Revealed Love

September 27, 2020 Background Scripture: Genesis 43; 45:1 – 15 Lesson Passage: Genesis 45:1 – 8, 10 – 15 I must admit, I cannot read the biblical account of Joseph’s life and maintain my composure. It is an epic story of the good guy winning in the end. The account is filled with imagery that can fascinate the reader. In today’s lesson, the time arrived for Joseph and his brothers to be reunited as a family. At this point, we see Joseph’s life story unfold with full knowledge of the situation from Joseph’s perspective and with his brothers being completely oblivious to what is happening. Put another way, this is a family reunion that Joseph knows about, but his brothers don’t know it. When Joseph was a teenager, his brothers were stronger than him. Now, as a leader in Egypt, Joseph has more power and influence than all his brothers together. Many have attempted to capture Joseph’s story in a topic: “From Rags to Riches”, “The Devil meant It for bad, but God meant It for Good”, “You can’t keep a good Man Down”, and so many more. None of those topics capture the fullness of the biblical account. The Bible relates Joseph’s life in a way that brings the awesomeness of God front and center. We see the “omni-” characteristics of God at work. God’s omnipresence, His omniscience, His omnipotence, and especially His sovereignty, are made evident in the biblical account. In fact, God’s hand is evident throughout Joseph’s life—and yet Joseph is not aware of it until the point in the biblical narrative that is found in today’s lesson. Although the text of this lesson is not the end of Joseph’s story, it is certainly the apex of it. Joseph’s revelation of himself to his brothers is simply awe inspiring to me. Joseph was dressed like an Egyptian and used an interpreter to communicate with his brothers. His brothers were kept in total suspense. They had no idea who Joseph was. Finally, after having his brothers fear for their lives in his presence, Joseph sent all the Egyptians out of the room. Then Joseph broke down and cried openly and loud enough that the Egyptians heard him crying. Joseph revealed himself to his brothers by speaking directly to them in their native language. This thirty-nine-year-old man standing before them as a ruler in Egypt is their brother they had not seen since he was seventeen years old. Joseph’s brothers could not wrap their minds around this reality. They had given him up for dead many years ago. Twenty-two years ago, they had rid themselves of Joseph and his coat of many colors. They had not been irritated by Joseph’s dreams for the last twenty-two years. They accepted that Joseph was long dead by this point in time. Yet, Joseph was standing before them and speaking in the tongue of the Hebrews—without the interpreter being present. What a surreal moment. They were confronted by the worst thing they had ever done, and yet it was all good. In fact, Joseph told them that they did not sell him into Egypt, but rather God sold him into Egypt for the preservation of the family. What a mature perspective for Joseph to have about the many difficult circumstances of his life. Joseph kissed each one of his brothers. He gave them all a change of clothes. Then he sent for their father to come into Egypt to enjoy the abundance God had provided as the famine continued to rage for five more years. Joseph recalled all that had happened to him, but he was not angry or bitter. Joseph still loved his brothers. On that day, Joseph revealed both his identity to them and his love for them. Robert C. Hudson September 14, 2020

Victorious Love

September 20, 2020 Background Scripture: Genesis 42 Lesson Passage: Genesis 42:6 – 25 I believe the character of a person is best judged when they are successful rather than when they face adversity. Adversity will often force the best out of people—even those we refer to as bad people. The proud become humble and ingrates will be made grateful through adversity. Humility and gratitude are great character traits to have. Too often it requires pressure in life to extract them from many people. It is very much like a saturated sponge. The best way to determine what a saturated sponge is holding on the inside is to squeeze it—or apply some pressure! Only when the sponge is overly saturated will it tend to leak out some of its contents without pressure. Likewise, if people are not overly saturated with certain character traits, those traits will not likely be seen until life applies some pressure on them. In a very similar manner, that which one is overly saturated with seeps out with no pressure applied. That’s why I believe it is easier to judge a person’s character when they are successful. The time of success will leave many saturated—or as we sometimes say, full of themselves. And what they are saturated with seeps out all by itself. If one is saturated with love, peace, joy, patience, mercy, wisdom, and the like, it will be revealed as readily during success as it will during trying times. The last two lessons have reviewed the life of Joseph during times that tested his character. We saw good qualities exhibited by Joseph as life pressured him and treated him unfairly. As stated earlier, that should not be too surprising; of course, I think I would have snapped during some of those hardships. Today’s lesson presents Joseph as a successful man. He has risen to the top position in Egypt other than the Pharaoh himself. (Of course, Joseph wouldn’t have qualified for Pharaoh’s position since the Egyptians viewed Pharaohs as gods. Joseph understood that there is no other God but Jehovah.) Joseph was seventeen years old when his life spun out of control—thanks to the jealousy and meanness of his brothers. In today’s lesson, Joseph is now thirty-nine years old. Joseph is essentially Secretary of Agriculture in Egypt. Two years of famine has caused his brothers to come to Egypt seeking food to keep the family from dying of starvation. Joseph’s brothers came before him and bowed without knowing who he was. Twenty-two years had passed and in the Egyptian culture, Joseph would have been clean-shaven and well-dressed. The nomadic Hebrews would have had long beards and not have been dressed as finely. Joseph spoke to his brothers through an interpreter to conceal his identity; thus, adding to his anonymity. Now that he was successful, what were Joseph’s character traits really like. Joseph's character was just as impeccable as when he was suffering. Joseph still looked out for his brothers’ needs while testing them to see if their hearts had changed over the years. Joseph’s actions exhibited true love. He was motivated to meet their needs even while testing their characters. Success did not ruin Joseph. Joseph had a heart of gold at the peak of his success just as he did as a household slave and prisoner. In trials and tribulations, Joseph showed kindness to those around him. In victory, Joseph walked in love. Robert C. Hudson September 10, 2020

Obedient Love

September 13, 2020 Background Scripture: Genesis 41:14 – 57 Lesson Passage: Genesis 41:25 – 33, 37 – 40, 50 – 52 In last week’s lesson, Joseph was about seventeen years of age. In this week’s lesson, Joseph is now about thirty years of age. The previous thirteen years were difficult for Joseph. It started in last week’s lesson when he was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. Joseph went from being a house servant (or slave) to a prisoner in Egypt as a result of the lies told by his master’s wife who found him attractive. Somehow, Joseph managed to maintain what appeared to be an even-keel attitude during those years. Joseph maintained steadfastness of character despite the circumstances of his life. There is much more to this than just a “made-up mind”. One must be firmly rooted in their faith towards God, despite the unfairness of life, for one’s character to remain above reproach—and criticism. Let’s face it, there are some situations in life that will just make you “go there”! Somehow, it appears that Joseph did not have those moments of character weakness. Not only was Joseph’s faith firmly rooted in God, Joseph was also spiritually gifted by God. Joseph got into a lot of trouble as a boy sharing his dreams with his family. Those dreams, however, were just an indication of his true spiritual gift, the interpretation of dreams. While in prison, God began to develop the spiritual gift He had given Joseph, i.e., the interpretation of dreams. Two fellow prisoners learned of Joseph’s unique gift. Each of them had dreams while in prison with Joseph; and Joseph gave them the interpretation of their dreams. The dreams pointed towards the exoneration and release of one of the prisoners and the conviction and execution of the other. Joseph asked the prisoner who would be exonerated to work to free him from prison once he was delivered. Joseph assured his fellow prisoner that he was innocent and had been falsely accused. As life too often happens, Joseph and his plight were forgotten by the former prisoner once he was set free. That all changed after Pharaoh had a disturbing dream and none of his magicians and soothsayers could interpret it for him. At that point in time, Pharaoh’s chief butler, the former prison mate of Joseph, was delivered of his amnesia and remembered Joseph. He told Pharaoh about the Hebrew in prison who could interpret dreams. Pharaoh was so disturbed by his dream that he wasted no time sending for Joseph. This is where our subject, Obedient Love, comes in. Joseph, contrary to Hebrew customs, shaved himself and then changed his clothes. Joseph made himself presentable to the Egyptians before coming in the presence of their leader, Pharaoh. Joseph was wrongly imprisoned, and he possessed what Pharaoh needed. Rather than allowing his advantage to be disrespectful to his captors, Joseph humbly went before Pharaoh. Joseph demonstrated a divinely influenced character. This is what causes the rest of the lesson to unfold in the manner it does. Joseph demonstrated obedience to God and love and compassion for his fellowman—who were created in God’s image. I won’t discuss the dreams or their interpretations; you can read the background scripture and do that. I will offer this: What you suffer in life will often cause a bipolar outcome. Your situations will either cause you to become “bitter” or “better”. Joseph was a great man because he chose to be “better” as a result of the adversities in his life. This is only possible by having a faith firmly rooted in God. Too often we want God to control the circumstances of our lives. Our faith must give us the assurance that God will control the outcome of our lives despite circumstances and the trials of life that we go through. We must be willing to obey God and love our fellowman. Robert C. Hudson August 26, 2020

Biased Love

September 6, 2020 Background Scripture: Genesis 25:28; 35:23 – 26 Lesson Passage: Genesis 37:2 – 11, 23 – 24a, 28 Bad things often happen when a parent of multiple children shows greater delight in one child versus the others. Jacob was the product of this type of biased love. Jacob’s mother loved him more whereas his father loved his brother Esau more. Although Esau was born first, Jacob got the firstborn’s birthright and Isaac’s blessing as a result of manipulations—including the involvement of their mother. The influences of his earlier life apparently influenced Jacob’s behavior with his own children. Jacob fathered twelve sons and a daughter by his two wives and their maids. Jacob did not hide the fact that he delighted in his son, Joseph, more than the rest of his children. Jacob even gave Joseph a multicolored tunic as a special gift to highlight his delight in Joseph. Also, it should be noted that Jacob loved his wife, Rachel, more than he loved his wife, Leah. Jacob was tricked into marrying Leah, but he worked fourteen years for the privilege of marrying Rachel. Joseph was the eleventh son born to Jacob and the first child Rachel bore for him. No doubt, Jacob’s love for Rachel had something to do with his biased love towards her firstborn child, Joseph. Of course, Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, was the last son born to Jacob. But that’s not the whole story. The bible says Jacob loved Joseph more because he was the son of his old age. After the birth of his first ten sons and a daughter, it is possible that Jacob thought he would have no other children. Since Rachel had not conceived and bore a child prior to Joseph, it would have been reasonable for Jacob not to expect a child by her. Whatever the reason for Jacob’s biased love, there are a few facts that are very clear. Jacob loved Joseph more than his brothers and Jacob expressed it. Furthermore, the multicolored tunic was not easy to overlook. The tunic stood out. His brothers saw the tunic and the favoritism, and they hated the tunic and Joseph. Add to this the fact that Joseph was a tattletale. Jacob would send Joseph to spy on his brothers while they were supposed to be working. Joseph’s brothers waited for the opportunity to deal with Joseph and to rid themselves of having to look at him wearing that multicolored tunic around them. The opportunity came one day while they were working. Joseph showed up to bring them a meal and to take back a report of their work to their father. They seized Joseph and stripped him of the tunic and threw him into an empty pit. Then they removed him from the pit and sold him to a traveling caravan of Ishmaelites. Their problem was resolved—temporarily. This event set off a series of unfortunate events during the formative years of Joseph’s life from his late teens into young adulthood. I don’t believe God intended for bad things to happen to Joseph. However, God brought good out of all the bad that Joseph had to go through. God always has the final say. On the other hand, parents should take care that they don’t show biased love towards their children. Joseph’s early life shows how damaging a parent’s biased love can be. Although God brought Joseph out on top, one can never go back and relive their childhood once it is pass. Bad decisions can affect the quality of life for people. However, it is comforting to know that God always controls the outcome—even in the case of biased love. Robert C. Hudson August 24, 2020