Genesis 42:18-43:34, Matthew 13:47-14:12, Psalms 18:16-36, Proverbs 4:7-10
Today is the 21st day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today as we continue our journey forward through the Scriptures. In the book of Genesis we’re following the story of Joseph right now who is the great grandson of Abraham, and who has been sold or trafficked into slavery by his brothers, only to become the second in command of all of Egypt because he interpreted a dream that foretold of a coming famine and that has all come true. So, these very brothers who had sold their own brother into slavery are now before that brother not knowing who he is because…because they need food. But Joseph has accused them of being spies and has kept them under arrest for several days. He has not revealed who he is. He’s observing them. He’s seeing where their hearts are and that’s where we pick up the story. Genesis chapter 42 verse 18 to 43 verse 34 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, we’ve been moving along pretty quickly and really tracking the stories of Genesis as well as following in the footsteps of Jesus in the book of Matthew as well as the Psalms and Proverbs. And, so, we’ve covered a lot of ground in a pretty short amount of time so far this year and we’ve focused on the teachings of Jesus a lot. So, let’s just look at what we’re reading in Genesis right now with the story of Joseph because the story systematically shows us all kinds of valid and legitimate reasons to…to fall off the cliff into depression and bitterness and anxiety and then by the time we get to where we are in the story…every…everybody’s being exposed here. So, Joseph was this young man and it does appear that in his youth he had some of the arrogance of youth, some of the fearlessness of youth, and the mouth of a young boy in his teens. He had been a favored son. So, he was raised up as a beloved son. So, it’s like he has a charmed childhood, but his older brothers are jealous, and we know this from the Scriptures. And, so, we know how the story goes. Joseph has dreams. He shares his dreams. That further causes his brothers to hate him and even causes some problems with his dad. And then Joseph goes to check on his brothers and this is when his brothers decide to go to kill him and just be done with it and, not have to hear this…this kids dreams and his arrogance and all…just all of the favoritism…just all of the stuff they’ve been enduring, they’re done with it. What happens is that Joseph is thrown into a pit and then subsequently sold into slavery. We like…we…we can gloss over it, right? Because it’s a story from the flannel board when we were in Sunday school. And, so, Joseph, being sold into slavery just happens so quick and then the next thing you know he’s in Egypt. But this is a boy, a young man in his teens, and from the confession that we heard in today’s reading from his brothers, he was terrified. He was begging. Like he was looking at the only people he knew, and they were his blood relatives and they were sending him off. They just sold him for money and now he’s bound up on a wagon being hauled away further into the desert toward Egypt and he’s looking back at his brothers, terrified. So, this is a boy who is grown-up, protected and nurtured and his life as he knew it came to a sudden and abrupt, end. Even though he was still alive, like the life that he knew and people that he knew and the surroundings and everything that was normal for him was over. And it’s a long journey down to Egypt. And, so, there were weeks for Joseph to contemplate his situation. And he gets to Egypt and he’s sold again. If anybody has a right to fall into depression, right, if anybody has a right to cry injustice, if anybody has a right to say they are being oppressed or that their life has become supremely unfair it would be Joseph because it’s true. Like he has every right to these things. He’s not just being self-absorbed and selfish and feeling sorry for himself. This stuff is really happening and it’s awful. He just…that’s the thing that’s missing from this story though. That’s the weird thing about it. That bitterness and that depression that he has a right to is missing from the story other than his deep longing to get out of the predicament that he’s in. He trusts God as he goes to work for Potiphar. He honors God as he runs away from Potiphar’s wife. And the Bible says Joseph is a good-looking guy. Like his countenance…like he’s handsome and he’s well-built. So, Potiphar’s wife wants a little of that action. And Joseph’s a young man. So, like normally in that kind of a scenario, the young man’s like a pretty willing accomplice. Joseph’s not. He understands…like he was able with wisdom to look at the whole situation and realize, “she may be a woman and she may be throwing yourself at me a and she may be attractive, but she’s not available. I am in command of this house and the only thing off-limits is her.” And, so, he…he…he doesn’t betray his master, which throws him into the dungeon falsely accused of a crime that he wouldn’t participate in. So, if anybody again has the right to these kinds of deep anguishing feelings, it’s Joseph. It’s just missing from the story. And, so, Joseph sets about doing everything that he can in the situation that he’s in to do his best and after the same fashion he becomes in charge of the prison. So, Joseph has become a leader everywhere he’s been when he has every right to just sit and languish in his depression at the injustice. Like, he could spend his life rightfully crying injustice, but instead he becomes a leader everywhere he goes, because according to the Scriptures he trusted in God. And, so, we know the story leads him out of the dungeon because he interprets a dream for Pharaoh. We know that…I mean in the space of 24 hours it seems that Joseph goes from a desperate person who may be a leader, but he’s leader of the dungeon and he is a resident of the dungeon. He goes from that place, kind of in the dark, underground, hidden completely, forgotten, utterly hopeless, he goes from that to being second command in Egypt in like the space of a day. And we can see in Joseph because he was just a young man when all this began, he was in his teens when this began. But we see that over the course of the years of him growing up without…I mean without anyone to guide him that he becomes very observant and very wise. And, so, when his brothers show up, he doesn’t take revenge and he doesn’t just expose who he is and have a family reunion either. He observes. Because now Joseph has learned about the heart of a person. And, so, before he makes a judgment about his brothers and his family he watches to see where their hearts are. Of course, we’re not done with the story. Joseph is able to see his…his full blood brother Benjamin and we’re seeing that Joseph is have…having a pretty hard time holding it together. Seeing them again is just rocking his world in a lot of ways. And that’s where we are in this story. We’re not done with this story. There’s much more to the story but that’s where we are. And the first part of this story really gives us an opportunity to look at the things that, you know, that that we’re depressed about or the things that we’re in anguish about or that we’re facing anxiety over and then just contrast that with Joseph’s story. Not to compare. Like Joseph’s story is a pretty tough story. Not too many people could top a story like that. It’s not a story to make you feel small because you have lesser problems, but they seem to be taking you out. So, just look at Joseph and how strong he is. That’s really not the point. The point is that through it all somehow Joseph navigated without becoming bitter toward God through all of it. And the things that were happening to Joseph are the things that would for sure estrange us from God were they to happen, which is funny because we read the story and God didn’t do any of this. And it helps us to look at what we’re blaming God for in our own lives that He had nothing to do with, He’s just getting the blame. It also gives us a chance to look at where we’ve sat down…like what are we wallowing in right now? Where are we wallowing? Because it’s fine, we can wallow there as long as we like, but that’s all we will ever be doing is wallowing there. Joseph’s story would be a completely different story if that were his story if he just…like he made it to the dungeon and he was like, “what the heck? This woman threw herself at me. She’s taking off her clothes. I’m trying to get out of there. I have to leave some of my clothes. I didn’t do anything wrong. I shouldn’t be in this dungeon.” He could’ve wallowed there for the rest of his life. Somehow Joseph was able to have the long view and it would do us some real good inside if we would begin to get the long view. What we are wallowing in right now is temporary. Everything is temporary. Everything is changing. It’s a constant. We’re being pulled forward, but we can fight to stay where we are and defend why we’re so depressed and anxious and all of the things that go on. We can fight to protect that, which only reveals to us that our wounds and our hurts, we’re using them to create an identity, one that’s gonna keep us from moving forward, one that’s gonna keep us stuck. That’s the ingredient that’s missing from this Joseph story and it changes the story dramatically as we’ll see as we continue forward.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for another day in Your word and we thank You for all that You are revealing to us through Your word and all of the insight You are giving us into our own souls, into our own lives and the motives and the why’s of how we do what we do. We thank You. And, so, we take heed what the proverb told us today, that the beginning of wisdom is to want it, to get it, to go after it. And whatever we get, we are to get insight. And, so, Holy Spirit we’re not really capable of spotting all the insights along way. All of the wisdom that’s flowing throughout the earth, we’re not able in our own strength to be successful. We need Your guidance. And, so, Holy Spirit, well up within us we pray. Come into all of these issues we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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You know, one of the things we were just talking about, sliding off into the world of depression and anxiety and injustice and all of this and just kind of contrasting that with Joseph’s story. Joseph obviously kept busy at something. He didn’t just show up in the dungeon and become the leader. He didn’t just show up in Potiphar’s house and become the leader. He obviously lived into that, which means that he didn’t just sit down and quit and…and…and basically just get swallowed by the darkness. He had to turn his focus outward in order to do this. And one of the ways that we do this, and it’s unbelievable in the way that it can help us with what overwhelms us, is to turn our focus away from ourselves and to our brothers and sisters understanding that we are all in this together. We are all going through stuff. We can hide it all we want. I don’t understand. I mean like…the whole world is hiding and pretending to be like more perfect than we are. We are all going through all of these things. If we begin to realize we’re not alone and we focus our attention on others, it’s profound what that does inside of us. And we’re a community of prayer. And the Prayer Wall is a place to go for that as well as all the calls that come in. If you are low, there’s somebody to pray for who is lower and it’s remarkable what that does inside of us. So, check that out. The Prayer Wall lives in the Community section or just press the little Drawer icon in the app in the upper left-hand corner and that’ll get you there.
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And that is it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
This message is for Harold in St. Louis. Brother, thank you for calling in. I’ve been a member of Daily Audio Bible for about 11 years and I’ve never called in until this moment and it’s because of you. Just hearing your story and hearing how you found Daily Audio Bible. Don’t think its happenstance that you called in and that you’re actually embarking on training for a marathon. This is what this is all about. This is what this whole Christian walk is and walk of believers is taking it step-by-step. And God has His interesting ways of whispering that you’re in the right direction. And brother you are. you’re in the right direction, you’re in flow, you’re in step. So, as you’re training for the marathon, see this whole year of listening to the Daily Audio Bible the same way and just know that already you’ve had an impact on this community, you’ve had an impact on me. You got me to call and share that because it’s important. And, you know, I just want to say congratulations brother and you’ve really found the greatest treasure by finding the DAB. You know, looked up Harold and I know it’s not…I know you spell HAROLD, I’m sure but I almost…it made me think of Hark the Herald and just know that the definition of Harold is a person or thing viewed as a sign that something is about to happen. So, know that something great is about to happen for you this year and you’re already a blessing. So, all right marathon Harold. God bless. Bye.
This is Bonnie from Maryland and this call is for Diana Davis. I heard your call on January 14th that there’s nothing more they can do for your cancer and I am so very sorry. I have been praying for you since I heard your story a couple of months ago and I want to pray again now. Dear Father God in heaven I ask that You be with Diana and with Michael and Elijah. I ask that You give them the peace that surpasses all understanding that only You can give. I pray for Diana, that the doctors will be able to keep her comfortable and as pain-free as possible at this time. And I pray for her children, Michael and Elijah. I pray most of all that they would be able to stay together and never be separated. I ask that You give Michael the resources and the wisdom and the strength needed to keep Elijah and take care of him. And that family and friends would come and help them and surround them with love, surround them with emotional support, physical support, financial support. Whatever their needs are, that they would help and guide them. And I pray that they will feel Your love and Your peace and Your presence enveloping them and that they continue to grow in their relationship with You. Just be with them all Lord at this time that is so difficult in Jesus’ precious and holy name we pray. Amen.
Hi, it’s His Welsh girl again, 15th of January. Brian, just thank you so much for your…your commentary today. It was so enlightening, and it helped me to understand the passage in Matthew where Jesus is saying about, He’s not come to bring us peace. And I’ve never really understood it, but you really helped me today. So, thank you. And I wanted to say hello to Harold doing the Chicago marathon training. It just made my heart glad to hear you phoning in. And, yeah, I just want you to know that that difference in your life, you know, that you feel happier and more at peace, that is God’s peace and He wants you and He loves you and I just, yeah, brilliant that you rang in. Diana, I heard your message yesterday and I felt so heartbroken and I’ve been praying that God will give you His peace about Elijah and Michael and reassurance about them, that something miraculous will happen so that you feel reassured that God is so close to you. And I pray for your courage and strength for you to. And I just wanted to say hi to Blind Tony. I just found a poem that I wrote out a few years ago of yours and it starts, “I immerse myself within myself and find myself in you.” It’s just such a great…it’s brilliant. It took me ages to write it out…but I just read it again and it’s brilliant. So, thank you Blind Tony. Okay, lots of love to you all. Bye.
Hi DAB brothers and sisters this is Byron out in Florida. I just want to give a shout out to a couple people I heard on the podcast today. To Harold you called in and had discovered the podcast as an alternative to a couple of other more mainstream items and are training for a marathon and talking about how the Bible is just totally changing you. I think that’s pretty awesome. I’ve been listening to the DAB for, I don’t know, eight or nine years now and your story’s probably one of the coolest that I’ve heard. And, so, keep on with it. Keep letting the Bible speak for itself and you’ll see how it will change you inside out. But I just wanted to welcome you to the community and hope that we get to hear more from you. Right after you called, Janet in SoCal you called and you just __ little things that happened to you in the morning. And I just want to thank you for sharing that. It’s so often in Christian-dom, even in our community where were focused heavily on the struggle and pains of life because life is a struggle and life is painful but that’s not all it is, it’s also fun, it’s also funny. And you quoted a proverb which I always thought was funny about greeting your neighbor with a cheery voice but there’s also another proverb that says laughter does good like a medicine. I just wanted to thank you for filling my prescription today. And love you all. Talk to you later. Bye.
Hello DAB family this is Shante calling from Metro Detroit and I just heard Harold’s call. Harold who is an unbeliever from St. Louis is training for the Chicago marathon. I just wanted to say, Harold thank you so much for listening and thank you so much for calling in. I’m just…I don’t know…I’m just really encouraged by your call and just grateful that you gave the Daily Audio Bible a chance and…and that you’re experiencing the benefits of feeling peace, the peace of God’s word. And, yeah, you know, I listen to a lot of podcast myself and…and yeah, that is definitely one of one of the wonderful qualities of the Daily Audio Bible, it’s just a great way to start your day. And…and also if you stay listening with us, and I pray you will, later on in the year we’ll get to Hebrews and it will talk about running with perseverance the race marked out for you or it’ll say for us. And, so, that’s just a little, you know, runner’s analogy. But, you know, I’m praying that your training goes well for the Chicago marathon. That’s a fantastic goal to have. And, yeah, we’ll be praying for you. So, all right everyone that’s all I have for today. Talk to you all later. Bye-bye.
Hi this is Marsha from Monument Colorado and I’m calling in today for three people that have called in in the last few days with prayer request and comments. The first person is Harold in St. Louis. I just want to say thank you so much for your call today. You have no idea how much your call encouraged me, and no doubt thousands of people that heard your call. So, thank you for calling in and I want to let you know that I am praying for you. I’m praying for your upcoming marathon and just praying for you in general and I’m hoping that you will call back and keep us posted on how the Daily Audio Bible podcast is affecting your life. I’m really anxious to hear. The next person is Kathleen in Mount Zion Illinois. You called in about her daughter who lives in Dubai with brain lesions and how much you want to be with her at this time and I just want you to know that I am praying for that. Yeah. And then the next person is Diana Davis. Diana I’ve been praying for you for a long time. I’ve heard probably most of your calls and I’m continuing to pray for your total healing and that your request that Elijah and Michael will be able to stay together. You have such a beautiful heart as a mother and I just know that the Father’s heart is so tender. He’s heard your prayers and I just want you Diana to be encouraged today and thank you for your call. And then lastly, I just want to say one more time, I’m always saying how thankful I am for the Daily Audio Bible and how much it’s changed…
Hi, DABbers it’s Carla Jean from Las Vegas calling because the last six months has pretty much been hell. I lost my job, I’m homeless, my kids are all kind of freaking out. My oldest daughters not speaking to me or her father since our divorce last January. And my son Noah is in the middle of a mental health crisis and I’m driving to lose it with him. I’m fearful for my own safety because he doesn’t sound very safe. So, I’m asking for prayers for that. My youngest daughter and her husband came to visit us at Christmas, and they stole from us. And I have a 14-year-old who is wonderful. But I’m just…I’m losing my faith guys. How has God not shown up yet? Please pray for me and pray for my kids, especially please pray for Noah, that whatever it is that’s going on he can get the help that he needs or maybe me just being there is going to be a help. I don’t know. I need you guys. Love you.