Chronological Bible Blog

2 responses to “January 14th Chronological Bible Readings”

1. 

   John

   January 13, 2011

   Gen 39
   Satan does not miss a trick: Joseph is a servant of God, but Joseph is vulnerable:
   1) You are vulnerable when you are away from home, and no one will know your actions. Joseph could have had an affair and no one in his family would know.
   2)You are vulnerable when you are successful and good looking. Joseph was an excellant worker whose work was blessed by God. Joseph was good-looking. Potiphar’s wife found Joseph desirable (vs.7).
   3)You are vulnerable when you are with an emotionally needy woman. Potiphar was away a lot. Potiphar may not have been the most sensitive guy in Egypt. This woman seems to need attention and intimacy and thought she could have it with Joseph.
   4) You are vulnerable when you are emotionally needy. Joseph was probably lonely. No one of his background at Potiphar’s house, rejection by his brothers, far away from home, etc. Joseph could have found some companionship from a person who found him desirable.
   God allowed Joseph to be tested, and satan tempted Joseph using Potiphar’s wife:
   – flattery and direct surprise approach: Lie with me.
   – Persistence – wife came on to him day after day (39:10)
   – the ambush where Joseph had a split second to give in or flee.
   Joseph had made a commitment to integrity:
   – He always said no.
   – Joseph recognized that sin is always against God. God is the source of morals. When we sin another may be involved but first and foremost we sin against God.
   – Joseph fled when necessary.(1Cor6:18;2Tim2:22)

   In the end be willing to pay the price for your convictions.

   Potiphar’s wrath was kindled, but interestingly it does not say who Potiphar was mad at in this situation.
   Based on wife’s accusations – Potiphar could and probably should have had Joseph executed. I believe Potiphar was mad at his wife. But to keep peace in the house Joseph was put out of sight in prison.
   Through God’s kindness Joseph was shown favor by the chief jailer. Some say that chief jailer was also Potiphar, but extra-Biblical sources indicate that it would have been next to impossible to run a jail and perform the duties to Pharoah that Potiphar had on his “to do” list.
   No, Joseph gained favor because Joseph kept the same attitude he always had – good worker, good attitude, and one to be trusted.
   No matter the circumstances Joseph was consistent. Joseph could have moped, complained or been angry with God – But Joseph did not change, and God honored that in Joseph.
   Gen 37
   Joseph, A Type of Christ

   The Bible is unique because if you pull out any two or three pages it will contain an explicit or implicit message of Redemption/Salvation. The theme is represented on almost every page of the Bible. No other religious book, self-help guru book, rules of life book can say the same. Those different pages would invariably be all over the map on message.

   The Old Testament points to and foreshadows Christ. Joseph is a foreshadowing of Christ. There are many similarities between the two. I have seen lists with as many as fifty similarities.
   Here are a few:
   Joseph – Genesis 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph
   Jesus – Matthew 3:17 “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
   Joseph – Genesis 37:4 his brothers, they hated him
   Jesus – John 15:25 They hated me without a cause.
   Joseph -Genesis 37:8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us?… So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.
   Jesus – Luke 19:14 We do not want this man to rule over us
   For a more complete list see link or do a search “type of Christ”, Joseph, Bible,etc.
   http://pages.sbcglobal.net/clocks/josephtp.html
   Should Joseph have shared his dream?
   All the OT characters are flawed (all have sinned) – Adam (We know!), Noah in drunken episode, Abraham (going to Egypt and subsequent lie), Isaac (wanting Esau to get blessing against God’s Will), Jacob (list too long)….
   Joseph is flawed. Joseph was probably spoiled by his father as he was the favorite. At seventeen, Joseph is a man and accountable for his actions.
   Sharing the dream may have been youthful indiscretion, but after hearing the interpretation by his brothers and feeling the hate – sharing the second dream smacks of an “in your face” kind of action. My belief is that Joseph is a little full of himself around his brothers (Pride).
   Perhaps this Pride is displayed again when wearing the rich robe when going out in looking for his brothers, but I think we can se it more clearly when Joseph is later in Prison.
   Gen 37
   God is Sovereign
   Nowhere in Gen 37 is God mentioned. Jacob is advanced in his walk, but there still seem to be fleshly issues in this family, as there is in all of us believers.
   If you think God is not working behind the scenes, you have forgotten Gen 15:13-16 where God tells Abraham that his descendants will spend 400 years in servitude.
   Which goes to the question: Why? Why did God put Hebrews in servitude to Egypt? The answer I believe is in Gen 38. The potential and actual corruption of God’s people in Canaan would have erased this family and hence God’s Word (as being accurate) from History. Satan would win.

   God is not responsible for sin. Man is responsible for choosing sin, but God will use men and their sin to accomplish His sovereign purpose.

   Jacob: is insensitive and foolish. He was passive regarding wives battling over conception. Probably insenstive and aloof to Dinah before Shecem, and clearly here either is blind to or ignores the obvious tensions between Joseph and brothers.
   Joseph: At worst Joseph was wrong to share his dreams, at best Joseph was naive and unwise. I believe pride is an issue – as Joseph was seventeen and a man accountable for his actions and careless words (Matthew post today).
   Brothers: Hardened to sin (murder) ever since Shecem.
   Jacob was lighting a match to gasoline fumes when he sent Joseph out to find his brothers. Yet God is sovereign. Coincidence, that stranger directed Joseph to his brothers, caravan came along, or being sold to Potiphar. No, God is at work behind the scenes as He is in our lives.
   Gen 38
   Why this Chapter here?????
   1) To show how quickly God’s people can become morally corrupt.

   2) To show the Holiness and grace of God. Always in perfect tension: Grace never negsates His Holiness. Holiness never nullifies His Grace.

   Gos’s people are prone to corruption:
   – it starts when you distance yourself from God’s people. Jacob’s band was not perfect, but Judah got up and left. Tired of bickering, feeling guilty about Joseph, lured by independance and possible riches, – I don’t know – but the point is Judah up and left the place where God put His people.
   – Corruption takes root when you marry outside of God’s people. Judah married a Canaanite, and while Judah may have been a nominal believer – his sons were “wicked”/evil. They were raised as godless. Judah not only did what Isaac and Jacob did not do (marry a pagan) – Judah had his sons do the same.

   – Corruption comes to fruition when one comforms to the corrupt culture. Judah goes to sheep shearing which in Canaanite culture is a big party. Ritual fornication is done to promote fertility in families and herds. Judah has no qualms dickering with perceived prostitute. This is probably not Judah’s first time. Judah never admits his sin, just that he was wrong to deny his youngest son to Tamara.

   God’s Holiness and Grace
   Why did God strike dead Judah’s first two sons and not Judah and Tamara?
   God is sovereign. Everyone has their time on earth and when it is up it is up. The point here is their deaths are a picture of judgment. when your time comes and you are wicked (godless) the sentence is death. The same is true today. If you go your whole life rejecting Jesus Christ you are wicked (godless). There is no grey area with God. You either believe (and are imputed righteousness), or you do not believe (wicked). The sentence at death is eternal separation from God.
   Judah and Tamara. It was not there time. Well we know Judah went on and advanced in his walk with the Lord. Tamara probably became a believer when she returned with Judah to Jacob’s clan.
   Judah had temporal punishment here on earth for his sins. Lost sons, later went through famine in land, and would eventually bow to his brother (Joseph) who he despised. Judah’s sin had further ramifications as in part the captivity in Egypt was so that God’s people would not be corrupted in Canaan as Judah was in this chapter.
   God’s Grace: Allowing Judah and Tamara to live. Allowed Canaanites to go another 400 years (God is patient), before destruction. During that time Canaan thrived and Abraham’s descendants were in Egypt. The Canaanites knew of God’s promise to Abraham, and you just knew there were mockers and scoffers. Where is your God now? thype stuff.
   The biggest sign of Grace. Judah and Tamara and Perez are listed in Jesus’ geneology through Mary in Matt 1:3. The people in Jesus’ line were all flawed (as Paul says: ‘None are righteous, not one.’) Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more.

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2. 

   CHARLOTTE WILLSON

   January 17, 2011

   My first question I had was whether Joseph should have shared these dreams with his family? And I asked this question because I wonder if sometimes we also maybe get an insight or what we believe to be a word from God – and if we should share these things with others? Or keep them between God and ourselves?
   I WAS THINKING THE SAME THING, MAYBE HE SHOULD HAVE KEPT THEM TO HIMSELF….I THINK THAT SOMETIMES WHEN WE HAVE DREAMS OR GOOD NEWS THAT WE DON’T THINK HOW OUR NEWS IS GOING TO AFFECT OTHER PEOPLE WHEN WE SHARE IT WITH THEM…..BUT THEN AGAIN SHOULD WE CARE HOW THE WORD OF GOD IS GOING TO AFFECT OTHERS WHEN WE SHARE OUR DREAMS OR THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO US OR SOMETHING WE HAVE LEARNED?
   The other thing that came to mind for me here is what role do dreams play for us today? Does God still communicate to people via dreams today?
   WELL I DON’T SEE GOD JUST SHOWING UP ON THE CURB SIDE AT THE BUS STOP TO TALK TO US…..DREAMS WOULD BE ONE OF THE WAYS HE WOULD COMMUNICATE WITH US I WOULD THINK…..THIS COULD BE WHY SOME DREAMS WE REMEMBER WHEN WE WAKE UP AND SOME WE DON’T?????
   I know this might be going out on some fringe thoughts or theology here… but, if anyone has some Christian perspective on dreams, I’d appreciate it. I’m just curious. I honestly have had some dreams in the past that have scared me in big ways… and honestly helped me set my life on a better course back when I had them.

   I THINK WHAT YOU DESCRIBE HERE IS WHAT YOU THINK IT IS….HE IS GOD AND I AM SURE HE HAS MANY WAYS TO SPEAK TO EACH AND EVERYONE OF US….IF WE CHOOSE TO LISTEN/BELIEVE IS THE HARD PART.

   QUESTION
   IN THIS SECTION YOU REFER TO MATHEWS AND THAT WE RECENTLY READ…..IT IS NOT IN THE DAILY READINGS SO WHAT AM I MISSING HERE

   Genesis chapter 38 brings us the story of Judah and Tamar. Keep in mind that Judah, Tamar, and Perez from this chapter are all part of the genealogy of King David and Jesus as we recently read in Matthew chapter 1 verse 3: “Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron.” Verse 24 stood out to me in this chapter as sad irony: “About three months later, word reached Judah that Tamar, his daughter-in-law, was pregnant as a result of prostitution. “Bring her out and burn her!” Judah shouted.” This verse reminded me quite a bit of a recent teaching we read about from Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 7 verse 3: ““Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” Is it possible that we too are sometimes like Judah? Condemning others for sins that we ourselves commit too? Even if we don’t commit the same sin as someone else, should we instead leave the judging and condemning to God?

   As we maybe gain more and more favor in our work or personal or ministry lives, do we also gain more and more “power” so to speak? And when this happens, do the temptations maybe even somehow seem to get bigger and bigger and our opportunity to abuse our favor or power get easier and easier? And in light of all this, will we stand strong by our moral convictions? Will we realize, like Joseph, that our favor or power only comes from God – and it can be taken away in an instant if we sin against God? If we give in to the temptation that pursues us…
   I HOPE THAT I CAN BE THIS STRONG WHEN I NEED TO BE! EVEN THOUGH BEING STRONG AND RUNNING GETS HIM THROWN IN PRISON. HOWEVER IN PRISON BECAUSE OF GOD HE IS BACK INTO A POWER SITUATION AGAIN. BLESSED BY GOD NO MATTER WHERE HE IS OR WHAT HE IS DOING!
   IT HAS BEEN A LONG WEEK AT WORK AND I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT I HAVE BEEN SLIPPING ON MY READING ….. I AM THREE DAYS BEHIND AND HOPE TO GET CAUGHT UP TODAY. IT IS NOT THAT I HAVE NOT EVEN THOUGHT OF IT, BECAUSE I HAVE IT IS JUST TRYING TO FIND THE STRENGTH TO GET HERE AND READ. I WAS HOPING TO DO THIS ON A DAILY BASIS SO THAT I DON’T HAVE TO PLAY CATCH UP …I AM AFRAID THAT THIS IS WHERE I AM GOING TO JUST SAY FORGET IT AGAIN……AND THAT IS NOT WHAT I WANT…..SO I AM GOING TO FOCUS AND WORK HARDER TO GET THIS DONE DAILY….CHARLOTTE.

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