Text: But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (50:20 NIV)...
Benediction: it is a familiar word to most of us, as we normally conclude every service of worship with a benediction. But while many of us may be familiar with the place of benedictions in our services of worship, I wonder how many of us realize the fact that the Bible is full of blessings and benedictions....
"A full disclosure." That is what happened when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. "I am Joseph! I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!" Now, another "full disclosure" occurred. After more than twenty years of believing Joseph to be dead a full disclosure is now given to Jacob by his other sons. We do not know if the brothers started out slowly with a preface or preamble, or if they just blurted it out. But it all came out nonetheless: "Joseph is still alive!" they said. "In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt."...
By now, having studied Joseph s story for a while, we are able to see the prevailing theme of God s Providence. This theme runs throughout the Joseph narrative, but in fact, it runs throughout the whole Bible....
A teenager of 17 years cast into slavery by his brothers. Thirteen years pass by, perhaps most of which were spent in prison. Then, to amaze us, at the age of 30 he is not only freed from prison, but he is elevated to a position second only to that of Pharaoh, the most powerful monarch on earth. Talk about "rags to riches"! Talk about a "rise to fame"! Talk about a "success story" without parallel!...
Waiting, waiting, waiting. Most of us do not do this very well, do we? Letters by the US Postal Service are now called "snail mail" compared to the much faster e-mail of our sophisticated computer age. Now we even send "e-cards" to each other! We do not like waiting in lines for too long, and we like our "fast-food" to be well fast!...
Well, if you didn t know the story of Joseph before this series began last Sunday, you can already testify to the truth of my introduction: "It is an exciting story, a story of God s providential care that unfolds in the flow of tremendous drama."...
God rules and overrules in all the circumstances of life. Do you believe this to be true for you and for others? This seems to be the conviction of so many of our Founding Fathers. Although there are many who would seek to rewrite history for us, seeking to convince us that many of them were mere deists, believing in a Creator who is disinterested in human affairs, the primary documents tell us otherwise....
