, talk to, minister to, and teach to see the promises You’ve faithfully fulfilled in my own life.  Help me to remember that I trust You for the yet unfulfilled requests I’ve made, and change the hearts and lives of those I’m praying for because of my own trust in You!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 48-49 The Future Cost of Sin and The Future Blessing of Obedience

In 49:18, my commentary says it appears that Jacob was communing with the Lord as he gave these final blessings to his sons.  It is therefore very likely, then, that God was directing these words and that they weren’t just an old man’s thoughts about what had happened in his family over time.  But some things he said and did had resulted from the sins of his sons.

First, Jacob adopted Joseph’s two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim as his own.  Since this gave Joseph’s family two inheritances, it effectively made Joseph the firstborn who got the double blessing, replacing Reuben, who’d disgraced his family.  Reuben’s tribe declined in numbers and settled on the east side of the Jordan, technically outside of the Promised Land.

Simeon and Levi had let indiscriminate anger rule them, and they’d killed as a result of it.  Simeon’s tribe eventually was absorbed with the tribe of Judah, and Levi’s tribe wasn’t given an area of land, but instead 48 towns scattered throughout the land.

During Jacob’s adoption of Joseph’s sons, he had crossed his arms, blessing Ephraim (the younger) over Manasseh (the older).  Joseph had realized what was happening and tried to reverse his father’s hands, but Jacob held on.  This was the fifth time in Genesis that the birth order was reversed, my commentary said.  It also added, “Jacob was guided by God and knew what he was doing.”

Sinfulness in the lives of Jacob’s sons caught up with them, and some of what Jacob said wasn’t blessing but instead a revelation of the future cost of their sins, even on subsequent generations.

Father, please help my sons to see the cost of sinfulness and help them to choose obedience to You instead.  Help all of us to know that Your will for our lives is our absolute best course of action.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 46-47 -- Blessing Unbelievers

Jacob was now heading to Egypt – a foreign country to him and a country where he knew his grandfather had gotten into trouble and one his father had been warned not to enter.  But this time, God was directing the move.  As he reached the southernmost point in Canaan, Jacob stopped to worship God and there God spoke to him and reassured him.

Pharaoh had given the most fertile land in Egypt to Joseph’s family for his valuable service and also because Egyptians disliked shepherds, so God’s plan of separation from non-Jews was continued.

Five of Joseph’s brothers accompanied him to see Pharaoh, an rather than being considered resident aliens, Pharaoh placed them in charge of his own herds and flocks!  When Jacob met the king of Egypt, he blessed him in the name of God and did so again when he departed.  My commentary said that’s a good example of how a true believer is to relate to those outside of the family of God.

As the famine worsened over the next few years, the Egyptian people ran out of money and began trading livestock for food, then land, and finally themselves to Pharaoh.  Yet Jacob’s family was adequately cared for in Goshen.  God was still at work!

The way God used Pharaoh shows us that God can work His will even through unbelieving leaders.  God doesn’t have to have Christians as leaders to get His job done.

Father, thanks for showing me the importance of blessing unbelievers as a way of introducing them to You.  Remind me to do that often.  And thank You in advance for hearing and answering these prayers!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 44-45 -- Reconciliation Followed Recognition of Sin

“Be sure your sin will find you out,” is what the Bible says, but my commentary says our modern society thinks that no longer applies – that there is no absolute truth, and no consequences as a result.  “For 22 years, Joseph’s brothers had followed that philosophy and carefully covered their sins.”

Joseph set a trap to bring them to admit their sin by hiding their money and his silver cup in their grain bags before sending them back toward Canaan.  Then he sent his servant to spring the trap.

Judah showed that his heart had changed by stepping up to offer himself as a substitute for Benjamin.  His words, “God has found out the iniquity of your servants … refers to their hidden sins, the way they had treated Joseph and their father years before,” my commentary said.

When Joseph cleared the room of all but his brothers, and then said simply, “I am Joseph,” what must the brothers have been thinking!  They surely worried about the punishment that was sure to come.  Yet Joseph told them plainly how God had overruled their sin and worked it all out for good, to accomplish His divine purposes.

“The story of Joseph and his brothers encourages us to recognize the sovereignty of God in the affairs of life and to trust His promises no matter how dark the day may be,” my commentary said.

Joseph told them to take extra food and wagons and to hurry back to Canaan to bring his father and their entire family back to Egypt, where God would take care of them during the remaining five years of famine to come.  And for four centuries, God would use this move to form the new nation of Israel and then move them back to the Promised Land.

Father, thank You for this great picture of reconciliation, especially the part of seeing changed hearts and lives as a result of Your personal involvement in lives.  Please do the same in our family.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 43 -- Just When It Seems Things Are Going Right ...

Simeon had remained in custody in Egypt while Jacob’s family lived off the grain they’d brought back from Egypt.  He likely wondered if he’d been forgotten!  No one seemed willing to confront Jacob about it.  My commentary said, “Jacob’s blindness to his unhealthy relationship with Benjamin and his selfish nurturing of grief over Joseph, plus his hidden suspicions about his sons, all combined to make him a man difficult to deal with.”

But when the grain ran out and the famine showed no signs of letting up, they had to have a conversation about going back.  Judah finally offered himself as a guaranty for Benjamin’s safe return, knowing that without him they’d get no more grain.  My commentary said this indicates “Judah had experienced a change of heart since the sale of Joseph.”

One of my favorite “get it done” Bible verses appears here!  Judah finally told his dad, “If we hadn’t wasted all this time, we could have already made TWO trips!”

My commentary also noted how Jacob’s faith appears to have almost been extinguished, as seen in his statements:  “If it must be so … If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”  Where was his strong faith that God would provide for him?

The brothers returned to Egypt to find themselves being ushered straight to Joseph’s house.  Thinking they were about to be arrested and enslaved because of the money they’d found in their sacks on the way home, they asked Joseph’s chief servant to intercede.  He assured them he’d received payment for the grain, and hinted that their God had been responsible.

Simeon’s quick release probably surprised them, since the Egyptians would have had no way of verifying whether the eleventh man was Benjamin or a ringer, but Joseph knew.  Another clue that something was up came when they were seated at the banquet in birth order, which the Egyptians would have no way of knowing!

My commentary spoke of what was on the horizon:  “The brothers had not yet dealt with their sins.  It’s one things to be relieved and quite something else to be forgiven and reconciled.  They needed to ask Joseph’s forgiveness for the way they had abused him, and they owed their father an apology for deceiving him and grieving his heart … To think that we’re right with God because life is easier and problems less threatening is to court disaster.”  The story is getting so good that I hated to quit reading!

Father, thank You for helping me to see the problems that unresolved conflicts bring to a family.  Show me how to wisely deal with them the way Joseph did.  Place Your hand over my family and help us not to have secrets and not to hesitate to both ask for and give forgiveness to one another.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 42 - A Reason For The Waiting

There was a lot of maneuvering here, taking into custody, keeping Simeon and letting the remaining brothers return to Canaan – but my commentary said these were tests designed by God to bring them to repentance.  All of these events took place during the first two years of the seven-year famine.  It would get worse and they’d be back to buy more grain.

“When the ten brothers bowed before him, Joseph knew that the faithful God was beginning to fulfill the promises He had revealed in the two dreams,” my commentary said.  “He knew that all eleven brothers had to bow before him.  This meant that Benjamin would have to come with them on their next trip.  Furthermore, Joseph’s brothers had to be forced to face their sins and come to a place of honest confession, and that would take time.”  In verse 42, the ten men were finally beginning to sense that God was dealing with them because of their sins.

Something I hadn’t thought about before:  In a footnote, my commentary said the brothers could have brought back any Jewish man of the same age as Benjamin and the Egyptians wouldn’t know the difference.  This “test” was a hint that this Egyptian official would recognize Benjamin when he saw him!

Also, Reuben’s “I told you so!” statement “unwittingly informed Joseph of [Reuben’s] kindness in trying to rescue his helpless brother.”

When they returned to Jacob without Simeon and told him Benjamin would have to return with them, Jacob’s statement “made the other sons feel they were second-class members of the family.  Benjamin must be protected even if the whole family starved!  A crisis doesn’t make a man; it shows what a man is made of.  Jacob was revealing his true affections…” my commentary said.

Father, You show me here the importance of not hurrying to reconciliation, but instead letting events cause hearts to change and regret to surface.  Help me to be patient as You work on hearts, even though my own heart wants things fixed right away.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 41 -- Watching God At Work

Joseph had patiently waited on God and had lived an exemplary life in Egypt and now God was ready to act.  He gave Pharaoh two dreams, stifled any ability of Pharaoh’s wise men to interpret them, reminded the cupbearer about Joseph, and led Pharaoh to call for this 30-year-old Hebrew prisoner.  He then enabled Joseph to know the meaning of the dreams, and Joseph was able to show Pharaoh how important this divine appointment really was.  “God had shown the ruler of Egypt what He planned to do for the next 14 years, and Pharaoh was conscious of this fact.  Now that he knew God’s plan, Pharaoh was obligated to do what God wanted him to do.”  That is something I have discovered about what God has shared with me over especially the last 13 years.

God then moved Pharaoh to choose Joseph to lead and empowered Joseph to carry out a plan to save the lives of many people during the famine.  He was also given an Egyptian wife, who bore him two sons, and in naming the first one, “He was enabled by God’s grace to wipe out the pains and bad memories of the past and make a new beginning,” my commentary said.  He knew by this time that events would bring his family to Egypt and he’d have to confront his brothers.  “He wanted his own heart to be clean and right before God so that he could be a blessing to them just as he’d been a blessing wherever God had placed him.”  In naming his second son, he used a term meaning “fruitful”.  My commentary concluded, “It’s a wonderful thing when we can come through times of trial with the kind of attitude Joseph had, burying past hurts and rejoicing in present blessings, being forgetful and fruitful at the same time.”

Father, thank You for Your perfect timing again.  Help me to be forgetful and fruitful – to be a blessing wherever I am.  Let others see You at work in my life, despite hardships.  Allow me to be a channel for You to bless others.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 40 -- Time To Interpret & Time To Wait

Joseph had gained favor with the jailer due to his trustworthiness and character, but also because God was in charge and was setting up things in His sovereignty.  When Joseph noticed concern on the faces of the two officers of the king imprisoned with him, my commentary said it showed that he was a caring and discerning man.  Although he was falsely accused and imprisoned, he didn’t let his situation dictate his reaction.

He’d interpreted his own dreams but never someone else’s, according to the Genesis record.  Now he finds that God has provided him the means to understand dreams.  His statement giving God the glory for the interpretations shows he was a humble man, my commentary added.

I had not considered what my commentary said next:  that Joseph’s request to the king’s butler to speak to the king on his behalf once he was restored to his office amounted to Joseph “putting his trust in what a man could do instead of depending on what God could do.  He was getting impatient instead of waiting for God’s time.”  I’d just considered that Joseph was availing himself of what God had placed before him, and that God was taking care of the timing by having the butler “conveniently forget” Joseph’s request until the time was right.  In fact, two years would pass before God was ready to act.

Father, Your timing is always spot-on, and You’ve amazed me over the years by how You so incredibly make things happen at just the right time!  Thank You for teaching me to wait on You.  Father, You know what I wait for now.  Please encourage me until that time and help me not to worry, but to have faith in You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 39 -- Character When It Counts

In my commentary, I’d read yesterday about the contrast between what Judah did with his daughter-in-law versus what Joseph didn’t do with his boss’ wife.  The difference between these two brothers was striking.  “Joseph refused to compromise himself with Potiphar’s wife, but Judah casually slept with a strange woman he thought was a prostitute.”  Joseph’s part of that contrast took place in this chapter.  What a difference!

I’ve often heard it said that character is what a man would do if he knew no one else would ever find out, and Joseph’s character shined out here.  While many would likely sulk and barely perform their assigned tasks if they found themselves in similar circumstances, Joseph made a hand.  He is “a good example of a believer who trusted God and made the best of his difficult circumstances … Joseph would rather have been at home, but he made the best of his circumstances in Egypt, and God blessed him … God took note of Joseph’s character, and unknown to Joseph, God planned to fulfill the dreams He had sent him … Had he stayed home with his pampering father, Joseph might not have developed the kind of character that comes from hard work and obeying orders.  God’s method for building us is to give us a job to do and people to obey.  He tests us as servants before He promotes us to be rulers.  Before He allows us to exercise authority, we have to be under authority and learn to obey.”

Had Joseph given in to Potiphar’s wife, he might have enjoyed moments of pleasure, but his sin might have disqualified him from the plan God had for him.  The dreams God had given him helped keep Joseph on the right path.

“God permitted Joseph to be treated unjustly and put in prison to help build his character and prepare him for the tasks that lay ahead.  The prison would be a school where Joseph would learn to wait on the Lord … He would learn that God’s delays are not God’s denials.”

Father, You’ve shown me through the adoptions of my sons that You are faithful and that I need only wait on You to do everything in Your timing.  You know the struggles I face right now, and I can see from what I read today that this too may be a character-building time.  Help me to wait on You and to trust You.  Thank You for being faithful.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 38 -- God's Sovereignty & Grace Despite Our Sin

This does seem like an unsavory chapter plopped in the middle of the story of Joseph, and my commentary did a super job of explaining why it was included.

First, the royal line of the Messiah starts with Judah, so anything affecting it is important.  One of the babies produced by this episode (Perez) was an ancestor of King David and therefore of Christ.

Secondly, “it shows how dangerous it was for God’s people to be in the land of the Canaanites.  There was always the temptation to live like your neighbors instead of like the people of God.

Also, the first thing catching my attention was that Judah left his brothers, and became friends with a Canaanite man.  He’d stepped outside the covenant community, and he also chose his own wife, not from among that community, but outside of it.  There is a level of accountability that we feel inside that community, and outside of it, we feel a constant temptation to sin.

More than anything, we see God’s grace and sovereignty.  Many times my commentary has reminded me that God will not allow His children to sin successfully.  And here, despite Judah marrying a Canaanite, having three sons, losing one because of sin and a second because he willfully refused his duty, then losing his wife and casually sleeping with a woman he thought was a prostitute, God used them to accomplish His purposes.  “This doesn’t mean that God approved of their sins, because the sins were ultimately revealed and judged.  But it does mean that God can take the weak things of this world and accomplish His purposes,” my commentary said.

Father, I likely won’t know this side of heaven how many times You’ve intervened in my own life with Your sovereignty and Your grace to overrule my own sin to accomplish Your purposes through me, but I’m so glad You have, for You know better than me, period.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 37 -- Watching For The "Just So Happeneds"

My commentary says this chapter “unfolds the destructive dynamics of a family that knew the true and living God and yet sinned against Him and each other by what they said and did … Consider the destructive forces at work in this family, forces that God in His grace overruled for their good.  Where sin abounded, grace abounded more.”

A big question is why Jacob exhibited such favoritism toward Joseph when he knew it would cause problems. My commentary speculated, “Jacob’s first four sons had Leah as their mother, and Jacob hadn’t intended to marry Leah.  The full intent of his heart was to marry Rachel, but Laban had tricked him.  Jacob might have reasoned, ‘In God’s sight, Rachel was his first wife, and Joseph was her  firstborn.  Therefore, Joseph has the right to be treated as the firstborn.’”

God’s providence is evident throughout the story, overruling the actions meant for evil.  Once the brothers had bought into the plan to rid themselves of their brother, he was placed in a dry cistern where he might never have been found, but then a caravan composed of their second cousins “just happened” to draw near.  God knew their hearts and used their greed to keep Joseph alive and God had devised this as a way to get him to Egypt so that later he’d be in position to help them survive the famine.

God’s providence was also seen in the fact that the traders sold him to someone who would later have access to Pharaoh, so that Joseph wouldn’t just get to Egypt, only to die of the famine, but would be right where God wanted him to be to interpret dreams and rise to the top.

There are way too many just so happeneds in this story, and this serves as evidence to us that God was active in the details, and this should help us today to see how we can find God active in our own lives today. 

Father, help my sons to understand that the very fabric of their lives was woven by You  -- not by accident but with great skill in order to get them right where You wanted them, for a divine purpose.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 36 -- The Important Unimportant Chapter

My commentary gave only a short two-paragraph summary of this chapter which details Esau’s family, and that’s because the covenant blessing went with Jacob, not Esau.  By caring so little about his rights as a first-born son and the inheritance it brought with it, and by selling those rights to Jacob for a bowl of soup, Esau had shown utter disregard for his own future.  He’d then married two Canaanite women in an act of rebellion before subsequently trying to circle his way back into the family by marrying a daughter of his uncle Ishmael.  In doing so, the covenant line became even more diluted.

Esau’s sons and grandsons became leaders of the Edomites and one – Amalek – became the father of a second nation that would trouble the Israelites.  That spirit of uncooperation with God’s plan would eventually lead the entire line out of God’s blessing and into oblivion.

Father, what an important picture this chapter paints as it reveals to us the utter cost of rebellion against You and self-centeredness and lack of carrying for one’s own position before You.  I want my sons to be men after Your own heart, who will carry on what You began in my own heart, and who will treasure how You intervened in their own lives to bless them.  Let them not lose sight of it, Father.  Remove blinders as fast as Satan tries to put them on them.  Stoke within them the utter amazement they once felt the day You stepped into each of their lives by bringing me to them.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 35 -- A New Beginning

“Many of the problems in the Christian life and in local churches result from incomplete obedience.  We know what the Lord wants us to do, we start to do it, and then we stop.  When we don’t continue to obey God and accomplish His will, even what we’ve done starts to die,” my commentary said.

God was directing Jacob toward a fresh start.  He spoke to him again, and reenergized Jacob, who then called for a time of cleansing for everybody.  First, the foreign idols had to go.  Next, everyone had to bathe (not an everyday occurrence, or even a weekly one) and change their clothes.  That symbolized making a new beginning.

Then they had to move.  They couldn’t remain in a place of disobedience.  God had called Jacob to Bethel and now he would finally go there.  In the same way, once we realize our own disobedience, we have to make a new start and then go back to where we last heard from God and then obey what He last told us to do.

Jacob then worshiped God and God reaffirmed his new name – Israel.  “Jacob’s restoration was now complete … though he still had much to learn about his walk with the Lord, Jacob was starting to be ‘Israel’ and live like a prince instead of a pauper,” my commentary said.  His twelfth son Benjamin was born, but at the same time he lost his beloved wife Rachel.  But this was only one trial to build his faith in God.  His first-born son Reuben may have been attempting to take over the leadership of the family when he had sex with Jacob’s wife Bilhah.  And after that tragedy, Jacob’s father Isaac died.  Life wasn’t to be a bed of roses.

Father, I’ve seen that my obedience doesn’t insure a carefree life, and I’ve come to trust You and to lean upon You when hard times come, for You are my salvation.  Thank You for being El Shaddai to me – God Almighty and God All-Sufficient.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 33-34 -- Epic Fails That Could Go Unnoticed

My commentary sure pointed out some epic fails here by Jacob and his family members.  First, as he was meeting his brother Esau after 20 years of absence, it said he was scheming instead of trusting – putting his favorite wife and son behind all the rest for extra protection, which would set up new problems in the home later.  

He was bowing instead of limping.  “Jacob’s strength was in his limp, for it was a constant reminder that God had conquered him and he could trust the Lord to see him through.  Had Jacob limped, his brother would have noticed it and asked the cause, and that would have been Jacob’s golden opportunity to tell him what God had done for him.”

He was pleading instead of witnessing.  “Instead of confessing his sins and giving witness to God’s grace in his life, Jacob spent His time begging Esau to accept his gifts.”  He told his brother that seeing his face was like seeing the face of God, but he failed to tell him that he had seen the face of God!

He was promising but not performing.  He didn’t want to spend time with Esau and saw his farewell as a truce, similar to what he’d done with Laban, not a true reconciliation.  He implied that he’d eventually arrive at Esau’s home, but instead went in the opposite direction.  He was deceiving again.

Jacob was also delaying instead of obeying.  God had sent him to Bethel, but he wasn’t in a hurry to obey.  He built a house and pens in Succoth, then latter settled and bought land in Shechem before finally arriving in Bethel.  Because he tarried in disobedience, his daughter was raped and his sons Simeon and Levi became murderers.  Their vengeance “ruined Jacob’s testimony before the people of the land.  What good was it for Jacob to build an altar and worship the true God before his pagan neighbors if his children were going to act like pagans?” my commentary asks.

Father, help me to apply Your wisdom in this story to my own life.  Keep me from scheming and not trusting you.  Help me to reconcile and not deceive.  Let me know when I’m not obeying, and keep me in Your will.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 32 -- Jacob Wrestles God And Himself

God had told Jacob to return to Bethel, yet on the way he would enter the land of his brother Esau, who he hadn’t seen since stealing Isaac’s blessing twenty years prior.  Despite God’s direction and promise to protect him, Jacob began to worry and scheme.  “He adopted a condescending attitude that wasn’t befitting to the man God had chosen to carry on the Abrahamic covenant,” my commentary said, “Calling Esau my lord and himself your servant.”  He also devised a lavish gift, hoping perhaps to bribe Esau into forgiving him.

Despite all this, my commentary had a lot of good things to say about Jacob’s prayer for God’s protection.  He prayed based on God’s covenant, and God’s command that he leave Laban’s land.  He reminded God of how God had cared for him.  He prayed that God’s purpose wouldn’t fail, and he reminded God of the promises God had made to him at Bethel.

The only negative thing seemed to be that “he was praying in desperation and not in confidence.”

Rather than completely trusting God, Jacob decided to try to appease Esau.  “Whatever we do that isn’t motivated by faith is sin, no matter how successful it may appear.  The real problem wasn’t Esau; it was Jacob, and God was now going to solve that problem.”

Having moved his family to safety, Jacob found himself alone, and that night he met the Lord.  “God meets us at whatever level He finds us in order to lift us to where He wants us to be … Jacob discovered that he’d spent his life fighting God and resisting his will, and that the only way to victory was through surrender.  The Lord cannot fully bless a man until He has first conquered him.”

Father, I’m so glad that You met me and conquered me all those years ago.  I’d been fighting You, thinking I was winning when all I was doing was hurting myself in my pride.  Help my sons to see this and learn it before they reach the same point.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 31 -- It Was Time

It was time.  Jacob had labored for Laban for 14 years for his wives and six more years for his animals.  God had placed a holy dissatisfaction with life in Jacob’s heart six years earlier as a means of showing him the time for breaking away was coming.  Jacob had also noticed through circumstances – his in-laws weren’t as friendly to him as before – that the times were changing.  God spoke to Jacob in this chapter.  The word of God is our most important indicator of change.  Here God said, “Go back to the land of your fathers.”

Jacob consulted with his wives about what he was hearing from God and they agreed.  The one thing he didn’t do correctly was to face Laban with the news.  Instead, he waited until Laban was three days away and then quickly left in a caravan.  “This was an act of fear and unbelief, not an act of faith,” my commentary said.  “It isn’t enough to know and do the will of God; we must also do His will in the way He wants it done, the way that will glorify Him the most.”

Despite the fact that God had warned Laban in a dream not to interfere with Jacob, Laban chased him and confronted him, for his household idols were missing.  Despite God’s blessings over the years, Laban still evidently prayed to idols and feared the loss of them.  Rachel had stolen them without Jacob’s knowledge.  We aren’t told whether she placed value on them and desired to worship them or whether she simply wanted to keep her father from using them. 

The two men recited their relationship over the years while building a memorial that would serve as “a monument to suspicion and fear” and a boundary that neither would cross.  Jacob recalled God’s protection of him and gave honor to the Lord:  “Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed.”  I did notice that up to now, God was always, “the God of my father” and not “my God”, despite the fact that He continued to protect him.

Father, remind me to listen for Your directions for my life in the inner directions of my heart, through circumstances, and through Your Word.  Help me to have discernment and to test my thoughts with other Christians I trust.  Then help me to step out boldly when You give me new marching orders.  Let me glorify You in the way in which I respond.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 30 -- When A Win Is Not A Win

It’s sad listening to the conversations in this chapter and seeing the two sisters actually thinking they are winning over each other after giving their slave-girls to Jacob to produce children on their own behalf.  It wasn’t winning at all, but losing.  I saw the very same thing happening with my younger son.  He’s at that pivotal age where he believes he can now do anything he wants and particularly sees rebellion as a win on his part as he breaks away from my rule over his life.  Even failing miserably at it doesn’t seem to be a loss for him.

Once we take our eyes off of God and what He has planned for our lives, that often happens.  And as I told him just the other night, God will not allow His children to sin successfully. 

Father, my heart breaks for the stubborn willfulness that sin produces when we think we know better than You the best things for ourselves.  So often You have to get us to the bottom of the well before we can understand that we’ve been trying to live life upside down. 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford