Reading 1 - Genesis 48, 49 & 50

To Listen

ch 48 - Men of God are not always positive about life. Whereas Israel could say :15 'God which led me …' he had said to Pharaoh 47:9 'few and evil have been the days of my pilgrimage'. We should be encouraged that faithful men have their off days.

49:28 'the stone' of Israel passes into Biblical use as a marker for the redeemer. Consider Isaiah 28:16 Psalm 118:22 and many New Testament references also. Maybe you would like to look them out for yourselves?

50:24 In telling his brethren that they would be brought to 'the land which he sware to Abraham, Isaac and to Jacob' Joseph introduces a phrase which is picked up again. However it is only used in the books of the wilderness journey! Here is a complete list
Exodus 33:1 Numbers 32:11 Deuteronomy 1:8 6:10 9:5 30:20 34:4. It is a highly specific phrase. It's use in the wilderness should remind the nation of the faith of Joseph - whose coffin they were carrying with them to Canaan.
Peter Forbes

ch 48 - Last year when looking at Chapter 46 we noted the way in which Jacob and Israel were used. The same point could be made about this chapter.
Israel :2 8 10 13 14
Jacob :2 3

49:5 In calling Simeon and Levi 'instruments of cruelty' Jacob is referring to their behaviour in Shechem (Genesis 34:25)

50:16-18 It is 17 years since Joseph made himself known to his brethren but now their father is dead they still are concerned that Joseph will treat them roughly. They did not understand what full forgiveness after repentance really means. We run the risk of being like the brothers. Our God is willing to forgive us if we are repentant - however we still wonder …
Peter Forbes

Genesis 48:5 - "And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh" - Ephraim was the youngest, but is mentioned first, as he afterwards was preferred in the blessing of him: "which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt, before I came unto thee into Egypt" - and therefore must here be twenty years of age, or upwards: for Jacob had been in Egypt seventeen years, and he came there when there had been two years of famine, and Joseph's sons were born to him before the years of famine began - Genesis 41:50. Of these Jacob says, they"are mine: as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine" that is, by adoption; they would be reckoned not as his grandchildren, but as his children, even as his two eldest sons, Reuben and Simeon; and so should be distinct tribes or heads of them, as his sons would be, and have a distinct part and portion in the land of Canaan; and thus the birthright was transferred from Reuben, because of his incest, to Joseph, who in his posterity had a double portion assigned him.

When we consider the 12 tribes of Jacob who later dwelt in the land, we do well to consider:- (A) there were actually 13 tribes - for the Levites owned no land but had their inheritance in things spiritual, & (B) two of the tribes [Ephraim & Manasseh] are included through the principle of adoption - which principle opens the way for we Gentiles to also be reckoned with Israel. There is no tribe of Joseph mentioned in scripture.... until we get to Revelation 7:8 - and obviously Joseph is here reckoned, showing the principle of adoption once more for Spiritual Israel.

49:10,24 - The Pentateuch contains 6 "image" titles for Messiah. Four are mentioned in these two verses. Christ is here described as "the sceptre," "shiloh," "shepherd," and "stone." And elsewhere He is described as "the seed" - Genesis 3:15 - and "the star" - Numbers 24:17.

The Seed [Genesis 22:17] of promise, who shall be King [the sceptre], will bring tranquility, security and prosperity [shiloh].  He will nourish [shepherd]  His people and increase [stone - to build] the family name, raising men up to be heavenly [star] rulers - Daniel 12:3.

Genesis 50:26 - "So Joseph ['the Increaser'] died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt" - The book of Genesis which started with so much promise and life, now ends with a coffin in Egypt.

Joshua, who like Joseph, has no sin recorded against his name, and who led the children of Israel into the land of promise, also died at the age of 110yrs. Joseph's faith was such that he knew that his brethren's sojourn in Egypt would come to an end, at which time, he requested, his body then be interred in the Land of Promise. Joseph perhaps typifies Jesus in His mortality, whilst Joshua typifies Jesus in His triumphal immortality.
Cliff York

Reading 2 - Psalms 51 & 52

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Psalm 52 - This Psalm which relates to Doeg killing all the priests at Nob reads more like a personal letter sent to Doeg - notice the pronouns :1 thyself :2 thy :3 thou :4 Thou :5 thee. One wonders if it was ever read by Doeg.
Peter Forbes

Psalm 51 - This Psalm properly begins with the inspired words "A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba" - David was a dead man! No sacrifice or restitution under Moses Law could be offered to God for the crimes of adultery, pre-meditated murder, lying, deceit, hypocrisy. But as the last words of the Psalm previous declare, "to him that orders his way of life aright will I show the Salvation of God [Jesus]."

51:4 - "Against thee, thee only have I sinned, and done evil in they sight" - Sure, David had taken privileges with Bathsheba, caused Uriah to become drunk, murdered Uriah, given cause to greatly upset Bathsheba's family, caused Joab to become complicit with his designs, denied sinning, lied to cover up, went on with life as if all was normal, hypocritically deceiving others - in so many ways, David's transgressions involved other people - yet he rightly states that all his crimes are against heaven itself.

51:10 - "Create in me a new heart" - David's request for a "heart transplant" gets right to the "heart" of the problem. David realises that to become right with God, he must adopt a totally new way of thinking. No sacrificial code under the Law of Moses can put things right - only God in Heaven can. David needed to develop Faith that God can forgive our sins, and remove them as far from us "as far as the east is from the west" - Psalm 103:12 - "casting all our sins into the depths of the sea" - Micah 7:19 - "remembering them no more" - Jeremiah 31:34. Do we believe that? Or do we think that there are some things that God just cannot forgive in our lives?
Cliff York

Reading 3 - Romans 5 & 6

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5:5 'Hope maketh not ashamed' echoes Gen.2:25. The theme of a return to the garden of Eden is built into the pattern of redemption in Scripture. Those who are 'justified by faith' are, in status, like Adam and Eve before the fall. Other examples of the return to Eden are 'live for ever' John 6:51 quoting Gen.3:22 and Rev.2:7 echoing Gen.3:22.
5:6-11 Paul, by the spirit, emphasises the magnitude of God's forgiveness as a basis for encouraging believers to recognise the ongoing forgiveness available after baptism.
6:1-23 Romans 6 is not saying that we should be baptised. The thrust of the argument is that baptised believers should change their lifestyle to be comfortable to that led by Jesus.
Peter Forbes

5:1 That we have 'peace with God' is such a powerful point. Of course this does not mean that we will have no problems. 'Peace' is to be seen as a contrast with :10 'enemies'. Those 'in Christ' are no longer God's enemies - that is they are no longer at war with Him, they are at peace with Him. We might not think that we are at war with Him just because we are not baptised but that is the clear implication of what Paul is saying.

6:16 This is the crucial point. The way that we behave and think shows truly where our heart is. Either we hate sin or we do not.
Peter Forbes

Romans 5:6 - "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly" - At a time when the Jewish world was at its worst, God acted - and He sent the very best man - SoS 5:6 - to die for the worst, and that was the right time! How different to the way we often do things! Imagine if God had waited until we were "good enough" to save, before He acted toward us in love!

Romans 5:21 - The Grace of God shines all the brighter because of the gross darkness of our sinful natures.

Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death"  - Sin is represented as a king, a mighty monarch, a tyrannical prince; sinners are his subjects and vassals, his servants and soldiers, who fight under him, and for him, and all the wages they must expect from him is death. The word "wages" means "the hire of armies", or the wages of soldiers for a whole year, so that it denotes wages the due, and paid after a campaign is ended, and the service is over; and suggests, that when men have been all their days in the service of sin, and have fought under the banners of it, the wages they will earn, and the just reward, and correct payment that will be given them, will be death. King Sin has never been known to default on a payment yet. On the other hand, the "free gift" of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Both the wages and the gift are eternal - but the "gift" of God is just that - it cannot be earned - it can only be accepted by living through the very one who entered into the 'jaws of the lion' - and who killed the lion!

The Golden Thread:- Though no sin is recorded against Joseph, yet he died, even as we all do, because of his relationship to sin through Adam. When Joseph is raised to immortality it will because he has received the "free gift" of God, even eternal life, because of his trust in a [then future] Saviour of the World. David opened his heart to God, and acknowledged that he had indeed worked for King Sin in the matter of Bathsheba, and was therefore rightly related to death. But salvation through Jesus Christ was offered to him, not because of who he was, but because he developed faith and trust in his God, such as is described by Paul in Romans.
Cliff York