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January
22
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Reading
1 - Genesis 37
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here to Listen
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v.21,22
- Reuben was the only one apparently to have any feelings against this cold-blooded
murder plan. Even though this was pre-Law-of-Moses, this issue of murder
was one that they had direct commandment about Gen.9:5.
Reuben reminded them of the incident later in Gen.42:22.
He wanted it on record that he was not party to the plan. Is there a parallel
here with Pilate? Matt.27:24.
Peter Cresswell |
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v.5,9
- It seems that revelation by dream was a method God chose to use with chosen
individuals at this time particularly. It also seems that Joseph was compelled
to tell everyone his dream. From what we know of Joseph's character, it
seems unlikely that he told them out of a sense of pride, but maybe, like
the prophets (Amos
3:8) was compelled by the Spirit to speak them out. One would assume
that, were this not the case [and clearly God's plan for him required him
to tell these dreams to his brethren] he would have had the wisdom to keep
this knowledge to himself.
Peter Cresswell
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:12
Jacob's sons had taken their flocks to Shechem to feed. It seems that at
this time Jacob as in the area of Bethel. So why did they go so far, especially
as Jacob's name 'stank' [Genesis
34:30] there? The answer clearly is that Jacob owned grazing ground
there. It was the parcel of land bought by Abraham.
Peter
Forbes |
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37:11
In saying his father 'observed the saying' we see on of the many ways
in which Joseph is a type of Jesus - the language is used again (Luke
2:19) when Mary hard the words of the shepherds.
Peter
Forbes
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FUTURE
REVEALED
"Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan
to his servants the prophets." (Amos
3 v 7)
Joseph was 17 when God gave him dreams, first of the sheaves of corn in
which his brothers sheaves stood up and bowed down to his sheaf, and then
of the sun, moon and eleven stars bowing down to him. We find out later
that when a dream is doubled in that way, it means that it is from God.
So God revealed to Joseph what was to happen more than twenty years in the
future.
As I read through this chapter, I wondered why God would reveal his plan
to Joseph so long before it happened. But there were two reasons as far
as I can see.
The first is that God reveals his plans to his servants the prophets. Joseph
had proved himself to be an obedient God fearing man - even at the age of
17, and before Joseph was taken to Egypt, the message needed to be told
to his family. So the plan was revealed to Joseph in order to do that..
The second reason is that while Joseph was away he needed a vision to cling
to, something that would get him through those hard years.
God has also revealed the future to us through his word. It is our job to
spread the message, and, aswell as that, the vision he has given us will
give us a hope to cling to and something to look forward to before it happens.
Robert
Prins |
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Genesis
37:1 - "And
Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger,"
- lit. "But Jacob dwelt in the land..."� This verse
properly belongs to the chapter preceding. This information stands opposed
unto, and is distinguished from the case and circumstances of Esau and
his posterity, expressed in the preceding chapter, who dwelt in the land
of their possession, not as strangers and sojourners, as Jacob and his
seed, but as lords and proprietors.
�
Genesis
37:2 - Then commences one of the most moving records in Scripture.
Joseph, against whom no sin is recorded, stands in the Divine record as
a most wholesome type of our Lord in so many respects.
�
Genesis
37:3 - "and he made him a coat of many colours" -
lit. "he made him a coat of many parts" - The idea of many colours has
more to do with vivid imaginations than what was reality. This coat was
plain white in colour and covered the whole body as a priest's garment.
After Reuben's foolish sin with Jacob's handmaiden, the responsibility
of the�firstborn, the priestly office, was stripped from him by Jacob
and was bestowed upon�another more worthy of this office than he.
That�this priestly office�fell to the favourite son of Jacob�is
no surprise, given what we know of this bright young lad's character and
manners. No wonder all the older brothers had feelings of jealousy and
envy and hatred and murder - and therein they too, showed their unworthiness
for such high office.
�
As
you read the record of Joseph, see how many echoes of Jesus' life you
can find.
�
Genesis
37:31-33 - "And they took Joseph's coat, and killed
a kid of the goats and dipped the coat in the blood" - The
commission of one sin necessarily leads to another to conceal it; and
the scheme of deception which the sons of Jacob planned and practised
on their aged father (who was named "Deceiver" from the womb)
was a necessary consequence of the atrocious crime they had perpetrated.
What a wonder that their cruel sneer, "thy son's coat," and their forced
efforts to comfort him, did not awaken suspicion! But extreme grief,
like every other passion, is blind, and Jacob, great as his affliction
was, did allow himself to indulge his sorrow more than became one who
believed in the government of a supreme and all-wise Father in Heaven.
For further thoughts from Bro. Cliff on Joseph's coat Click
here
Cliff
York
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Reading
2 - Psalms 39 & 40
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here to Listen
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39
v.2
- We continue the Pilate theme here - but this time from Jesus' perspective.
This idea seems to be just around this Psalm and the previous one 38:13-14
and it surely refers forward to the time of Jesus' trial. Isa.
53:7, Matt.27:12-14. In v.
13 Pilate actually
asks him whether he hears.
Peter Cresswell |
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40
v.7,8 - picked up in Heb.10:7-9,
together show us that the sacrifice that God really requires is that of
the heart.
Peter Cresswell
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Psalm
39� Gives us an insight into Jesus thoughts during� his trial
before the Priests.
:1�������
'Bridle'�����������
see James1:26
:1�������
'The Wicked'������� The Priests
:2�������
'I was dumb'�������
Matthew 26:62�� Mark 14:61
:3�������
'Then I spake'�����
Matthew26:64�� Mark 14:62
:4�������
'How frail I am'��� 'Spirit willing' Matthew
26:41 Mark 14:38
:5
������ 'Days as an handbreadth'��
at 33 years old
:6�������
'Heapeth us riches'����������
Judas
:7�������
'What wait I for?'�����������
Jesus thinks about what is coming next
:8�������
'Reproach of fools' Psalm
22:6� Psalm 55:12� Psalm 69:9, 20
:9�������
'Thou didst it'���� Isaiah
53:6 'Lord
laid on him'
:10������
'Blow of thy hand'� Isaiah
53:5 'bruised
...'
:11������
'Beauty to consume' Isaiah
53:2 'no comeliness'
:12������
'I am a stranger'�� Psalm
69:8
:13������
'Recover strength'� for the subsequent events.
The idea of using a 'bridle' to control the tongue is seen in a number
of places in Scripture. Psalm�32:9�
(39:1) James� 3:2. There are other occasions when men speak of
bridles, but the concept is not quite the same.
Ps.40:6
A recurring theme in the Scriptures is the fact that Yahweh does not want
animal sacrifices.� This is not to be taken to indicate that he did
not institute sacrifices.� He did, but they were added to remind
Israel of their sinfulness, and not primarily as a means of pleasing Yahweh.
He desired obedience. The principle is relevant in our walk in Christ
as we are to be living sacrifices Rom.12:1
- the end of the letter.
Our obedience is to the constraints of the gospel, some of which are laid
out in the remainder of the letter to the Romans.
Peter Forbes
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Psalm
39 - The
apparent heading of this Psalm, "To the chief Musician, even to
Jeduthun" properly belongs as a footnote to the preceding Psalm
38. The true heading of Psalm 39 is "A Psalm of David".
�
Psalm
39:5 - "Behold, thou hast made my days as a handbreadth; and
mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best
state is altogether vanity. Selah." The Psalmist certainly
gives us something to think about here - lit. "Lo, handbreadths hast thou
given my days." The word rendered "handbreadth" means properly the spread
hand; the palm; the hand when the four fingers are expanded. The word
is then used to denote anything very short or brief. It is one of the
smallest natural measures, as distinguished from the "foot" - that is,
the length of the foot; and from the cubit - that is, the length of the
arm to the elbow. It is the "shortness" of life, therefore, that is the
subject of painful and complaining reflection here. Who has not been in
a state of mind to sympathize with the feelings of the psalmist? Who is
there that does not often wonder, when he thinks of what he could and
would accomplish on earth if his life extended to one thousand years,
and when he thinks of the great interests at stake in reference to the
Kingdom which God has made dependent on so short a life? Who can at all
times so calm down his feelings as to give utterance to no expressions
of impatience that life is so soon to terminate? Who is there that reflects
on the great interests at stake that has not asked the question why God
has not given man more time to prepare for eternity? On the face of it
our God is not fair - He asks us to trade but 70 short years of miserable
existence in this mortal, dying frame..... for eternity spent in sinlessness
and love and obedience and harmony.
�
Psalm
40:6 - "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, mine ears hast
thou opened" - Paul uses this verse brilliantly in Hebrews
10:5-9 to establish the superiority of Grace over Law. Under the law,
a servant who wished to stay on as his master's servant after his 6 year
term of slavery was completed, could willingly have�an ear lobe�pierced
or bored through, whilst standing against his master's doorpost -�Exodus
21:5-6. Piercing an earlobe in this fashion is not only painful, but
it is also very bloody. "mine ears (pl) hast
thou digged" or "bored through" shows that the servant described
in this verse is prepared to have two ears pierced. That is, whereas the
law only required one ear to be pierced, this servant is prepared to go
beyond the law to Grace, and become a totally willing servant, as is Paul's
argument in Hebrews. The principle of willingness is far greater than
mere servitude.
Cliff
York
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Reading
3 - Matthew 24
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here to Listen
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v.3
- Remember that to understand this passage is a privilege only afforded
the few - Mark
13:10,11. Here
in Matt.24 there is just Jesus and his disciples - special words for the
chosen few. They were not the first to ask these things. In Daniel 12, a
man in a vision and then Daniel himself ask just the same question (v.6-8)
and get an answer that Daniel doesn't understand, which isn't surprising
as he was not to know anyway - Acts
1:7, 1Thes.5:1-11.
Peter Cresswell |
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24:16
In telling the disciples to 'flee to the mountains' Jesus is reminding them
of the call to Lot [Genesis
19:17]. The situation in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus is being likened
to the state in Sodom. Rather like the way in which Isaiah [1:10]
speaks of the leaders in Jerusalem in his day.
Peter
Forbes |
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The
main focus of this prophecy for the disciples was their need for preparedness
lest they be fearful and deceived :4,
6, 39, 42 , 44. We must be careful that we do not get so concerned to
know exactly what is going to happen before Christ returns that we forget
the need to be watchful lest we be led astray and deceived and therefore
will not be ready for Jesus' return. As if we might know exactly when Jesus
will return but we are not ready for him!
Peter
Forbes |
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Matthew
24 - The
Glorious Son of God now departs from the city, just as the Glory had departed
from Israel many centuries earlier as recorded by Ezekiel the prophet
in his 11th
chapter. The
sun was settling in the west as the Lord and His little band of followers
wound their way out of the temple precincts for the last time, away from
the fickle crowds, through the city gates and headed into the Judean countryside
for solitude. The Lord's thoughts were heavy. The next time He would stand
in the Temple precincts would be as a condemned man. He had spent three
and a half weary years among God's people. Forty-two months labouring
to bring about a spiritual revival.... 1,260 long days.... Nights without
sleep. Days without food. But there would be no blessings for this nation.
Only deep sorrow and sadness. A kilometre or so outside the city, one
of the disciples (was it Peter?) glanced back and observed the
newly completed magnificence of Herod's great building works. For nearly
fifty years the Temple had undergone major reconstruction. And now it
was nearing completion. Perhaps the setting sun gleaming on the stupendous
gold overlay of the Temple's newly completed towers had caught Peter's
eye who then drew the Lord's attention to the glorious scene reflecting
in the distance - Mark
13:1.
�
But the
Lord's heart was not in the present. His mind, as always, was far away
in the future. Having come to His own, and about to be rejected by them
in a few days, He was in great heaviness of spirit. His rebuke, ever gentle,
searches out the heart of His followers, even now.... nearly 2,000 years
later. "Why do you look at the Temple that way? Don't look at all
this and wonder. Look at all this and lament. Do you appreciate that this
present scene is all futility and vanity? Why focus on the here and now?
It is all going! And sooner than you think!" "Truly, I'm telling you,
there shall not be left here one stone on another, that shall not be thrown
down." Half a century of steady construction, yet in less than 40
years the Roman armies would be doing God's work and would be bringing
all these major monuments of men's pride crashing to the ground. How wicked
was this generation? In Abraham's day it took over 400 years for
the "iniquity of the Amorites to fill up" � and they were people
who knew not the God of Heaven. But this generation of Jews would overflow
the wickedness of their fathers in a tenth that time! And as He sat on
the Mount of Olives, Peter, James, John and Andrew (the original four),
with wonder in their hearts, came to Him quietly with three solemn questions.
If we had been there, perhaps we would have asked the same questions.
They are the questions that in one form or another have burned in the
hearts of most disciples for 6,000 years.� Lord, how long? When will
all this that you have spoken happen? How will we know the end of the
Age is here?
Bro.
Cliff's comment for Matthew 24 was so long I have placed the rest on a
separate page.
Click here to read it.
Cliff
York
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