What does all this mean?

Genesis 44; Job 10; Mark 14; Romans 14

The sons of Israel are in a pickle. They brought their little brother Benjamin with them back to Egypt for more food, just as Joseph ordered. They still had no idea who Joseph really was, only that they were in trouble. This ‘Egyptian’ ruler found his silver cup in Benjamin’s bags, and now threatened to keep him as a servant. Judah, who once sold his youngest brother (Joseph) into slavery is pleading for Benjamin, his remaining younger brother. He tells Pharaoh that his father will die if Benjamin is not allowed to go back to him and offers himself as substitute.

And when our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,’ we said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother goes with us, then we will go down. For we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. One left me, and I said, “Surely he has been torn to pieces,” and I have never seen him since. If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in evil to Sheol . . .  Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.” (Genesis 44:25–34)

This is Joseph’s last test. He sees the change of heart in his brothers and is now ready to tell them who he really is and take care of them.

Besides being a favorite Bible story, this one clearly points to Jesus. Judah offers his life in substitution for another. He was likely motivated by a guilty conscience and genuine shame. What he did not realize that in a couple thousand years, his descendant, in no way prompted by shame but only by obedience to his heavenly Father and by love for guilty sinners, would offer himself as a substitute for everyone.

Like Judah, Job did not realize the future sacrifice for sinners either. He moaned in his misery and said:

Are your days as the days of man, or your years as a man’s years, that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, although you know that I am not guilty, and there is none to deliver out of your hand? (Job 10:5–7, italics mine)

Perhaps he knew God was not like that, yet he still could not understand the pickle he was in. Why would his Creator abandon him to such misery? He told God that he would rather die than suffer like this without explanation.

Little did Job realize that decades later, the Deliverer would come. He would also suffer and God would put Him to death. He was betrayed and denied by His friends, also innocent of any crime — but unlike Job, He had never sinned at all; He was dying for the sin of all humanity. Nor was He ignorant of what was happening:

And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” (Mark 14:27–28)

Like Judah, yet unlike Job, Jesus was willing to take the place of suffering. He prayed in anguish, sweating blood, but saying, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36) Then, unlike Judah, yet like Job, He was falsely accused and condemned to suffer the cup of God’s wrath.

The pattern is set in Genesis and exemplified through the Old Testament. A NT passage says that those who experienced these things knew all of it was for those who would live later. They also knew that glory was to follow, but the ultimate outcome was a mystery to them, held in wonder to the point that even the angels longed to get a better glimpse.

The song, “Jesus Paid it All” has a stanza that says: “Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow, And when before the throne I stand in him complete, Jesus died my soul to save, My lips shall still repeat . . . .”

I get the first part, but that phrase, “I stand in him complete” leaves me in awe. Like the saints and angels of old, I long for a clearer glimpse — because of my Redeemer’s great salvation I long to see Him and fully understand the marvel of being made complete.

Cities of refuge and Jesus

Today’s devotional reminded me of an Old Testament seminary class in which the professor was so focused on Jesus Christ that he saw the Lord in every passage. First, I thought he just had a good imagination. As the class progressed, I became excited as I started to see the connections he was making.

This professor’s experience with Christ gave me a new view of the Old Testament. I could see how God used and even designed OT history, events, and people to point readers ahead to the Messiah that was to come. The NT even says: “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he (Jesus) interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27)  

I’ve no problem with seeing Jesus in OT details, but there is a danger in interpreting Bible passages according to personal experience. For instance, we just returned from a trip to Italy. Now, the red ribbon on my bulletin board reminds me of poppies I saw in Tuscany. The ribbon did not do that before our trip, nor for other people as it was not created to represent poppies. Instead, it represents a prize won, which most people would recognize, not a field of poppies.

Also, this ability to see Jesus in the OT comes from careful study, not from an overactive imagination. It is unwise to ‘read into’ Bible verses and come up with fanciful ideas. The classic is the person who was having a problem, read how Judas hung himself, then read, “Go and do likewise” then “Whatever you do, do it quickly.” This example is likely fiction, but it illustrates the danger of careless interpretation.

Today’s devotional is based on the following passage:

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and he shall remain with them. And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unknowingly, and did not hate him in the past. And he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.’” So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and for the stranger sojourning among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation. (Joshua 20:1–9)

The author says: “The six cities of refuge which Joshua appointed in the land of Canaan were types of our Lord Jesus Christ. Even their names represent him.”

I had to check this out for myself using the Bible dictionaries on my computer program called “Logos.” Some of what I discovered matched the devotional writer’s findings, some did not and I found it a stretch to match them up with Jesus. I’m not saying there was no relationship between the names of these cities and Christ, but I could not see everything Fortner wrote about. My Exhaustive Dictionary of Bible Names said about these cities:

• Kedesh = Sanctuary; holy place; (root = to be consecrated).
• Shechem = Back; shoulder - literally, early rising; (root = the shoulder; the upper part of the back; a ridge of land). Diligence.
• Hebron = Confederation; conjunction; alliance; associating; joining together; union; company.
• Bezer = Gold ore; defense. Strong; gold one. Munition.
• Ramoth = Heights; eminences; high places; (root = a lofty place). Coral.
• Golan = Great exodus; exile; (root = a band of exiles). Their captivity; their rejoicing.

Careful Bible interpretation tries to determine what a passage meant to the original readers. In this case, the OT readers likely did not link the names of these cities to the promised Messiah. They may have marveled at their God who made this provision for fair trial if someone accidently killed another rather than being quickly killed by an avenger. However, the link to Jesus in the names is not clear.

Besides, it is only looking back that Jesus is seen as our refuge, also our holiness. He did tell a parable of a shepherd finding a lost sheep and carrying it home on his shoulders. He is the source of our unity, our strength and is our defense, and is in a lofty place. He is the one who brought Christians (a band of exiles) out of sin. However, all this is seen in hindsight. Could anyone see it back then in the names and meanings of those cities? Maybe God arranged that, yet there is no record — until when Luke said Jesus pointed to Himself in all of Scripture.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, I know You are pleased when You are so much in my thoughts that everything reminds me of You. At the same time, I am wary of interpreting the Bible using even a sanctified imagination. It seems better to study diligently what it says, interpret carefully what it means, and listen to the Holy Spirit so I know how to apply it to my life.

Evidence of God

2 Kings 4:18–5:27, Mark 14:51–15:15, Proverbs 6:12–19, Luke 7:16, Mark 14:61–64, Mark 14:71, Mark 15:2

Miracles are sometimes defined as God breaking His own rules. He goes beyond normal to show His presence and His power. He did so in the OT with miracles done by His prophets. These miracles were often repeated by God in the person of Jesus Christ.

For instance, the son of a couple who welcomed Elisha into their home suddenly died. Elisha came into the house, “went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm.” (2 Kings 4:32–34)

Jesus restored to life the son of a widow (Luke 7:12-17) Some of the onlookers made the connection and said, “A great prophet has arisen among us! . . . God has visited his people!” (Luke 7:16)

Elisha also multiplied insufficient food to feed a multitude. He said, “Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’ ” So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.” (2 Kings 4:42–44) Two instances in the NT describe Jesus feeding thousands with a few loaves and fishes, and the disciples gathered up basketfuls of leftovers.

Elisha also healed a leper called Naaman who was the army captain of Syria. (2 Kings 5:1-15) Jesus did this several times, yet the religious leaders made no connection between what He was doing and what God’s prophets did in their OT history. How did they miss it?

One possibility is in Solomon’s description of those who miss seeing what God is doing because of sin in their lives. He calls them worthless, wicked, and deceitful trouble-makers. He adds six characteristics that God hates: “haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” (Proverbs 6:12–19)

Some of these qualities were (and still are) displayed by the enemies of Jesus Christ. Solomon called all six of them abominations to God.

In the NT, the religious leaders arrested Jesus and asked questions like, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” They didn’t get it even though Jesus told them, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Instead, they called His answers and claims blasphemy and condemned Him. (Mark 14:61–64) Would they have done the same to the prophets? Why weren’t they enraged at the miracles of Elijah and Elisha?

Peter knew who Jesus was and called Him “the Son of the Living God” but in the end denied it saying, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” (Mark 14:71) Pilot, a Roman, asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” (Mark 15:2) He might have believed His answer, or at least was willing to call Him the King of the Jews and release Him, but in fear of the Jews, he denied the clear evidence also, then he put Jesus to death.

This impresses me with at least two things. One is the OT continually points to Jesus, whether people see it or not. The second is that miracles might amaze people, but they will not necessarily convince anyone of the power and presence of God.