One Year Bible for Tuesday, January 25th Joseph Dies, Moses is Born. Peter Claims Jesus as the Messiah on Which Jesus Will Build the Church.

Click Here to Listen to the Four Readings

Click Here To Read Genesis 50:1-26

Jacob dies and Joseph fulfills his promise to his father to bury him in the Cave of Machpelah, where Jacob's ancestors, the Patriarchs of the Jewish faith were buried. This was the site and the land Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite. It was Abraham's way of believing in God's promise that one day his descendents would dwell in the land of Canan. 

Pharaoh once again is amenable to Joseph honoring his promise to his father. A great number of Pharaoh's chariots and senior members of his household went with Joseph. 

Joseph Reassures His Brothers

Joseph's brothers thought that with Jacob gone, Joseph might finally retaliate against them. When they expressed this to Joseph, he broke down and wept. It was the last thing on his mind. He had made peace with his brothers when he saw them and harbored no ill will toward them. Sometimes it is just as hard to receive forgiveness as to give it. This is a classic line from this chapter which summarizes the life of Joseph, and how God uses what man means for evil and turns into good.

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people." Genesis 50:20

In a different but similar we could say this of Jesus as well. 

"Ultimately, our lives are not in the hands of men, but in the hands of God, who overrules all things for His glory." (Guzik)

The Death of Joseph

Now it was time for Joseph to go and be with Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Joseph's dying words were that God would come and help them out of Egypt, and to bring them back to the land he promised to Abraham, Issac and Jacob. As you can see "the land" is a big part of the history of God's relationship with His people, Israel. This is why who owns what in the Middle East has been so contentious to this day and will until Jesus comes back to restore his kingdom. 

Click Here to Read Exodus 1:1-2:10

Israelites in Egypt

All of Jacob's other sons continue to prosper and mulitiply rapidly. They became so populous when a new Pharaoh, who didn't know Joseph, comes to power in  Egypt, he became very paranoid of them quickly. So the king decided to enslave the Israelites, before they grew too strong. But something ironic happens. The more they oppress the Israelites, the more they grow in numbers. So they made them work even harder and drove them even more mercilessly. 

Being in Egypt helped Israel grow numerically, and it also served God's purpose in that the growth was all within the families of the 12 tribes of Israel.

"The nation could not grow this way in Canaan, because it was practically impossible to avoid intermarriage with the pagan and wicked inhabitants of Canaan. Egypt was so racially biased and had such an entrenched system of racial separation that Israel could grow there over several centuries without being assimilated." (Guzik)

The king tried to get the Jewish midwives to check and see when the children were born. If they were male, they ordered them to kill them. But if they were a girl, they could let them live. But the midwives feared God and disobeyed the orders by hiding the boys. Eventually when the Pharaoh figured this out, he started a more deadly plan to deal with this issue. Rather than relying on the Hebrew midwives, he ordered his own people to thrown any newborn Hebrew boys into the Nile River. 

The Birth of Moses

This leads us to the story of the next greatest leader in Jewish history. The story of Moses is so good it was made into a movie by Disney called, "The Prince of Egypt". God had his hand on Moses' birth. He was born into the tribe of Levi, which would have future ramifications for the purpose of the tribe of Levi. 

Moses' mom knew he was special, so she kept him hidden for three months.  When she could do it no longer, she put him in a basket, sealed it with tar, and floated him down the Nile River hoping God would rescue him. 

"God rewarded the faith of Moses’ mother, both as she trusted Him in hiding Moses for three months, and also as she trusted God by setting Moses out on the river." (Guzik)

Moses' sister watched all of this happen, which is probably how we have story today written down. As God's sovereign plan worked out, Pharaoh's daughter was down my the Nile river, saw the basket, and picked it up out of the river.  Moses' name means, "out of the water". 

The book of Hebrews gives us a little more detail of what happened, 

"By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command." Hebrews 11:23

Once the princess realized it was a Hebrew baby, Moses' sister approached her and asked her if she would like a Hebrew midwife to nurse Moses. This gave her the opportunity to bring Moses back to his mother. His mother nursed him until the time came to give him back to Pharaoh's daughter. One can only imagine how hard it was for his mom to give him back up. But it was all part of God's sovereign plan, as we will shall soon see. 

"Being the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses was in the royal family. The ancient Jewish historian Josephus wrote that Moses was heir to the throne of Egypt and that while a young man he led the armies of Egypt in victorious battle against the Ethiopians." (Guzik)

Click Here to Read Matthew 16:13-17:9

As Jesus begins to near the end of his journey, he stops to ask the disciples who they think he is. Peter never the shy one gets it right this time. He says, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!" Jesus doesn't deny this claim, showing us he understands himself as the Messiah. He states that this was not revealed to Peter by any man, but by God's Holy Spirit. In the same way we come to faith through the revelation of the Jesus by the Holy Spirit. This is something that was revealed to us by God and we can't take credit for it or our faith for that matter.

In addition, Jesus says something really important. He says, "You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not overcome it." Matthew 16:18

This is one of the few times the term "church" is used in the gospels. The meaning of the term "rock" has been the subject of many debates. Some had thought, it was literally Peter. I think the best interpretation is that the "rock" is Peter's confession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah. The rock is Jesus Christ, and our trust in him alone for salvation. Salvation in Christ is the foundation of the church, and if that doctrine ever gets removed, the church comes crashing down. It is not longer the church of Jesus Christ  

As the old hymn says, "The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord!"  

Also Jesus gives another important promise. He says, "The gates of hades will not overcome the church." Though the devil will try hard to bring down the church, he will never be able to do it. We have seen lots of bad stuff happen in the church influenced by the devil and his demons over the past 2,000 years, but he has not and will not ever overcome the church. The church will remain triumphant over the devil because the church is built on Christ, who overcame the devil once and for all on the cross.

But as soon as Peter gets it right, he gets it wrong. Jesus tells the disciples that he will soon die and three days after that he would be raised again. Peter says, "No Lord this will never happen to you." Though Peter may have said it out of his love of Jesus, Jesus minces no words and says to Peter, "Get behind me Satan, you have not in mind the words of God!" Though Peter doesn't know it, the devil is working through Peter to try and tempt Jesus to go another way apart from the cross.

Finally, Jesus says to his disciples just as his way was the way of the cross, so too they would have to pick up their cross if they wished to follow him. Jesus wanted to be crystal clear that following him meant giving up their whole lives. But by losing their lives, they would find them.  This is one of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith. By losing our lives we find them. By dying to ourselves, we truly live! 

The Transfiguration

Then Jesus gives his inner circles of Peter, James, and John a glimpse of His glorified state. This is how he will look in heaven. Jesus was talking with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration, which confirms that these two people from the Old Testament will be in heaven too. Jesus gave them this glimpse as an assurance that he was who he said he was. He knew they would need it when he was crucified. 

Today, Jesus gives us glimpses of himself as well. It may not be like what the three disciples saw, but we see him in the little miracles of our lives, or in the lives of others. We see him the stranger, who shows up and as we help them, Jesus says we have done it unto him. One day, like these three disciples, we will see Jesus in all of his glory. We will see him face to face!

Click Here to Read Psalm 23:1-13

Hear the words of King David as he reflects on God's faithfulness to him as the king of Israel

"You have endowed him with eternal blessings
    and given him the joy of your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the Lord.
    The unfailing love of the Most High will keep him from stumbling."

Click Here to Read Proverbs 5:1-6

The Proverbs today focus on sexual immorality as described by the image of the wayward woman and her enchanting ways. But you could really apply this to any sin. The bottom line is sin looks very enticing, but when we go down her road we will wish we hadn't!

"For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey,
    and her mouth is smoother than oil.
4 But in the end she is as bitter as poison,
    as dangerous as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
    her steps lead straight to the grave.[a]
6 For she cares nothing about the path to life.
    She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it"