For a full description of the (Y4) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Gen. 42
Joseph’s story is amazing all on its own. But when you consider that his story is also a prophetic parable concerning Jesus, it is mind blowing. I noticed a few aspects of that this morning. The first was in Jacob’s words to his sons when he initially sent them to Egypt to get grain. He said, “…go down there and buy some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die.” (Gen. 42:2b). This made me think about how Jesus is the bread of life. And just as Joseph was the only man anyone in the region could go to for the life-saving grain, so Jesus is the only bread of life. If we do not humble ourselves before Him, we will not live.
The next statement that caught my attention is, “But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him.” (Gen. 42:8). This made me think of how Jesus’ own people, particularly those who devoted their lives to studying Scripture, which is His story, did not recognize Him. Of course we know that both Joseph and Jesus offered their brothers forgiveness. Like Joseph’s brothers, though, the Jews as a whole have a few things to sort out before they are ready to accept it.
One last correlation to note is that Joseph gave his brothers that life-giving grain for free. And so Jesus does for us. The life He gives when we come to Him as brothers, humbly accepting the forgiveness He offers, is free. He already paid our price in full.
Mark 12
I like Mark’s rendition of the scribe who asked Jesus which commandment was foremost of all. Mark notes that the scribe heard the others trying to trap Jesus with their arguments and noticed that Jesus answered them well. This gives me the impression that his question to Jesus was asked in a sincere effort to seek wisdom from Him. What I love about that is what I then see in Jesus’ response. Because this scribe was earnestly seeking, Jesus didn’t stop with what he asked; He gave him more.
Job 8
Aha! Bildad seems to be the one who genuinely dove into the argument that Job must have been guilty of something. He even went so far as to suggest that Job’s sons no doubt got what they deserved. Harsh! And talk about not being helpful! I suspect when a truly God-fearing person is that down and out due to their own sin, they know it. So there’s no point in adding insult to injury!
Outside of his undue harshness, though, I see another mistake in Bildad’s arguments. Many of his statements sound like they came straight out of the Psalms or the Proverbs, though I doubt those specific works were in place at the time. Still, he was pulling from the wisdom of the ages, so to speak The problem is that such statements, while not exactly untrue, have some caveats. First, they are often generalizations rather than hard, predictable truths, at least in the scope of human existence in time. The second caveat, then, is that they are only hard, predictable truths outside of time. Thus, their truths are better applied spiritually than physically, as they are guidelines for Godly living more than they are laws of life. It is presumptuous to think that man can understand and know exactly how God works.