I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Pharaoh told Joseph his dreams. Joseph tells Pharaoh that God is using the dreams to tell him that Egypt is about to experience seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Joseph advises Pharaoh that he should find a wise and intelligent man and put that man in charge of gathering a portion of the harvest during the good years to be held in reserve for the coming years of famine. Pharaoh heard Joseph’s advice and thought that it was wise. Pharaoh decided that the best person to implement Joseph’s plan was the person who had proposed it (Joseph). So Pharaoh made Joseph the second most powerful man in Egypt and gave him a wife from a powerful official in his court. Joseph implemented the plan and when the famine came, it hit more than just Egypt, but Egypt was prepared and people came from throughout the region to purchase food from Egypt.
The famine struck Canaan as well. When Jacob learned that there was grain available in Egypt, he sent his ten oldest sons to Egypt to buy grain. When Joseph’s brothers arrived in Egypt, Joseph saw them and recognized them, but they did not recognize him. He approached them and accused them of being spies. They vociferously denied this telling him that they were all sons of one man. They told him that they had two additional brothers, the youngest, who was with their father, and one who was dead. Joseph had them arrested and told them that one of them would be released to go back to their father to bring their youngest brother to prove that they were telling the truth.
Joseph is testing his brothers here. He is attempting to see how they will react to a threat to their half-brother Benjamin (Joseph’s full brother). We do not know what Joseph would have done if his brothers reacted to this differently, so I do not want to put too much emphasis on Joseph’s motives. Rather, I think the place to focus in this story is on how his brothers react to this situation, which we will see in tomorrow’s passage.
Matthew gives us a series of parables that Jesus told. The first is the story of the wheat and the weeds. The story is about a farmer who sows some wheat seeds. In the night his enemy comes and sows some weed seeds among those wheat seeds. When the seeds sprouted, the weeds sprouted up along with the wheat. When the farmer’s servants saw the weeds among the wheat, they asked if they should pull the weeds. The farmer told them not to because in the process of pulling the weeds, they might uproot some of the wheat. Instead the farmer tells them to wait for the harvest to separate the weeds from the wheat. This is a lesson for us that we cannot reliably separate out those who are serving God, but have not yet reached maturity so as to bear fruit, from those who are serving Satan and will never bear fruit. If we attempt to get rid of those who are “weeds”, we will inevitably destroy some of the “wheat”. This does not mean that there can be no Church discipline, as Church discipline is not intended to pull the “weeds” but instead is intended to train the “wheat” in how it should grow to bear the most fruit. God will separate the wheat from the weeds when the time is ripe.
Next are the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast. There are several different messages contained in these two parables. However, they contain one message in common. They talk about how something that seems small and insignificant can have a large impact. The mustard seed may be small but it grows to the largest plant in the garden. Yeast is practically insignificant compared to the other ingredients in dough, yet it is the yeast that causes the dough to grow to double in size (or more, if you let it). Both of these parables tell us that while we may seem few in number and insignificant in the world around us, if we allow God to put us where He wishes us to be we can be a major force in this world. Perhaps God will cause our group to grow and become a noticeable presence in the world, like the mustard bush. Or perhaps He will cause our group to grow and permeate society around us to transform it, like the yeast. In either case, the key is to serve God.
The final two parables in today’s passage talk about someone who finds a great treasure and risks all that they have to obtain it. Am I willing to risk all I have and am to serve God, to gain the Kingdom of heaven?
you are my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
and my place of safety.
I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and he saved me from my enemies.
I could think of no better way to express what this psalm means to me. Do not be afraid to call upon the Lord when you are in distress. He will hear and answer your prayer. Read this psalm and recognize the unstoppable power with which God will ride to the rescue of those who love Him. He will shield the brightness of His presence until He is ready to strike. Then His enemies will be struck suddenly with irresistible force, as if by hail and lightning. I recently faced a significant financial setback that was causing me to wonder how I was going to pay all of my bills. I called on the Lord and He provided me with the means to pay my bills above and beyond what I asked for.
This proverb advises the young to remember that their fathers were once young. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that they do not understand, they were once in your shoes. We gain wisdom and understanding by listening to those with more experience than ourselves. If we love wisdom, it will guard and protect us.