Category: Articles and Devotionals

Genesis 42:29 When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them. They said, 30 “The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land. 31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. 32 We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.’

Continuing our series, “Joseph: A Life with Many Colors,” good grief, those brothers blabbed a lot, and it’s bad.  What was left to tell?  The map coordinates of Jacob’s tent?  His net worth?  Wait, it gets worse.  Now the brothers drop the bomb.

 Genesis 42:33 “Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and go. 34 But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land. ‘”

If you look, you can see the glazed look of panic pass over Jacob’s face as he turns a lighter shade of pale and knocks on their empty skulls.  You can almost hear Jacob’s wail of “Aieeeeee!”  What did they have now but trust that “the man” (aka Joseph, shhhh don’t tell anyone) would be good for his word?  Could it get any worse?? (Yes.)

Genesis 42:35 As they were emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his pouch of silver! When they and their father saw the money pouches, they were frightened. 36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!”

Melodrama aside, Jacob wasn’t taking it like a man.  “Everything is against me!” 
Everything. Wow, he doesn’t even blame just God.

Think about it:

• Do you ever feel like everything is against you?
• Simeon wasn’t “no more” … since he was still there in Egypt with very much alive “more” Joseph.  Two mores when he thought they were “no more”.   What does this tell us about the fullness of our knowledge?
• How does fear change our viewpoints?
• How did the tell-all result in the test which results in the trust? 
• Will God sometimes test you?  How does that relate to your trust in Him?
• Enjoy this verse about trust! Psalm 13:5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing the LORD’s praise, for he has been good to me.

Joseph’s brothers are about to reveal their true colors as we continue our look at
“Joseph: A Life with Many Colors.” Joseph (the Governor over Egypt, to whom his 10 brothers have come for grain) says, Genesis 42:20 But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.” This they proceeded to do.

Well, at least they got after it promptly…but in the presence of Joseph whom the brothers still thought was a foreigner, and not their brother.

Genesis 42:21 They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come on us.”

 22 Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood.”

Joseph just got through saying he feared God.  But the brothers are afraid for a different reason.  To them, God is the punisher, demanding an account.  It’s the difference between fearing God out of reverence and fearing God because of what He can do to you as punishment.

Genesis 42:23 They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter.  24 He turned away from them and began to weep, but then came back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.

The original plan had been to send one and keep the others hostage.  The test gets a bit more personal now.  Whereas sending one might make his father send Benjamin, the youngest, because 9 others remained in Egypt, this plan is more pointed. 

Sending all home but one …
makes the test more clearly about whether one is worth saving. 

Would the brothers sacrifice Simeon (Leah’s second son)?  Would Jacob (Joseph’s father) sacrifice Leah’s second to preserve Rachel’s second?  This was a multi-layered test by Joseph, but moreover a test designed by God who is about to display that He’s not a punisher with one-for-one accounting, but a holy God who is forgiving and worthy of worship.  But to do that, there’s more testing to do.

Genesis 42:25 Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man’s silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. After this was done for them, 26 they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left. 27 At the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack.

Uh-oh.  That wasn’t supposed to happen.

 Genesis 42:28 “My silver has been returned,” he said to his brothers. “Here it is in my sack.” Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”

Think about it:

• When there’s a natural disaster, how often do people ask, “Where was God?”  Or look to identify who God is punishing? 
• Do people (in a generic sense) view—or even want to see—God as a punisher?  What about a punisher-God do people like?
• Think about justice.  Who do we want to see punished?  Is it ever ourselves or always someone else whom we think deserves it? 
• Now, think about grace.  The silver returned was an act of grace.  The grain, too, was an act of grace since they received provisions to halt their families’ starvation without cost.  What was the brothers’ reaction to the silver and the grain, to grace?  To praise God or to worry? 
• What does that say about their fear?  Was their fear rooted in reverence or wrath? 
• Let’s bring the test home to you and me now.  Who got punished for God to give us grace? 
• Is Jesus’ grace good enough?  Do you believe God is simply a punisher of wrongdoers, or maybe when bad things happen to you that God is punishing you?
• In Deuteronomy 32:35, the Bible says of God, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay.”  How ought this remove any desire for revenge?

In our series “Joseph: A Life with Many Colors,” the brothers have paid a visit to Egypt to buy grain.  They’re met with coldness from Joseph who began to test to see whether they are the same old brothers from Canaan or reformed men who had been worked over by God and time. The brothers had no idea they were facing any test, let alone by a brother who they thought was dead, and that the test would involve the youngest brother who was back home with Dad.

Genesis 42:14 Joseph said to them, “It is just as I told you: You are spies!  15 And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

Perhaps all the brothers together needed time to confer and decide what to do.  Joseph gave them exactly that…mirroring what they had done in plotting his removal. A little role reversal, a tiny taste of what he’s been through.  But it’s not revenge…

Genesis 42:17 And he put them all in custody for three days.

Time enough to test their hearts and their motives. 

18 On the third day, Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. 20 But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.” 

Think about it:

• Why would Joseph want to see his youngest brother?  Might Joseph want to see if his father was still protecting one and whether there was resentment of this youngest brother, too?
• How did time to think about it give the brothers’ consciences a good workout?
• How do you suppose they decided who would stay behind and who would go to plead with Jacob to send the second, only remaining son of his favorite, now deceased, wife? 
• It is strange that after three days, Joseph told them that if they did this, they would live because he fears God.  Why might that statement have been a surprise to the brothers?  Would they have expected a God-fearer in Egypt?  How might they have felt about that?
• Fearing God was something the patriarchs did long before it was written, Deuteronomy 10:12 “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?”

Genesis 42:7 As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy food.”  8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

Yup.  They’re from Canaan.

Genesis 42:9 Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.” 

Continuing with our series “Joseph: A Life With Many Colors,” Joseph remembered the sheaves bowing down to his from his first dream way back in the days of Valley of Hebron (Genesis 37:5-8).  It all came back to him.  The dream of the sun, moon, and stars bowing down to him.  Family that God graciously allowed him to forget came in person, and the memories came flooding back as well.  The brothers who grumbled at the bad report now groveled before him. From grumbling to groveling, just as the dream foretold.

Yes, he remembered his dreams about them and tested them saying, “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.” 

Genesis 42:10 “No, my lord,” they answered. “Your servants have come to buy food.   11 We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”

Honest men? 
Do they not remember throwing him in a cistern and selling him to Midianites? 

He pressed them again,

Genesis 42:12 “No!” he said to them. “You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”

13 But they replied, “Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”

Youngest?  What youngest?  How young??  Twelve brothers but one is no more?  There was a lot to think about for a man who was pretending to be a stranger but knew full well who those brothers were.  And who knew that “no more” hadn’t really been his own fate.

Think about it:

• Back in the days of the bad report, the brothers viewed Joseph as a spy who was sneaking back to the shade of daddy’s tent with reconnaissance on what the brothers were doing out in the fields.  How did accusing them of being spies probe their hearts?
• Several times in these few verses the words spies and seeing where the land is unprotected are repeated.  What would it say about the hearts of the brothers if they were looking for the vulnerabilities and to take advantage of the situation of abundant grain?
• When they sold Joseph into slavery, did they take advantage of his vulnerability for their gain?
• Their insistence that they are honest men must have been an odd thing to utter (since they’d been keeping that horrible secret from their father all these years) and a hard thing for Joseph to hear.  In what ways would it be hard to hear them proclaim their honesty? 
• How would this test Joseph’s forgiveness?
• “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”  2 Corinthians 7:10

The ten brothers had worked their way from Canaan to Egypt and were probably tired and hungry from their journey.  They followed the crowds to Egypt’s governor who sold grain to Egyptians and foreigners as appropriate.  Joseph knew there were 7 years of famine for Egypt, and he would be a wise steward, not taking the abundance or the accumulated storage for granted.  Egypt’s survival would be his top priority in service to Pharaoh, and in gratitude to God for His mercy.
Continuing our series Joseph: A Life with Many Colors …

Genesis 42:6 Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the person who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.

There was no guarantee that Joseph would sell them grain, so the brothers bowed low in customary humility.  They didn’t know he was their little brother Joseph.  Years had passed and Joseph had matured.  He was no longer dressed as a Semite, nor was he hairy with a Hebrew’s beard of wisdom, but clean-shaven as an Egyptian man.  They still looked like his brothers (though older), and the ten of them together was a little clue that they were family.  His family.

Genesis 42:7 As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy food.”  8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

Think about it:

• Why, for God’s purpose of testing the excellence and finished work of Joseph’s forgiveness, would it be helpful that Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him?
• Joseph is sometimes considered a “type of Christ”—a foreshadowing of the Messiah—though Joseph was a mere man.  In today’s story, Joseph knew who his brothers were, but they did not know him.  Now think about when Jesus had His earthly ministry. Did He know who we were and who He was?  When in the timeline was Jesus revealed as the unique Son of God who conquered death, now offering forgiveness?
• What test might be ahead for the ten brothers? 
• Is it enough that we say Jesus is God’s Son?  Or is some sort of heart change needed? 
• What is repentance and does God require it?  Why?  Is salvation more than just repentance?  (See Mark 1:14-15)
• In what way does our repentance affirm Jesus’ identity and that we’ve made that connection? Think deeply about repentance. How might this apply to Joseph and his brothers?
• How does this Scripture (Hebrews 6:1-6) amplify the connection?  Hebrews 6:1 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.  4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

Genesis 41:57 And all the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere.

A worldwide famine has a way of catching everyone’s attention.  Interestingly, before modern media, it was shared experiences like famine that drove the news beyond local to regional.  The famine was everywhere.  The grain was only in Egypt…by God’s design.

It was time for a little family reunion and dream fulfillment, but no one knew it but God.

Back in the Valley of Hebron, Joseph’s father Jacob had grieved over Joseph for years because he believed his other sons’ story about Joseph’s demise.  The truth is those brothers had a terrible secret they’d been hiding.  Jacob’s wife Rachel became pregnant again but on the way from Bethel to Ephrath, (Genesis 35:16-19), she died giving birth to Joseph’s only full sibling: Benjamin.

Now when the famine came, Jacob was alarmed for his family.  Famine was being felt everywhere and by everyone including his entire family, but here’s the issue: Jacob still hadn’t learned lessons about favoritism and his affections were redirected from presumed dead Joseph to Benjamin who became the protected child of Jacob’s favorite, now dead, wife.

Genesis 42:1 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?” 2 He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”  

Threat of starvation hits everyone in a very personal way.  It was life or death. Word of mouth is powerful communication … news can spread like wildfire when there’s something important going on. 

Years of abundance didn’t appear to catch anyone’s attention.  Famine did. 
The whole world heard where go to find grain: Egypt.

Genesis 42:3 Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him. 5 So Israel’s sons were among those who went to buy grain, for there was famine in the land of Canaan also.

Think about it:

• Egypt is approximately 250 miles away from Jacob’s home.  At an average walking rate of 20-24 miles per day, the 10 sons would have been walking 10 to 12 days if they were intentional about getting there quickly…and if they were hungry.  What do you think the brothers might have talked about on their journey?
• Why is it an important detail that Jacob refused to send Benjamin?  Was Benjamin hiding the same dirty secret of the other 10 brothers? 
• Think about the brothers and their terrible secret.  How easy would it have been for the secret to slip out? 
• Do you think the brothers held the same animosity toward favorite Benjamin or did their guilt remind them of their hatred for Joseph and cause a change of heart?
• God had already been at work on Joseph (remember in Genesis 41:50-52 God made Joseph forget all his trouble and all his father’s household and made Joseph fruitful in the land of his suffering).  Forgiveness was complete, yet untested.  How might the famine come to prove the forgiveness is real?
• Can you think of a time your forgiveness of someone has been tested to see if it’s complete and genuine? Read Romans 4:7-8

Human nature being what it is, some people in Egypt probably hadn’t heard the plan outlined by dream interpretation in Joseph: A Life With Many Colors.  Some would hear the plan, but not believe it…they simply rejected it.  Some would hear and trust the plan, but as the corrosiveness of time beat relentlessly against their confidence, they found themselves feeling defeated.  Impatience with the plan unfolding may have made them doubt its veracity and caused some to wonder why they ever believed it at all.  Some would hear the plan, trust the plan, and wait upon it.  That would be Joseph during the fourteen years total, the seven of abundance followed by seven years of famine according to God’s plan. 

Genesis 41:47 During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. 48 Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. 49 Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.

I can almost hear a few scoffers among the unbelievers “Hands off my grain!  I grew it.  It’s mine!”  And Joseph’s reply, “But it’s for the coming famine.”  “Famine?  What famine???  We’re having the best crops of our lives!  Famine, my foot.”  “Trust me.  Trust the plan.  Seven years of abundance, seven years of famine.  That’s what we know.  You’ll thank me later.”  “I’ll thank you to keep your hands off my grain.”  Then my creative mind goes haywire and imagines retorts such as “Guards, kill this guy.”  “Let’s see how you feel after two years of imprisonment with a baker and a cupbearer.”  “Get this guy a date with Potiphar’s wife.”  “Arm-wrestle you for it.”  And Joseph was kind of a stud…well-built, remember?

None of those retorts are in Scripture.  In fact, we don’t see anyone objecting.  Maybe no one did back then.  Maybe his status as Pharaoh’s top guy scared everyone into silence, or maybe it just doesn’t matter for the story.  These next details are informative, however.

Genesis 41:50 Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. 51 Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” 52 The second son he named Ephraim and said, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”

God made him forget his troubles dating way back to being sold into slavery.  Gratitude that God had made him fruitful even in Egypt.

Genesis 41:53 The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, 54 and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food.

What Joseph had proclaimed was coming true.  And now, the plan and preparation were paying off royally.

Genesis 41:55 When all Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.” 56 When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt. 57 And all the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere.

Think about it:

• A fourteen-year plan took fourteen years to unfold.  Seeing it from the outside as a reader, millennia later, we lose sight of how it would feel in the flow of time, living it as it was unfolding.  How easy would it be to have assumed the 7 good years would last?  That the 7 years of famine would never come?
• We are waiting for the return of Christ.  We have been promised this by none other than God Himself.  That’s His plan.  How are you doing with your cries for justice, your patience in waiting for His coming, and your hope that He who promised is faithful?

Genesis 41:41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”

Just like that, it was done.

Genesis 41:42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt. 44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.”

That’s power. Wait, but there’s more:

Genesis 41:45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.  46 Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout Egypt.

Wow.  In our series “Joseph: a Life with Many Colors,” one day Joseph wakes up as a prisoner in charge of other prisoners and by evening, he was Pharaoh’s top guy. 
In the life of a person with lesser character, that could prove disastrous. 

Think about it:

• Surely Joseph had not forgotten what he’d said to Pharaoh’s cupbearer only two years earlier: “But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.” (Genesis 40:14-15).  How did Joseph feel about being unjustly imprisoned?
• Might a person suddenly elevated to power use that power to get back at the people they blame for their imprisonment?  Maybe the cupbearer for forgetting for 2 full years?  Who else might have been on Joseph’s get-even-with-‘em list…if Joseph was that kind of person?  That hussy married to Potiphar?  Potiphar, that wimpy guy listening to his lowlife wife who was a lying snake?  The Midianite traders willing to buy a human being?
• But Joseph wasn’t the kind of guy to get even with people.  So, here’s a question: what’s the difference between Second Chances, Do-Overs, and being Born-again? 
• In my recent days in the Valley of the Shadow of Cannabis, I read all 600-plus pages of our legislation.  Much of it had to do with expunging the criminal records of minor offenders in the “war on illegal drugs”.  Their criminal records are being wiped clean.  Think about what it takes to have authority to expunge offenses.  Consider the issue of just or unjust imprisonment, and the outcome of erasing criminal records.  These folks will receive a second chance, a do-over.  Has their character automatically been changed, simply from being given a second chance?
• How is being “born-again” different? 
• Now, in the Old Testament, “born-again” isn’t the term, it would be “God-follower” and Joseph was one.  How did his relationship with God make a difference when he was living as a slave, unjustly imprisoned, serving time, and his actions upon finally being released to freedom? 
• “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).  This isn’t a second chance or a do-over with the same old inputs.  Why would I say that?

Our series Joseph: A Life with Many Colors has been on hold for two full months. And I’m sorry. Cannabis Came Calling to the state of Illinois and directly to the Village I call home. A long time ago it seems, when I was concluding my preaching time at Plymouth Congregational Church of Racine, WI, I mentioned that if pastors cannot take biblical principles and apply them to civic life, they have no business standing at a pulpit to preach. So, our series on Joseph has been on hold while I’ve been standing before public officials, almost role-playing Joseph’s life in my hometown. No, I wasn’t thrown in prison, and I wasn’t interpreting dreams-it’s just a truism when I said in our last Joseph installment, “timely intervention is evidence of God’s benevolence.”

Into the turbulent mess of life (or Pharaoh’s dreams), God displays His goodness. He changes someone’s trajectory and makes another thing their priority because it’s God’s priority. He sends a messenger with a message to minister like a cold drink quenches thirst on a hot day.

Thankfully, I’ve arrived at a waystation, a resting place at least until next month, so I pick up again the work I truly love: God’s Word. An easier obedience, by far.

Way back in July, Joseph had interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and outlined a Very Good Plan for how to stem the catastrophe that was about to come on Egypt: a dreaded famine (Genesis 41:32-37).

Joseph’s strategic outline was perfect for the moment…all the hope, all the organization, all the future, all the opportunity for Pharaoh to look good. Now all that was needed was to choose someone to implement it. God had someone in mind, and no one but Joseph would do.

Genesis 41:37 The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. 38 So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?”

Now, that’s one outstanding credential! It’s not like Joseph was standing there pointing at himself or raising his hand, shouting, “Oh, oh, oh, pick me”! No need for any of that. God had it covered. Pharaoh could see who had the vision and the right spirit for the job. Joseph stood alone as the one who could interpret Pharaoh’s dreams…because God had Joseph’s elevation in mind. It was time.

Genesis 41:39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”

Think about it:

• Proverbs 25:13 “Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him; he refreshes the spirit of his master.” How did “Joseph’s Very Good Plan” set Pharaoh’s mind at ease and refresh his spirit?
• God is in the hope and redemption business. How did the plan give Pharaoh hope?
• The prison years of Joseph cultivated his relationship with God and resulted in a growing discernment and wisdom that would be required for the task to come. What areas of your life has God been cultivating for use at some future point…maybe character or skills…that you acquire now for His timely purpose later?
• When God’s timing arrives (and His timing is perfect), all the obstacles melt away. Did it matter to Pharaoh that Joseph was a Hebrew? When someone truly needs emergency help, like a paramedic’s job, do differences of race, gender, or political affiliation remain a priority? Or will the person’s skill, willingness, and availability carry the day?

Taking a moment away from our series “Joseph: A Life with Many Colors” to address what’s going on in our culture seems like the right thing to do.  The minister in me knows we have a world of hurting people right now.  There are those grieving the loss of civility, the loss of peace, the loss of joy, and yes, the loss of loved ones in the wake of the recent mass shootings.

Why is all this happening? 

There is a simple answer: we’re at war in the spiritual realm.  It’s been a war for some time, a battle of good and evil. It will remain a war often bubbling beneath the surface and erupting as lava…timely reminders that this is what is happening 24/7. (It’s happening even when we cannot see the ferocity of the war in hidden realms).  It will continue until Jesus returns.

In Revelation 12, there is an end times image of a woman with a crown of stars (a symbol of God’s people including the Church) and a terrifying dragon with seven heads who earlier sought to devour the Messiah. When that failed, the dragon seethed with rage against God and the woman, and it turned its attentions towards the woman’s “offspring.”  As it is written,

“Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring– those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus” (Revelation 12:17).

So regarding mass shootings and other atrocities, I’d like to encourage a spirit of calm and wisdom.  We have been told this type of horror will happen.  Mass shootings are terrible, and when the perpetrators are captured alive, they need to be held to account within the fullest extent of the law. But consider this: we do the battle of good and evil a genuine disservice when we focus only on the terrifying and fail to see the mundane. A focus on mass events amplifies the panic and diminishes the true reality around us.

A mundane evil has become our baseline comfort level. 

It doesn’t sell papers the way rage or fear does, or the way panic does.  A politicized evil gets ratings, raises money, and promotes a political agenda.  But here’s the ugly truth: a regular evil–we wake up with every morning–is on our televisions, smart phones, and computers as entertainment all the live-long day; is part of the very fabric of our society; and is, frankly, mundane. 

An evil so normal, it’s background noise.

But what are mass shootings, if not those concentrated in one location and point in time?  The victims may be adults, but sometimes it’s children whose lives have been cut short. When the dead are children, we hear enhanced sighs of tragedy exhaled from the very pundits and activists who demand that women have the right to end the life of someone a mere 2 years younger.  In El Paso, TX where a 2-year-old was injured and 22 people lost their lives in the mass shooting (August 2019), a heroic and noble mother, Jordan Anchondo, age 25, died shielding her 2-month-old baby. 

Yet in El Paso, not including nearby Santa Teresa, a search reveals there are 2 of Texas’ 36 abortion clinics which—if available statewide statistics average out—result in the deaths of 11 babies every single day.  It’s not hyped.  It’s not sensationalized.  It never sells papers or makes the news despite the majority of El Paso’s abortions being babies “of color.”  It’s never called racism or bigotry or hate.  No one calls those performing abortions “white nationalists” even if they are white and are purposely eliminating children “of color” for profit.  We just take it as the normal course for everyday life with sexually active people in El Paso.  Mundane.  The children who died remain nameless and won’t make headlines.  No one mourns for them with half-staff flags, thoughts and prayers, expert panels, or TV specials.

Having normalized it to mundane, we fail to see that “death-count to death-count”, an equivalent mass murder happens in El Paso every 2 days, all year long.  I raise this issue—not to minimize or trivialize the deaths of those from Mexico and El Paso at the Walmart—but to implore us to look at our baseline and give the other children’s lives their lost dignity. Their lives mattered too. The noise of battle between good and evil has become a constant sound like summer cicadas, but for those with eyes to see by faith, there is The Dragon, the Woman, and the Rage of battle between good and evil all around us. Let’s remember the deeper, hidden reality that surfaces as sensational tragedies in these dark days.

Think about it:

• A very fine commentary on the Book of Revelation by Grant Osborne states: “Spiritual warfare is all too often neglected in the life of the average Christian.  It seems as if we are all trying to be Switzerlands and remain neutral in this war.  To be neutral is to lose, however, for Satan is real, and his hatred towards all who are made in the image of God dare not be ignored.”  Are you awake or a Switzerland?
• Have you ever thought about adopting a wartime mindset regarding your faith in God, your personal restraint in panic, and caution in getting wrapped in emotion instead of remaining firmly grounded in the Truth? 
• How does the armor of God, including Truth, prepare you for the spiritual battle? 
• How does prayer act as a weapon, and why do prayers for our leaders amplify the battle even prompting the dragon’s rage and visible eruptions?  
• Do you believe Satan is real? 
• Jesus reminds us that no one, not even Satan can snatch us out of His hands.  How should this change our attitude about engaging in prayer, acts of faith and love, and preaching the Gospel as we wait for Jesus’ return?