Title: Joseph's filial piety
Joseph's filial piety
Genesis 46:28-30, Exodus 20:12
2005. 5. 8, Mother's Day
1. Origin of Mother's Day
Today is Father's Day. It is a day to repay and give thanks to all those who have parents while thinking of their parents' love.
Modern Mother's Day began on the day of the memorial service of Madame Jarvis, Virginia, USA. Javas served 26 years as a Sunday School teacher at Webster Church. Therefore, the children followed Javas like their mothers. However, after the death of Javas, the disciples gave carnations to the worship foundation on the day of the memorial service in gratitude for the grace. This is what the disciples practiced because Madame Javas emphasized respect for God and filial piety to parents. Therefore, the memorial service of Javas became a place of emotion.
In 1914, the second Sunday in May was declared Mother's Day by the U.S. Congress and has been observed ever since. In 1930, the Salvation Army observed Mother's Day in Korea, and in 1955, May 8 was nationally designated. However, due to protests from fathers, it was changed to Mother's Day in 1974.
The fifth of the ten commandments God gave is, "Honor your father and mother, that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you" (Exodus 20:12). However, he said that not only would he be severely destroyed but that God's curse would come upon him. Isn't this saying that filial piety is difficult to say?
2. Joseph was born into a troubled and complicated family.
Joseph's father is Jacob. Jacob, for one reason or another, had four wives, and from them he had twelve sons. Because of this, there was always a tense feud between the wives. There were also many problems between the sons.
Father Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons. In Genesis 37, it says, “Joseph was the son of his old age, and Israel loved him more than many of his sons, and he made colored robes for him.” When the older brothers saw this kind of favoritism toward their brother, they were always displeased.
One day Joseph was sent by his father to bring food to his brothers and to look after them. The brothers took advantage of this time to sell Joseph as a slave. Joseph begged and ejaculated, but he had no choice. The brothers lied to their father Jacob that Joseph was dead. He took off Joseph's colored clothes, smeared it with animal blood, and showed it to his father. It is said that the beast killed him.
Although Joseph was born into a troubled family, he was loved by his father. It can be seen that Joseph was a son who obeyed his father. But to his brothers, he was the object of hatred and envy. It's a huge tragedy. There are bound to be some difficulties in raising children. There is no home without problems.
Adam's son Cain was a murderer who killed his brother. Esau, the son of Isaac, was revered for his birthright. And he tried to harm his brother Jacob, who took away the birthright.
Looking back on our footsteps, we must have gone through difficult years. But you shouldn't just blame your parents for the hard work. Everyone should know that life is the way it is. God said to Adam, "The earth will bring you thorns and thistles, and your food is the greens of the field. In the sweat of your face you will eat food, and in the end you will return to the dust. will return to you” (Genesis 3:18).
The path of thorns is the path of life. You have to sweat and suffer for food, clothing, and drink. It is not easy to live right in a sinful world.
3. Joseph became the prime minister of Egypt by faith and saved his father and brothers.
Although Joseph was sold into slavery, God was with me. When Joseph, who was taken to Egypt, was a servant in Potiphar's family, God blessed his family, and even the unbelievers who did not know God acknowledged that God was with him. The Bible says, "The Lord was with Joseph, and he prospered."
With a gift from God, Joseph was very good at making other people's dreams come true. It became a relationship, and he fulfilled the dream of King Pharaoh of Egypt and was recognized for his various wisdoms, and he became the prime minister at once. At that time I was 30 years old.
When seven years of plenty had passed in Egypt and seven years of famine began, famine continued not only in Egypt but also in Canaan, where Joseph's father and brothers lived. His brothers came down to Egypt to find food, and they met Joseph. Joseph brought his father Jacob to Egypt.
Genesis 46:28 says, "Joseph set his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel, and saw him, and clenched his neck, hugged him, and wept for a while." It was unexpected that his son, whom he thought had died 22 years ago, was alive like this, and it was even more amazing God's providence to become the prime minister of the great empire of Egypt.
Jacob embraced his son Joseph and said, "You are still alive, and I have seen your face, so it is okay to die now" (Genesis 46:29). There are no more wishes. Now, all the worries and worries in my heart are gone. What caused this to happen? It is God's grace.
What did Jacob do when the lost child was like this after 22 years? nothing has been done. It is only the grace of God.
Children must live in faith. Then you get everything your parents couldn't give you. Children must be rooted in faith. In the end, you can make your parents happy.
Joseph was hated by his brothers. Joseph was sold as a slave and came down to Egypt. God exalted Joseph, who lived by faith. He had a plan to move Jacob and his descendants to Egypt through him.
Joseph loved his brother even after his father passed away. “Do not be afraid, I will feed you and your children,” he said, “and comforted them with earnest words” (Genesis 50:21). Joseph's brothers were grieved after their father Jacob passed away. I was worried that there might be some woe for the sin of selling my brother Joseph the other day. But Joseph comforted and encouraged them in front of his brothers.
I didn't blame anyone for everything that happened in the past. Rather, it was accepted by faith as the providence of God. “You intended to harm me, but God turned it into good, so that as it is today, the lives of all people may be saved” (50:20).
Jesus said, “You say, ‘It is enough if a man says to his father or his mother, ‘The things that I will offer for profit are given to Corban, that is, to God. (Mark 7:11-12) and rebuked them.
He rebuked them for not serving their parents right away because they gave it to God. It is an honest confession that we cannot give all our heart and sincerity to our parents due to various circumstances. However, you should do filial piety whenever you have the opportunity. When God gave the Ten Commandments, he said, "Honor your father and mother, that your life may be long in the land the LORD your God is giving you" (Exodus 20:12).
A certain zoologist conducted experiments on 父性愛 and 母性愛. First, a mother monkey and a baby monkey were put on an iron plate blocked on all sides. And the iron plate kept burning hot. But only baby monkeys survived. The mother monkey died holding the baby monkey in her arms. This time I experimented with Daddy's monkey. Then, only the father monkey survived and the baby monkey died in the fire.
It turned out that the father monkey lived alone on the baby monkey because the iron plate was hot. This proves that animals are more maternal.
So what about people? Those who love children and have God-fearing faith will raise them sacrificially.
We emphasized the honor of our parents who gave sacrificial love for us. (Exodus 20:12) “Honor your father and mother, that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” (Ephesians 6:1-3) “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, for this is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long on the earth."
4. The first commandment of humanity
The standard of prayer in our religious life is the Lord's Prayer. The standard of faith is the Apostles' Creed, a shortened version of the 66 books of the Bible. The standard of life of faith is the Ten Commandments. Look at the Ten Commandments. Commandments 1-4 are commandments directed to God. ① Do not have any other gods besides me. ②Do not make an idol for yourself and do not bow down. ③ Do not take the name of the Lord in vain. ④ He told them to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. However, the first commandment for people is respect for parents.
Christianity is a religion of filial piety. This is the most precious thing for a human being. (Proverbs 23:22-25) "Be obedient to your father who gave birth to you, and do not despise your old mother... Make your father and mother happy, and the mother who bore you." In the Talmut, a book of Jewish proverbs, "Who is truly worthy of the kingdom of heaven? He who respects the old."
Honoring one's parents is God's command to man. Therefore, filial piety is not an option.
5. How do you respect filial piety?
There are two things that we must obey unconditionally after being born as human beings. First, it is believing and obeying the God who is in control of life, death, and happiness, who creates all things in the universe. The second is respect for the parents who gave birth and raised them. This is not for bargaining. This is the basic principle that human beings should do. A person who is faithful to the basics can do great things.
① The authority of parents must be recognized. When a couple is separated, they are male and female. But even if your parents die, you are still your parents. What acknowledges parental authority? This is something I often talk about with my parents. The daughter-in-law likes to talk often with her mother-in-law.
Parents like to talk about good things or difficulties. And you need to be able to listen. (Proverbs 15:5-6) "He who despises the instruction of his father is a fool, and he who receives warning is wise. The house of the righteous has many treasures, but the income of the wicked is torment."
② Filial piety is to live in harmony with each other. When a couple is married, their parents love that they live in harmony. (Proverbs 17:1) It is better to have a single piece of dry bread and be at peace than to have a house full of flesh and fish and fight. (Proverbs 15:16-17) "It is better to have a family at least to fear the Lord than to be rich and troubled. It is better to eat vegetables and to love one another than to eat fat cattle and hate one another."
③ Filial piety is to evangelize and send to heaven. Only us members can do the work of evangelizing unbelieving parents and saving them. This is the best filial piety. Why? (1 Tim 2:4-5) God wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. God (2 Peter 3:8-9) wants no one to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Ex) Recently, there is an incident that has become a hot topic on TV and newspapers. It is a murder case in which a 72-year-old mother stabbed Oh (50-year-old Dongdong), a 50-year-old woman who pursued her daughter like a leech, with a knife and killed her while committing alcohol and habitual violence. At the time of this incident, a 42-year-old woman named Jeong (Mi-sook), who claimed to be a murderer, was imprisoned at the police station. However, her mother said she was the culprit. He said he couldn't see his daughter as she was.
In the end, the old mother was arrested by the police and the daughter was released, but even the police officers had tears in their eyes. An elderly mother claimed that she was the culprit, saying that she would not be able to spend her life in prison, but she was arrested on the day before Mother's Day. Mother and daughter wept and wept and cried during the 7-minute visit. The daughter said, "Tomorrow is Mother's Day, and in a cold cell..." Unable to speak, the mother said to her poor daughter, "You've worked hard. Now you can stretch out and live!" and cried.