Angelic Conflict part 126: Human history – Gen 40-50; Dan 2:28; Psa 9:10; 22:9; 33:21; 37:5; 40:4; 44:6; 52:8; 56:3; 91:2; 118:8; 143:8; 146:3.Title: Angelic Conflict part 126: Human history – Gen 40-50; Dan 2:28; Psa 9:10; 22:9; 33:21; 37:5; 40:4; 44:6; 52:8; 56:3; 91:2; 118:8; 143:8; 146:3.
The conflict in Jacob’s family; Joseph hated by his brothers, Gen 37.
Gen 41:25 Now Joseph said to Pharaoh, "Pharaoh's dreams are one and the same; God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do.
Dan 2:28 there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days.
Joseph never takes credit and neither does Daniel, and that’s one of the reasons that God can use them, humility.
Joseph is made prime minister and economic czar of Egypt and he exercises a 20% tax for the 7 years of plenty and delivers Egypt from the coming 7 years of famine.
Joseph was made ruler of Potiphar’s house, and then the jail, and now the whole land of Egypt. Circumstances don’t matter. God’s will matters.
Gen 41:50 Now before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him.
Gen 41:51 And Joseph named the first-born Manasseh, "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household."
Gen 41:52 And he named the second Ephraim, "For," he said, "God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."
Joseph was sold at the age of seventeen and it is now 13 years later. He will meet his brothers nine years later at the age of 39.
The first trip of the brothers to Egypt, in an attempt to buy grain, find themselves recognized by Joseph, but they do not recognize him. He immediately tests them to see if they have changed at all. He also desires to see if Benjamin and his father are alive. He therefore accuses them of being spies.
Gen 42:11 We are all sons of one man; we are honest men, your servants are not spies.
Are they honest men by now?
Joseph imprisoned Simeon and demanded that they return with Benjamin for his release. They return to Jacob and tell him about everything and he refuses to let them take Benjamin with them, thinking that the same fate as Joseph would happen to him. However, they run out of food again and so they must return. They do so with Benjamin and according to Jacob’s instructions, they bring a present to Joseph.
The dream was fulfilled again. On their first trip to Egypt they bowed to him:
Gen 42:6 Now Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.
And now again on the second trip:
Gen 43:26 When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present which was in their hand and bowed to the ground before him.
If we do not eventually humble ourselves, genuine humility, then God will humble us, enforced humility, yet still volition must respond.
He gives them more grain, but then tests them to see if any family loyalty and unity has occurred since selling him 22 years ago.
Gen 44:1 Then he commanded his house steward, saying, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack.
Gen 44:2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his money for the grain." And he did as Joseph had told him.
Gen 44:3 As soon as it was light, the men were sent away, they with their donkeys.
Gen 44:4 They had just gone out of the city, and were not far off, when Joseph said to his house steward, "Up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, 'Why have you repaid evil for good?
Gen 44:5 'Is not this the one from which my lord drinks, and which he indeed uses for divination? You have done wrong in doing this.'"
Gen 44:6 So he overtook them and spoke these words to them.
Gen 44:7 And they said to him, "Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing.
Gen 44:8 Behold, the money which we found in the mouth of our sacks we have brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord's house?
Gen 44:9 "With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's slaves."
Gen 44:10 So he said, "Now let it also be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and the rest of you shall be innocent."
Gen 44:11 Then they hurried, each man lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack.
Gen 44:12 And he searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest [building the tension], and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.
Gen 44:13 Then they tore their clothes, and when each man loaded his donkey, they returned to the city.
Gen 44:14 When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there, and they fell to the ground before him.
Gen 44:15 And Joseph said to them, "What is this deed that you have done? Do you not know that such a man as I can indeed practice divination?"
He does not practice divination, but they would have assumed that he did.
Gen 44:16 So Judah said, "What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? And how can we justify ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants [they do mean the sale of Joseph]; behold, we are my lord's slaves, both we and the one in whose possession the cup has been found."
Gen 44:17 But he said, "Far be it from me to do this. The man in whose possession the cup has been found, he shall be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father."
Now, finally, someone steps up and does something of integrity.
Judah, son number 4, gives himself as a substitute. Reuben, Simeon, and Levi are passed by and Judah receives blessing of the first born.
Gen 44:18 Then Judah approached him, and said, "Oh my lord, may your servant please speak a word in my lord's ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are equal to Pharaoh.
Gen 44:19 My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father or a brother?'
Gen 44:20 "And we said to my lord, 'We have an old father and a little child of his old age. Now his brother is dead, so he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.'
Gen 44:21 "Then you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.'
Gen 44:22 "But we said to my lord, 'The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.'
Gen 44:23 "You said to your servants, however, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again.'
Gen 44:24 "Thus it came about when we went up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.
Gen 44:25 And our father said, 'Go back, buy us a little food.'
Gen 44:26 "But we said, 'We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.'
Gen 44:27 "And your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons;
Gen 44:28 and the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he is torn in pieces," and I have not seen him since.
Gen 44:29 'And if you take this one also from me, and harm befalls him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.'
Gen 44:30 "Now, therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, since his life is bound up in the lad's life,
Gen 44:31 it will come about when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die. Thus your servants will bring the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow.
Gen 44:32 For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, 'If I do not bring him back to you, then let me bear the blame before my father forever.'
Gen 44:33 "Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.
Gen 44:34 For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest I see the evil that would overtake my father?"
Gen 45:1 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried, "Have everyone go out from me." So there was no man with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
Gen 45:2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard of it.
Gen 45:3 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?" But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.
One can understand their trepidation.
Gen 45:4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come closer to me." And they came closer. And he said, "I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.
Time has given Joseph the perspective of God’s will in all that he went through.
Gen 45:5 And now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.
Gen 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8 Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 45:9 Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, 'Thus says your son Joseph," God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay.
Gen 45:10 And you shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children and your flocks and your herds and all that you have.
Gen 45:11 There I will also provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, lest you and your household and all that you have be impoverished."'
Gen 45:12 "And behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth which is speaking to you.
Gen 45:13 Now you must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and all that you have seen; and you must hurry and bring my father down here."
Gen 45:14 Then he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept; and Benjamin wept on his neck.
Gen 45:15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him.
Joseph does not seek vengeance and even blesses those who harmed him.
The brothers go and get Jacob and they all return and Joseph sets them up in Goshen, which is wonderful land for flocks and agriculture, and more importantly, away from the Egyptians and the influence of their many false gods. They multiply and prosper.
In time Jacob dies and the brothers show that they have not learned about the grace, love, and power of God.
Gen 50:15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph should bear a grudge against us and pay us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!"
It wasn’t Jacob that was a protection against Joseph’s vengeance, Joseph’s understanding of the will of God was their protection and yet after all this they still fail to see that. Some people, though exposed to truth their whole lives just never seem to get it.
Gen 50:16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, "Your father charged before he died, saying,
Jacob never said this. Fear motivates lying.
Gen 50:17 'Thus you shall say to Joseph, "Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong."' And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father. "And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
That they would even think that he would want to take any vengeance upon them causes him to weep.
He desires more than anything that they know God as he does, but this action shows that they do not. No one can force another to know God, each must decide for himself.
Gen 50:18 Then his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, "Behold, we are your servants."
Gen 50:19 But Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in God's place?
Gen 50:20 "And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.
Gen 50:21 So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
No matter what the opposition, God can always produce good in the midst of evil. Just trust Him.
As we close this section I have decided to look at the word trust in the Psalms. This isn’t every instance of the word but those that are pertinent to our study.
Psa 9: Emphasis on joyful praise, especially for God’s care of Israel and His +R judgment on those who attacked her.
Psa 9:7 But the Lord abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment,
Psa 9:8 And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.
Psa 9:9 The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble,
Psa 9:10 And those who know Thy name will put their trust in Thee; For Thou, O Lord, hast not forsaken those who seek Thee.
Our Lord learned to trust the plan of the Father early in his first advent.
Psa 22: Messianic Psalm of the cross, resurrection and ascension.
Psa 22:1 My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.
Psa 22:2 O my God, I cry by day, but Thou dost not answer; And by night, but I have no rest.
Psa 22:3 Yet Thou art holy, O Thou who art enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
Psa 22:4 In Thee our fathers trusted; They trusted, and Thou didst deliver them.
Psa 22:5 To Thee they cried out, and were delivered; In Thee they trusted, and were not disappointed.
Psa 22:6 But I am a worm, and not a man, A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
Psa 22:7 All who see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying,
Psa 22:8 "Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him."
Psa 22:9 Yet Thou art He who didst bring me forth from the womb; Thou didst make me trust when upon my mother's breasts.
Psa 33: Worship Psalm.
Psa 33:18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness,
Psa 33:19 To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine.
Psa 33:20 Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.
Psa 33:21 For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name.
Psa 33:22 Let Thy lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, According as we have hoped in Thee.
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