Exodus 1-2

“But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad” (1:12). After Joseph died, subsequent generations of Israelites became an oppressed minority in Egypt. They were made to “work as slaves” because the Egyptians feared them (1:14). But the mighty Egyptian empire could not negate God’s promises to Abraham’s descendants. He protected their children through the courageous actions of midwives (ch 1) and, through the boldness of a mother and sister, raised up Moses to lead them (ch 2).

“And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant” (2:24). The powers of the world can cause trouble and suffering, but they cannot stop God’s good purposes. When we are weak, his saving love is revealed (II Cor 12:9).

Genesis 50

“For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah” (v13). After Jacob died in Egypt, his sons fulfilled his request to carry his body back to Canaan for burial. Both Jacob and Joseph (v25) believed Egypt was not the Israelites’ permanent home; they trusted that God would still give them the Promised Land. This long-term view of God’s faithfulness helped Joseph forgive his brothers as he realized that God had turned their betrayal into an opportunity to save the whole family (v20).

“God will surely visit you ...” (v25). Trusting in God’s long-term faithfulness – even beyond our lifetimes – gives us the grace to live courageously for him in our present circumstances.

Matthew 15

“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (v8). Using Isaiah’s words, Jesus condemned the hypocrisy of leaders who told people that religious offerings took priority over the care of their elderly parents (v5-6). They glorified “tradition” and enriched themselves while ignoring the heart of God’s command to honor father and mother. Their manipulative attempts to avoid simple obedience contrasted with the faith of the non- Israelite woman who sought Jesus desperately, in the face of seeming rejection, because he was her only hope (v21-28).

“In vain do they worship me ...” (v9). Jesus condemned those who used God’s name for political gain or personal power. He welcomes sincere worshipers who recognize their helplessness and seek him desperately.

Matthew 14

“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water” (v28). Jesus knew his mission and was strengthened by time with His Father (v23), but his disciples’ faith was still being tested. They followed Jesus and witnessed miracles like the multiplication of bread and fish (v19). When Jesus came to them “walking on the sea” (v25), Peter stepped out by faith to meet him, but the wind and waves frightened him, and he began to sink. Peter knew Jesus was the Son of God (v33), yet his circumstances caused doubt.

“Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him” (v31). When faith and doubt battle in our hearts, the Lord reaches out and holds on to us.

Psalm 10

“Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (v1). The psalmist wondered why God would allow “the wicked” to terrorize others and boast of their power (v2-3). Ungodly individuals denied God’s existence and prospered anyway, harming the weak and declaring confidently, “throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity” (v6). But, the psalmist affirmed, God saw everything; at the right time, He promised to bring “justice to the fatherless and the oppressed” (v18).

“The Lord is king forever and ever” (v16). Nations rise and fall, and sometimes it looks like evil is temporarily winning. But God is King forever, and he has appointed Jesus as the judge who will have the last word (Rom 2:16).

Genesis 48-49

When Joseph was told that his father Jacob was dying, Joseph took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, (48:3-6) and had Jacob bless them. Though Ephraim was the younger, Jacob, in faith and led by God, gave the greater blessing to Ephraim. Jacob recounted God’s promises and faithfulness to himself. Then he took his other sons and blessed them prophetically. Jacob’s mature faith enabled him to see God’s powerful direction in his life and yet embrace the results of his own actions. One did not eradicate the other. Likewise, he could see the nature of his sons and yet know God would be faithful. Mature faith embraces both.

Genesis 46-47

Jacob believed the word his sons brought back to him concerning Joseph being alive and wanting Jacob to bring his family to Egypt, and so he gathered all he had and began the move. On the way he stopped in Beersheba (46:1) and offered sacrifices to God. That night, God gave him a vision that reaffirmed His promises to Abraham with the addition of “I will go down with you to Egypt and I will surely bring you up again,” (46:3).

Sometimes we have faith to begin something, but need reassurance that God is constantly with us. It would be several hundred years before the promise would be fulfilled, but Israel lived, holding on to that promise. They went down to Egypt with 70 people, but came out a powerful nation. It is wonderful when we see the hand of God, but lack of sight does not mean lack of presence.

Genesis 45

Joseph, sold as a slave by his brothers, had finally been elevated to the position of vice-emperor of Egypt (Gen 41). The path was very circuitous, yet God had been with him all along. His brothers who had sold him, now stood before him, totally dependent on his whim, his judgment. Joseph did not see himself as a victim but as a servant of God. He addressed the famine that had brought the brothers to Egypt and said, “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. Now 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,” (45:7,8).

Genesis 44

Joseph’s brothers had no inkling that their conspiracy against him (Gen 37) had not turned out as they supposed. They thought of him, at best, to be a slave in a far off land. They had not, however, factored in God, who had taken care of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and could take care of Joseph, son of Jacob. God had, in fact, made Joseph the ruler of all Egypt, second only to Pharaoh.

God had plans for the sons of Jacob but would not bless them while they hid the true nature of their act against their father and brother. Their shared evil linked them in conspiracy; God was determined to free them so He could bless them. Some of the pressures that we face are, perhaps, from Go

Matthew 14

This chapter begins with the narrative of a terrible king driven by lust, anger and power who has taken his sister-in-law as his mistress, only to discover that he is under her power and is forced to commit a heinous and grievous act; she demands and he obeys and beheads John the Baptist, cousin of Jesus. “When Jesus heard of it, he withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by himself,” (14:13).

The rest of the chapter tells of two of the greatest miracles of Jesus, his feeding the five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish, and his walking on water, in a storm, to come to his disciples. These are not told to “explain away” the suffering of John, but to say that that event is not the end of the story. There is a tomorrow when the suffering of this world is addressed, when death no longer destroys, but it itself is destroyed. Until then, we hold to the one who comes to us in the middle of the storm and invites us to come to him (vs28,29).

Matthew 13

The seven parables of Matthew 13 offer some of the most thought-provoking teaching in scripture. Using familiar settings, with the common theme of gathering the necessities of life, Jesus taught about heavenly realities. One cannot read the parables sincerely without encountering the inductive power of the metaphor. The parables encourage and convict; they even surprise us concerning the nature of heaven. Whoever thought of heaven as a jewel in a jewelry store or a successful fishing trip? Some are for the “crowds,” some for the disciples (v36). All are for us who need to be constantly challenged regarding our patterns of life and our values. One who reads these parables with a heart after truth will discover heaven.

Psalm 9

The writer of this psalm seeks every way he knows to praise God. He is fully engaged, “with all my heart,” (v1). He overflows with expression: “I will tell,” “I will be glad and exult,” “I will sing.” His praise is based on both his experience with God and what he has learned of God’s nature.

He remembers God’s support of him (v4), and knows God is both eternal (v7), and will ultimately judge all wickedness (vs5-8). But the God who will judge in the future is also a stronghold for the oppressed and those in trouble; He will not forsake us (vs9,10). We can confidently sing His praise no matter how low our “affliction” has taken us – even to the gates of death (vs 11-13). With the writer we pray, “Arise, O Lord,” (v11).

Genesis 42-43

“In truth we are guilty concerning our brother ...” (42:21). Brought low themselves, Joseph’s brothers finally faced their guilt. They had no idea that Joseph’s request for Benjamin was motivated by his own desire to see “his mother’s son” and verify that he had not been treated badly by his older brothers. While Joseph tested his brothers, they remembered and regretted their cruelty. Reuben realized “there comes a reckoning for his blood” (42:21).

“What is this that God has done to us?” (42:28). Through testing and pressure, Jacob’s sons were brought face to face with their guilt. However, God’s purpose was not to harm them, but to give them an opportunity for reconciliation and rescue.

Genesis 40-41

“For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction” (41:52). Joseph’s faithfulness to God did not prevent him from being enslaved, wrongly accused, and forgotten in prison for two extra years. However, wherever Joseph lived and worked, he served God and gave Him glory, just as Daniel, Esther, Mordecai and others would do later in their own exiles. Joseph lived in a way that revealed the “Spirit of God” in him (41:38).

“Two sons were born to Joseph ...” (41:50). Joseph’s sons were a reminder that God had not forgotten him but instead made him fruitful in the land of his suffering. And beyond Joseph’s lifetime, Ephraim and Manasseh’s descendants would participate in God’s covenant purposes to bless the world.

Genesis 39

“How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (39:9). God miraculously brought Joseph from the depths of despair into the house of the influential Potiphar. There, Joseph experienced favor, “for the Lord was with Joseph and he became a successful man” (v2). However, Joseph caught the eye of Potiphar’s wife, who tempted him daily (39:10). Joseph’s refusal to commit adultery was rewarded with lies and prison (v14-18, 20).

In prison, “the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love” (v21). At times being faithful to Jesus may make our lives more difficult, as we resist the world for His sake. But when we cling to Him regardless of circumstances, we experience His steadfast love in an extraordinary way.

Genesis 37-38

“She is more righteous than I” (38:26). Jacob openly favored Joseph (37:3), and the brothers’ hatred and resentment inevitably led to violence (37:5). Judah, meant to be a leader, had two sons who were so evil and selfish that God put them to death (38:7,10). Judah himself resisted doing what was “righteous” until his hand was forced by the neglected widow, Tamar. But through this very ordinary, sinful family, God was at work for His good purposes, revealing Himself to the world.

“Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar ...” (Matt 1:3). Matthew points out Tamar in the genealogy of Jesus, reminding us that Jesus knows the depths of human failure, shame, and brokenness. He became like us, to save and heal us.

Matthew 12

“Stretch out your hand” (v13). In Jesus’ time, keeping very strict rules about the Sabbath had come to symbolize “being righteous,” and the Pharisees took the Sabbath seriously. But in their quest to appear righteous (and police others), the Pharisees had missed God’s heart: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (v7). In fact, the behavior of Jesus (healing on the Sabbath) and His disciples (picking grain) enraged the Pharisees, because through these actions Jesus proclaimed that He was “Lord of the Sabbath” (v8).

“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen ... I will put my Spirit upon him ... in his name the Gentiles will hope” (v18-21). We don’t define righteousness; the Lord of the Sabbath does. Jesus, God’s chosen, revealed the Father’s heart.

Matthew 11

“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (v3). John, in prison for preaching about God’s kingdom, wondered if Jesus really was God’s Messiah. Jesus was not doing expected things, like overthrowing the Romans or breaking John out of prison, yet “the blind receive their sight and the lame walk ... the poor have good news preached to them” (v5). The Messiah was different, far better, than they had hoped (v19).

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (v29). Jesus does not promise to fulfill all our expectations. Instead, He invites us to begin walking with Him, God’s servant-king, and find peace and rest for our souls (v28-29).

Psalm 8

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (v1). The psalmist says that God’s name is glorified through “the moon and stars” and everything else, despite rebellion against His rule. Humans, made in God’s image, are crowned with “glory and honor” and put on earth to have “dominion” or charge of the earth, as God’s representatives. Sin twists that “dominion” into the abuse of power and leads to humans being God’s enemies (v2), but “out of the mouths of babes and infants” – the weak – God is glorified.

“You have put all things under his feet” (v6). Although Adam’s descendants failed, the Son of Man succeeded as God’s faithful One. In Him, as redeemed humans, we can glorify the Father too.

Genesis 35-36

“Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves ...” (35:2). After the disasters at Shechem, Jacob instructed his family to get rid of the idols they were worshipping, and he led them in a re-consecration to God at Bethel. As they experienced loss (Rachel, Rebekah’s nurse Deborah, and Jacob’s father Isaac all died), the future was in question. At Bethel, Jacob was reminded that his purpose was not just to multiply and prosper (like Esau, ch 36), but to have a special relationship with God.

“God appeared to Jacob again ... and blessed him” (35:9). Through His intervention in our lives – His mercy, grace, and help – God calls us to a new purpose: to be His transformed people, shining in the world.