Page 21 - Living Light 90

Friday September 19 - Fear of punishment
“We are being punished because of our brother. We saw he was distressed but would not listen; that’s why this distress has come on us.” Genesis 42:21
Someone once suggested that the Eleventh Commandment is ‘Thou shalt not get found out’! The Bible says the very opposite; in fact Jesus himself warned, “‘Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known” (Luke 12:2). Joseph’s brothers, however, accused of spying by the most powerful man in Egypt, hope to escape detection. This stranger is unlikely to know about their wicked treatment of Joseph many years earlier. But what if the truth comes out? Guilt rises in their hearts and they wonder if Reuben’s words, “Now we must give an accounting for his blood” (v 22) are true and God is judging them.
There is a world of difference between remorse and repentance. The brothers’ fearful regrets were limited to what the Apostle Paul called ‘worldly sorrow (which lacks repentance) [that] results in spiritual death’ (2 Corinthians 7:10). Leaving Simeon in prison they hurry home and discover with dismay that the money they had paid has been replaced in their sacks of grain. They will have to return with Benjamin to rescue Simeon. Rashly, Reuben promises Jacob the lives of his own two sons if Benjamin comes to any harm. “Entrust him to my care,” he urges. But no one turns to God for help. The brothers are still far from ready to admit the truth and seek God’s divine mercy.
Search my heart, Lord! Show me any sin for which my sorrow is only skin-deep, and draw me into true repentance and peace. Amen.
Saturday September 20 - Jacob, the deceiver
Jacob said... “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more...
now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!” Genesis 42:36
Few Bible characters are as complicated as Jacob, whose name means ‘deceiver’. Tricking his father Isaac into giving him the blessing due to his older brother Esau, whom he had already cheated out of his birthright, Jacob then outsmarted his cousin Laban in business, secretly leaving him for home. On the journey, after a strange encounter wrestling with God, Jacob was renamed ‘Israel’, meaning ‘One who struggles with God’ or ‘God perseveres.’
Despite Jacob’s many faults God amazingly never gave up on him. His family life with four women bearing him twelve sons was disastrous; Jacob’s blatant favouritism for the two youngest resulted in the trouble we see in the story of Joseph. He now blames them for Simeon’s imprisonment and the potential danger to Benjamin, and indulges in some self-pity and emotional blackmail. But through the tangled web of sin, deceit and lies woven into this story God’s sovereign purposes are wonderfully worked out. Although Jacob laments that “Everything is against me!” this is not true, for God desires and is able to work through evil and suffering to accomplish his will. Jacob is forever honoured as patriarch of the Jewish nation and the Messiah’s ancestor. Romans 8:28 promises: ‘...in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’ Do we believe this for our own lives?
Thank you, Jesus, Light of the World, that you shine through the deepest darkness to protect, guide and bless those who love you. Amen.
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PRAYER FOR TODAY
PRAYER FOR TODAY