Title: God's Walk and Prosperity
Contents
Genesis 39:1-19. “God’s Walk and Prosperity”
Today's sermon ends with the story of Genesis 38 that I meditated on for two days yesterday and the day before yesterday, that is, the introductory passage about God's genealogy related to Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah, and connects to the dramatic scene of Joseph's prosperity and suffering, which is connected again in Genesis 37. It's possible.
Joseph, the “dreamer,” is sold out of Egypt to Potiphar, an Egyptian. It seems like a coincidence, but it never feels coincidental. Of course, Joseph had no control over the direction of his life. He was captured by his brothers and thrown into a pit, but now sold to Midianite merchants and brought to Egypt. What will these people do to me? Moreover, they are merchants with a good reputation for commerce, where will they sell me? It is natural that worry outweighs expectations. It was also Potiphar who decided to purchase Joseph from such merchants. Joseph, who was like a slave sold to Potiphar, who had great power and wealth as Pharaoh's demonstrators, must have had a trivial and troublesome job in the first place. This could have been a coincidence.
However, it was not long before that Joseph and Potiphar's meeting was by no means an accident, and it is naturally revealed through Joseph's life and actions. Among the idioms of lions in the famous Chinese history book ≪史記》, there is a saying, “Nangzhongjichu (囊中之錐)”. A pointed awl placed in a pocket means that it will pierce through the pocket and come out even when standing still. In other words, the personality of a sage with a noble personality is known to the world even if he is still. Verse 3 says, “And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and he saw that the LORD prospered in all things.” It may not have been that Joseph took on a prominent and important position from the beginning, but nevertheless, Joseph's faith and God's work were naturally caught in the eyes of his master.
If Potiphar was no longer a God-fearing man, this verse tells us that the first Joseph never hid or was ashamed of his faith and God (ie, God) in his day-to-day life. It is by no means difficult for a professor to pray a meal in front of students for a long time. However, it is not easy for a student who has just entered as a master's student to eat and pray with a professor, regardless of the professor's faith. It is not easy for a newly married daughter-in-law to start marrying in a family of another faith, and to maintain her religious habits, including eating and praying, without being discouraged. However, through today's words, we can see that Joseph certainly did not.
Second, from verse 3, we can see that Joseph's religious act never ends with works, but is revealed as another expression of God's walking with him, “prosperity in all things.” It is recorded that Potiphar, an unbeliever, “saw” such God’s prosperous, that it can be clearly confirmed that the succession continued to Joseph continuously and clearly. In this way, Joseph's prosperity through God's walk was not limited to Joseph himself. When the master entrusted Joseph with the affairs of the household, “from that time on” it is recorded in verse 5 that “the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in his house and in his fields.” Even when he was imprisoned unjustly because of Potiphar's wife, God allowed Joseph to prosper so much that the jailer entrusted him with all the affairs of the prison because God was with him.
I think this clearly demonstrated the fear of God that Joseph had. If there is no fear of God, in such a situation, that level of collapse has already become something that can be passed on to “perceptual normality” in this world. However, if you have the heart to fear the invisible God, the story is completely different. The power of fear of God can be more powerful than the power of temptation in the world. It is only through such awe that “prosperity” with God is revealed.
If I had to pick one thing that our church needs to restore today, I confess without hesitation that it is a true fear of the Lord. We believe that worship will be renewed in purity and will disappear from the mind of refraining from and fearing God. When you truly fear God, your worship will never be rigid, and the “prosperity” and “freedom” God walks with will overflow. I want to restore true awe.