If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link Every Day in the Word. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.”
Genesis 41:17-42:17
Genesis 41:17-57
I only have a couple of things in this section.
V. 46 tells you how long Joseph was a slave in Egypt if you know how old he was when he was sold.
What does the naming of his children tell you in vs. 50-52. We make Joseph out to be a superhero, and he was, sort of, but I'm not getting the idea here that he knew what God was up to. He was still grieving and healing, and this, many years later.
Genesis 42:1-17
Here we go.
Try to figure out now how many years have passed since Joe saw his brothers.
What is the importance of verse 9? What does this tell you about Joseph and his thinking the past ?? years?
Why is Joseph treating them so roughly….and it isn't revenge?
We'll put more of this together tomorrow. It is enough to say that, as disciples, God doesn't do everything in our lives at once. We often look back and say that we should have known or understood something at a certain time in our lives, or we wish we had. The Father is a good teacher. His plan is vast and he teaches us in His time and opens our eyes according to His timing and plan. In the meantime, even in our struggles, we follow in the harvest.
Matthew 13:24-46
It would be a good exercise to think of how all of these parables fit together. The parable of the sower comes first, then the wheat and the tares, then the mustard seed, then the ditty on parables, then the explanation of the wheat and tares, then the hidden treasure and finally the pearl of great price. I think I have it figured out, but your exercise will benefit you more than my ideas, and don’t try to Google and find someone else’s explanation. Do it yourself.
A couple of notes:
In my view, the wheat and the tares happens at the second coming of Christ, just as He is beginning His thousand year reign. Theoretically, this could also be at the end of the millennial reign of Christ where a similar event takes place. In any case, we are given a parable that is meant to complement the parable of the sower in some way.
In Jesus saying that the mustard seed is "the smallest of seeds," I don’t believe He is trying to make a scientific statement. In the experience of the people listening, the mustard seed was a very small seed, probably the smallest they had to deal with.
Given the importance of understanding what Jesus is saying, as disciples we can ask ourselves if we are giving enough of ourselves to growing in Jesus and serving Him in the harvest. Is it worth it, knowing Christ? The hidden treasure and the pearl are an invitation to a willing heart. I find with myself, though I'll agree with the "give everything" teaching, in the 35 years I've been following, I'm still holding back. This is a constant invitation/exhortation.
Psalm 18:1-15
As with most of the psalms so far, the first 6 verses are great encouragement and will resonate with those who have been in the press and desperately needed the Lord to rescue them.
What do you see in the images that follow, that is interesting to you?
Proverbs 4:1-6
Again, what do you see in these proverbs that speaks to you?
The two things that get to me are that Solomon wrote this during a period when he was close to the Lord, but he drifted later in life. Rehoboam, Solomon's son, did not heed this advice. The inspiration of the Spirit and the truth of His words remain, even though the messenger didn’t heed his own message. Think about what Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:16 Take heed to yourself and to your teaching; hold to that, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. It makes sense, doesn’t it, and it really applies to us as disciples making disciples.
The other thing that hits me and applies to us as disciples is verse 6, "if you love her, she will guard you." There is no more secure place on the planet than loving/abiding in Christ, in His Word, working in His harvest, even if we are being led as sheep to the slaughter for His sake.
I'm writing these comments to and for those at New Song who are following a One Year Bible and involved in a discipleship cell. We're meeting weekly and discussing the texts, not necessarily my comments. We're growing together, learning to become and make disciples who make disciples. We will all be leading others in this process and training them to do likewise.
The comments I'm writing are in no way exhaustive, but meant to give some leading thoughts on how the text applies to us as disciples and to encourage and stimulate our growth in reading the Bible, with the effect that we will grow as disciples and encourage the growth of others as disciples growing in the word. If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible, in fact, no one in our church reads the version I do, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.
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