A Journey Through the Bible, Part Twenty

A brief note: Since I’ve started a “Chapter Summary” blog, I’m going to (try to) keep these posts a little shorter and go into greater chapter detail on the “summary” blog. I’m not going to ignore this blog, but I am going to press the other one a little to try to catch up. That way the reader can have the summary first, then look at any specific verses I analyze here. Check “Mark’s Bible Blog” for updates to all my blogs.


Old Testament

Genesis 39 and 40

Genesis 39:12—“She caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me.’ But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.” Joseph did what we all ought to do when confronted by sin and temptation—run. One writer suggested that Potiphar was mad, not because he believed Joseph had tried to seduce his wife, but because he suspected the truth—that she had tried to seduce Joseph, and thus Potiphar lost a very good servant. He could have had Joseph executed rather than tossed into prison, and this also implies that he might have deduced what really happened. But he had to keep peace with his wife.

Genesis 40:8—“And they said to him, ‘We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.’ So Joseph said to them, ‘Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.’” Joseph had done absolutely nothing wrong, yet he had been sold into slavery by his brothers, wrongly accused of trying to seduce a man’s wife, and tossed into prison because of it. How many people would have been very angry with God—to say the least. But not Joseph. He still has his faith rooted in Jehovah. We do not know, for sure, how much time had passed between Joseph being sold into slavery and the events of this chapter, but if my calculations are correct, that we are looking at roughly 10 years. Given what had happened to him, it had to have been tough to keep one’s faith for that long, especially at Joseph’s tender age, but he was obviously an exceptionally spiritual young man. Plus, as I have written about extensively on my Bible blog (see the “Who Can Say To Him, What Are You Doing?” series), God works in His own time and we must be patient and trust Him when our prayers are delayed in being answered.

New Testament

Matthew 22

Matthew 22:12-13—“So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” Among the Asiatics of Jesus’ day, those invited to a wedding feast were given a special garment to wear. To not wear it was a sign of disrespect and impertinence and the offender was removed from the scene. If we do not “clothe” ourselves properly in the kingdom of God, we, too, will be “cast into outer darkness.” Romans 13:14 tells us to “put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Matthew 22:21—“And He said to them, ‘Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.’” Like most of us, the Jews hated to pay taxes, especially, in their case, to a foreign master (the Romans). But Jesus didn’t come to overturn the social order or foment societal rebellion. He was not a “community organizer.” His mission was “to seek and to save that which was lost," (Luke 19:10). Jesus came down from heaven, and He knew what was truly important in life—being right with God and preparing for the Judgment Day. He wasn’t out marching the streets, agitating for “social justice;” there were plenty of “causes” in His day (such as slavery) that He could have “marched” for if that were His purpose on earth. I was recently told by a former student that she had been talking to one of her professors who said that if Jesus were on earth today, He’d be pushing for Obama’s health care reform. Sigh. Jesus was above that because He knew the vital imperative of life—“fear God and keep His commandments,” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). “For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil,” (Eccl. 12:14). Thus, “render to Caesar…”, and let’s get on with what God intends for us to do on this earth—live for Him. How many of us, 100 years from now, are going to care about Obama’s health plan?

I will say, however, that if people would truly adhere to Christ’s teachings, we could end every social/political/moral problem in this country. I challenge the reader to name me one problem in America today—yea, the world—that could not be solved by a proper, and universal, application of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. And that includes health care reform.