Title [2010] Joseph's Spiritual Perspective
Contents
(Genesis 45:4-15)
The role of the eye is to see, analyze, and cope with objects. In addition to these things, the Christian's eyes must be able to see spiritual things. Joseph, who appears in the text, lived a different life from his eleven brothers because he saw the covenant God made during the history of redemption.
In prison, Joseph interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh's chief cupbearer and chief breadwinner, and a few days later, as he had interpreted, the baker was executed and the cupbearer was reinstated. Two years later, when Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had a dream about the seven heads of grain and the seven oxen, and he was troubled, but there was no one in Egypt to interpret the dream, Joseph interprets the dream of Pharaoh at the recommendation of the reinstated ruler. . Joseph, who was trusted by Pharaoh for this reason, became the prime minister of Egypt at the age of 30. According to his dream interpretation, after 7 years of plenty, 7 years of famine began. I met my brothers at the age of 39. The brothers who met Joseph at that time were probably stunned by the unbelievable reality. But Joseph tells his brothers that all this was God's will (Gen. 45:5;7-8). How cool is that? Because Joseph was looking at God's grand plan to create a great nation through his father Jacob, he was reading the flow of God's history of redemption, so even if sold as a slave or imprisoned unfairly, he does not resent and despair.
Joseph sends his brothers to bring his 130-year-old father Jacob and Siksol from the land of Canaan to Egypt. Seventeen years later, Jacob passed away at the age of 147. When Jacob died, he told his son Joseph to not be buried in Egypt, but to be buried in the grave of his ancestors (Genesis 47:29). Genesis 48:21 “I die, but God will be with you and lead you to your ancestors to return to the land of yours.” Here, the 'land of the fathers' is Canaan. In Canaan, there is only the cave of Machpelah. But it is the promised land that God promised to give to your descendants. Jacob believed this covenant. God's promises are more important than reality.
Another time passes, and when Joseph passes away at the age of 110, he testifies that his body be taken to the land of Canaan. (Genesis 50:24) If you are an ordinary person, you want to be buried in the land of Egypt where you have succeeded and enjoyed wealth and glory. do. But Joseph tells him to take his body to Canaan. The land of Canaan was not yet the land of the children of Israel, but Joseph made this will because he believed in the covenant that God would give it. There, they were watching the great spiritual drama of the salvation of mankind that God wanted to do. Joseph was able to believe in God's plan to build a great nation through him and keep his life even in the midst of hardship because he had a spiritual eye different from that of his brothers.
In the 430 years after the children of Israel had lived in Egypt and 360 years after the death of Joseph, Moses made a great nation of 600,000 men and came out of Egypt, according to Joseph's will. ) Believers must always believe in God's covenant. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, as well as Moses and Joshua, believed in God's covenant. What God has said and promised is more precious than anything in the world. In that covenant, God's history of redemption unfolds like a drama. We should see (and should be able to see) this in the Bible. Our lives should be able to decorate a page in God's redemptive history. Then there will be no discouragement, resentment, frustration, complaints, or tests. You can pray for hope even in the midst of difficulties, thanks in the midst of hardship, and prayer even in moments of absolute despair. That life could be better.
I pray that a spiritual and spiritual perspective will be opened in the lives of our beloved Shepherd Church members.