Have you ever been caught off guard by something? That is, have you ever expected one thing to happen but then you were completely shocked when something else happened? Maybe you thought you job was secure, but then your boss called you into his office and said, “I’m so sorry, but we are going to have to let you go.” and you are left wondering what you are going to do. Maybe you weren’t expecting to have a baby, but then all of the sudden, “Surprise! You’re pregnant!” and you are left wondering what you are going to do. Or maybe you have experienced the shock an unexpected death of a loved one, and you felt that empty whole in the center of your heart.

This is exactly what happened to Jesus’ followers when he died on the cross. They thought that Jesus was going to lead a revolution and liberate Israel from Roman occupation and establish a kingdom of peace and justice on earth. But when Jesus breathed his final breath, their hopes were nailed to the cross! They were caught off guard by the crucifixion and they were left wondering what to do next.

But if Jesus’ followers were caught off guard by his crucifixion, they were really caught off guard by his resurrection. Even though he had foretold his resurrection on six occasions during his ministry, it never really registered with them. Since they didn’t expect Jesus to rise from the dead, it made it very difficult for them to believe it. In today’s passage, we see that the resurrection consistently catches Jesus’ followers off guard.

The Women: Caught Off Guard by the Resurrection (1-8)

The story begins early in the morning on the first day of the week. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James, and some other women were taking spices to Jesus’ tomb to anoint his body according to the Jewish burial custom. They had to wait until the first hint of light on Sunday morning because Jesus was buried late Friday afternoon just before the Sabbath had begun. It was against the law to anoint a dead body during the Sabbath. So, they went to his tomb at the first moment they could.

As they approached the tomb, they certainly expected to find Jesus’ body there. The first hint that something strange had taken place came when they saw that the stone had been rolled away. Tombs in ancient Israel were not like tombs today. They were usually caves rather than a hole in the ground, and tombstones were large round rocks set in a groove over the entrance rather than a granite slab engrave with decorative angels and flowers. This open tomb caught them off guard because there was no sign of who rolled it away or why they did it.

They were caught off guard again when they entered the tomb and discovered that Jesus’ body was gone. They saw his grave clothes lying there and they wondered what had happened. Had robbers stolen his body? Had a friend moved it? They just didn’t know and it troubled them.

As the women discussed the various possibilities, all of the sudden two men appeared beside them. They were caught off guard by this too. Their clothing shimmered white like lightning and the women were terrified. Who were these men and what did they want? After gazing for a minute, they recognized that they were some sort of supernatural beings, and they bowed down and put their faces toward the ground in worship.

Of all the surprises they experienced that morning, none was greater than the shock they received when the angels asked, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he is risen!” Could it be true? Was Jesus really alive? Did he really conquer the grave? As they pondered these things, the angels reminded them that Jesus himself foretold this. When they explained this, the women remembered Jesus’ words.

When see how Jesus’ followers refused to listen to his foretelling his own death and resurrection multiple times, it should make us think about how slow we are to listen to God’s word. They didn’t want to think about Jesus’ death; so they weren’t prepared for his resurrection. Like these women, many people today have trained their ears to only hear what they want to hear, especially when it comes to God.

How many times has God spoken to us about something in our lives? How many times has he tried to tell us something through the verses we read in the Bible, sermons that we hear, or major events in our lives, but we block it out because it isn’t what we want to hear in the moment. It is bad enough that many of us exercise selective hearing with our parents or spouse, but it is extremely detrimental when we exercise selective hearing with God.

Has God been speaking to you about something? Don’t let it go in one ear and out the other! Don’t be caught off guard!

The Eleven Apostles: Caught Off Guard by the Resurrection (9-12)

With elation, the women immediately went to tell the Eleven apostles what they had seen and heard. They told them about the stone that was rolled away, the empty tomb, the grave clothes, and the two angels. But the apostles were caught off guard by the women’s resurrection story and they didn’t believe it because their story seemed so farfetched.

Now we need to remember that the 1st century hadn’t experienced the feminist revolution. In this culture and historical period, women were considered less credible than men. So, if you can picture a group of women telling a group of men that Jesus had risen from the dead, their skepticism is somewhat understandable.

On the other hand, their skepticism is somewhat surprising. These eleven apostles had been with Jesus for over three years. They watched him turn water into wine, walk on water, and raise Lazarus from the dead, and yet they did not believe that he was resurrected.

There was one apostle that wasn’t totally caught off guard though. Peter had spent more time with Jesus than anyone else. Still feeling the effects of denying Jesus three times just a few days earlier, his skepticism wasn’t as profound as the others. He wanted to see for himself if the women’s story was true, so he got up and ran to the tomb. When he saw the grave clothes on the ground, he went away wondering what had happened.

The apostle’s initial skepticism about Jesus’ resurrection helps us to understand people’s skepticism about resurrection today. Resurrection is difficult to believe! It is a supernatural phenomenon and it completely betrays our instinct and experience. No one questions the reality of death because we have all known someone who has died, but how many of us know someone who has been resurrected? We would expect non-Christians to be skeptical about the resurrection, but what about Christians?

Last year Don Piper, author of 90 Minutes in Heaven, came to the Enosburg Falls High School and told us about his tragic car accident and how the coroner pronounced him dead at the scene. He told us about his 90 minutes in heaven and how he came back to earth. It was a compelling story. But I can’t tell you how many so called Christians asked me, “Do you think that really happened to him? Do you think he was really dead? Do you think that he is just trying to make money from this?” They showed their skepticism.

I honestly don’t know what happened to Don Piper, but I know that Jesus was resurrected on the third day. How about you? Do you really believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Don’t be caught off guard by the resurrection!

Cleopas: Caught Off Guard by the Resurrection (13-35)

Later that day, two of Jesus’ followers were walking on the road toward the village of Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were probably heading home after their hopes of a redeemed Israel were dashed. Cleopas and the unnamed disciple were discussing the events of the past few days, Jesus came up and walked alongside of them, but they didn’t recognize him.

Luke uses an imperfect passive grammatical construction to convey that God supernaturally prevented them from recognizing Jesus. This allowed Jesus to engage them in dialogue and make the surprise of the resurrection even greater. Jesus uses his hidden identity to play dumb with these disciples and to test their knowledge of the gospel. He asked them what they were talking about. Cleopas was amazed that this man hadn’t heard about the things that happened over the weekend. The irony in verse 19 is hilarious as Jesus plays dumb again and asks, “What things?”

From there, Cleopas and the other disciple went on to share the gospel with Jesus. Again, the irony of this scene is humorous as they tell Jesus who he was and what he did. They do a pretty good job of telling the story of Jesus’ identity, trial, and death, but they began to stumble when they got to the resurrection. They obviously did not understand the reality or significance of the empty tomb.

At that point, Jesus took over for them. Beginning with Moses and the Prophets, he led them through a little Bible study and showed how the whole Old Testament pointed to himself. They were so intrigued by this mysterious figure that they invited him to dine and stay with them for the evening. When Jesus sat down with them and reenacted the Last Supper by taking the bread, giving thanks, breaking it, and giving it to them, God miraculously opened their eyes and enabled them to see that it was the resurrected Christ. Talk about being caught off guard by the resurrection! As soon as they recognized him, he instantaneously disappeared from the table. They returned to the apostles in Jerusalem and confirmed the account that Jesus was indeed resurrected from the dead!

This episode of unknown identity reminds me of something funny that happened to me a few weeks ago while I was at Jay Peak skiing. I was riding up the ski lift with a friend and another guy that I did not know. The other guy knew my friend but not me.

After simply exchanging names, I listened to them talk for most of the ride. The guy was telling my friend that he is a Canadian citizen but he lives in the States all winter for ski season. He explained that what he was doing was technically illegal, but it wasn’t hurting anyone and there was little chance he would ever get caught.

As we were nearing the top of the lift, the guy wanted to be polite and asked me what I do for a living. I said, “Oh, I work for Border Patrol!” A blank and terrified look fell over his face and it looked like he wanted to say, “Oh, shhhooot!”Then my friend and I started cracking up laughing and I said, “No, I’m just kidding. I’m a pastor of a church!” I don’t think he believed me. He took off pretty quickly and we didn’t see him again.

Cleopas and the other didn’t realize that they were speaking to Jesus, and they told him the story of his own death and resurrection. Although this scene is somewhat humorous, it makes me wonder: If Jesus appeared to us while we were walking down a road today, would we be able to tell him the story of his own death and resurrection? Would we be able to explain the significance of the cross and the resurrection?

For those of us who are Christians here today, we may be the closest thing to Jesus that some people ever see. If someone came to you and asked the equivalent of “What things?” would you be able to tell him or her that Jesus had to die on the cross so that we have forgiveness for our sins? Would you be able to tell them that Jesus had to be resurrected so that he can offer us eternal life today? Would you have the courage to them that Jesus is the only way their souls can be saved from hell? Don’t be caught off guard by the resurrection!

If you are not a Christian today, here these words! Jesus sacrificed his life for you! He was resurrected so that you could spend eternity in heaven with him. He wants you to take him seriously! He wants you to put your trust in him today! He wants you to make a commitment to follow him right now! Whatever you do, don’t be caught off guard by the resurrection!

In this passage, there are three groups of people who were caught off guard by the resurrection. I hope we have learned something from them!

This evening I would like to tell you a story about something that happened to me a number of years ago; something that happened during my trip to Jerusalem. Ever since I was a kid, I had always wanted to go to Israel and see Jerusalem. As I grew up, my parents had told me about all of the wonderful things God had done through biblical history, and I wanted to see the place for myself. I wanted to see all of the famous sites in Jerusalem—where Melchizedek had been a priest-king, where Joshua battled against the Jebusites, where David brought Goliath’s head after he slew the giant and made Jerusalem the capital of Israel.

Unfortunately, Jerusalem was on the other side of the world, and my parents told me that we didn’t have enough money to go there. When I was a teenager, I started saving my money to make this trip, but it wasn’t until after I was married that I finally had enough money to go.

Since I figured that this would be a once in a lifetime trip, I wanted to make the most of it. So, I arranged to be there during Passover, the biggest Jewish holiday, where Jews from all over the world flocked to Jerusalem to celebrate how God delivered his people from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. This was the best time to visit Jerusalem, so that is when I went!

The Journey to Jerusalem

Making plans to travel to Jerusalem is a complicated process, but it got even more complicated than I had expected. All along, I was planning on just my wife and I making the trip, and the kids would stay with my in-laws. But not long after our plans were finalized, we found out that she was pregnant. Although we were excited about the pregnancy, we were disappointed because we knew that she wouldn’t be able to go.

As I was trying to figure out what to do, she came to me and said, “You shouldn’t go to Jerusalem alone. You should take the boys with you. They are old enough to make the journey and it would be a great educational opportunity for them.” We agreed that our two sons, Alexander and Rufus, would accompany me to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast.

The three of us boarded a ship in our hometown of Cyrene and made the 750 mile voyage to Israel and then we walked the last 30 miles to Jerusalem. The trip provided the perfect opportunity to teach my boys about God’s faithfulness to our people. As we watched the sun rise over the sea, I told them about how God created the heavens and the earth. When we gazed at the stars in the night sky, I reminded them that God promised our father Abraham that he would make his descendents as numerous as the stars in the sky. As we watched the tails of giant whales splash the Mediterranean water into the air, I reminded them of how God used the belly of a fish to help Jonah repent from his sin. And as Passover approached, I reminded them about how God used Moses to deliver our people from slavery in Egypt.

Those last 30 miles on foot were so exciting as we approached Jerusalem. We were anxious to see what the city would look like and what we would experience there!

Chaos in Jerusalem

As we approached the city, the Passover feast had already begun. We expected an atmosphere of joy and celebration, but all we saw was chaos. Something was wrong! We had anticipated a festive throng of singing and dancing, but all we encountered was angry mobs making threats of violence. My young sons were scared and asked, “Daddy, what’s happening here?” I held their hands and said, “I don’t know boys, but I’ll find out.”

As we made our way through the anxious streets, I asked someone what was going on. He said, “Where have you been? Haven’t you heard of Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee? He is on trial for blasphemy; he claims to be the Son of God. Some people say that he is the son of God because he performed many miracles, but others claim that he is a false prophet. He has divided the city and turned it into an uproar. The religious leaders brought him to the Roman governor early this morning.” Then he said, “I’m on my way to Pilate’s palace right now to see what will be decided. Follow me!”

Sentenced to Crucifixion (6-15)

I held my boys close as we pushed our way through the crowd. Eventually, we came to the court of Pilate’s palace and stood amidst the angry mob of people. Just as we got there Pilate brought Jesus out onto the balcony. As soon as the crowd saw him, they began to hurl insults and profanities at him. I wanted to get my kids out of there, but it was too late; the crowd filled in behind us and we were stuck.

With all of the noise around us, I could barely hear what Pilate was saying. The best I could make out was that he was willing to release one prisoner, either Jesus or some murderer named Barabbas. Pilate appeared to be spineless and willing to do whatever pleased the crowd the most. Then, in a sarcastic voice, I heard him say, “Then what should I do with the king of the Jews?” And the crowd chanted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

Carrying the Cross of Christ (16-24)

From there, Pilate took Jesus back into the palace and had him flogged. He must have given Jesus over to his soldiers to make sport of him because when they led him out, he didn’t even look like the same man. His head had been so badly beaten that his whole face was deformed. It looked like they had fashioned a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head and then struck it with a staff until the thorns sunk in so deep that blood splattered all over his face and neck.

The soldiers led him out of the gate and the crowd formed an alley for them to walk. My heart sank as I realized that my sons and I were going to have a front row view of the gruesome procession. I didn’t want my boys to see this dreadful sight, but there wasn’t anything I could do. As he approached, I could see the heavy wooden beam on his back and the soldier’s spit all over his hair. He was so weak that he could barely walk.

When he was standing right in front of me, his legs gave out and he collapsed under the weight of the beam. I’ll never forget the look of desperation on his face as he fell or the sound of his gasp as the beam bounced against his back. The whole event only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. The beam rolled off of him and I could see the bloodstains on his back from where he had been flogged. I marveled at how he could still be alive after such blood loss.

As he lay there, the soldiers commanded him to get up. When they realized that he couldn’t carry the beam any longer, the centurion looked at me and said, “You, carry his cross! At first, I refused. I didn’t want anything to do with this perilous procession. When I tried to explain that my two young boys were with me, he raised his whip and threatened me. I told my boys to follow close behind, and then I bent down to pick up the cross. I was surprised by how heavy it was and I remember thinking, “How had he carried it so far?”

When I got the beam balanced on my back, I saw Jesus on his feet stumbling ahead of me. Then the soldier exclaimed, “On to Golgotha!” I followed Jesus up that long and lonely hill until we reached the top. At one point, I looked back to make sure that my boys were following in the procession. Thank God they hadn’t been trampled by the crowd!

The Crucifixion of Christ (21-41)

When we reached the top of the hill, the soldiers told me to drop the beam and they pushed me out of the way. I ran over to my boys and wrapped my arms around them as the crowd gathered. When I looked back, I realized that two other men were going to be crucified along with Jesus.

I had heard of crucifixions before, but I had never actually seen one. I didn’t want my boys to see this horrifying event, but after carrying Jesus’ cross, I knew I had to stay until the end. We watched as the soldiers stretched Jesus’ arms across the beam and nailed his wrists into the wood. When he gasped with pain, the religious leaders began to cheer, the soldiers cast lot for his clothing, but there was a group of women standing off in the distance who began to wail.

From there, they lifted Jesus up and attached the horizontal beam to the vertical one that was already in the ground. After they nailed his feet to the cross, they hung a sign over it that read: The King of the Jews. Over the next few hours, Jesus continued to pull his body up to breath. And the chief priests and scribes mocked and made fun of him. I overheard one of them say with sarcasm, “He saved others…but he cannot save himself. Let this Christ, this king of Israel, come down from the cross, that we may see and believe.”

As Jesus approached death, a strange and terrifying darkness came over the whole land. Jesus mustered up all the strength he had left and cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? A few minutes later, Jesus breathed his last and gave up his spirit. The centurion who had forced me to carry Jesus’ cross was standing right in front of Jesus when he died. I heard him say, “Surely this man was the son of God!” At that moment, I knew in my heart that this Jesus was indeed the long awaited Messiah!

Carrying My Cross (Mark 8:34-36)

The soldiers took Jesus’ limp body off the cross, and I knew it was finished. I looked at my boys and said, “They have killed the one that Abraham, Moses, and the prophets foretold. They have killed the Christ!”

The crowd began to disperse and I turned around and looked at the wooden beam lying on the ground stained with blood. As I thought about how I carried the murder weapon on my back, I felt responsible for Jesus’ death. I thought, “If I had just resisted the soldiers more, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.” My head told me that it wasn’t my fault, but my heart was filled with guilt.

As we started walking away, the group of women who were standing off in the distance weeping began to approach me. One of them, who introduced herself as Mary Magdalene, spoke to me. It was as if she could read my mind when she said, “It’s not your fault! You didn’t kill him! This was the devil’s doing!” And then she said, “While Jesus was still alive, he taught us that, “If anyone would come after him, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow him. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and my gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, but forfeit his soul?”

When I heard the words that Jesus had spoken, I felt like my soul had been liberated. I learned that being a true follower of Christ has nothing to do with literally carrying a cross, but it has everything to do with giving and living my life for him. That is when I realized that I had been living my life for myself and my family, not for the Messiah. At that very moment, I made a commitment to follow Jesus with and for the rest of my life! I have never been the same since!

Today I understand much more than I did that day I carried Jesus’ cross. I know that he died on the cross to provide forgiveness and atonement for my sins. He was indeed the Lamb of God who died for the sins of the world. It was really difficult to carry his cross that day, but I have discovered that it is even harder “carrying my cross” everyday.

How about you? Do you know that Jesus died on the cross to grant you forgiveness? Do you know that his blood was shed so you can have atonement for all of the sins you have committed? Have you received him as Lord and Savior? Are you a true follower of Jesus Christ?

Have you learned what it means to carry your cross? Who are you living for? Yourself? Your spouse? Your kids? Or are you truly living your life for Jesus? If you want to save your life, give it up! Are you carrying the cross of Christ?

Joshua is one of the few people in the Bible who didn’t have any major moral weaknesses or character flaws. He was strong, courageous, lived a life of faithfulness to the Lord, and became one of Israel’s most prosperous and successful leaders!

Joshua’s Life

Joshua was the son of Nun of the tribe of Ephraim, was born a Hebrew slave in Egypt, and he became Moses’ aide when he was a young man. Other than this, the Bible doesn’t tell us anything about Joshua’s background. We don’t even know anything about his role in the Exodus from Egypt.

Joshua’s first job was as a spy. Moses sent representatives from each of the twelve tribes of Israel to spy out the land of Canaan. Joshua was selected as the representative from the tribe of Ephraim. His early days as a spy prepared him for his future role as Israel’s military general.

Later, Joshua emerged in the battle against the Amalekites at Rephidim. While Moses held his staff above his head and Aaron and Hur supported Moses’ arms on top of the hill, Joshua became the general of the Israelite army and led them to victory in the valley. It was here that he distinguished himself as a strong and courageous warrior and brilliant military strategist.

From there, Joshua went with Moses to receive the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. He was such a faithful servant that Moses chose Joshua to succeed him as leader of Israel. With great strength and courage, Joshua was confirmed and commissioned to be Israel’s next leader.

After the death of Moses, Joshua made preparations to cross the Jordan River and take possession of the Promised Land. As the Lord had done for Moses at the Red Sea, he miraculously stopped the waters and Joshua led the people across the river on dry ground. They camped at Gilgal on the eastern shore of the river and Joshua took 12 stones from the river and built an altar to remind them that God had dried up the Jordan until all the people had crossed.

When they came to conquer the city of Jericho, they ran into a big problem. The city wall was high and thick. The fledgling Israelite army had no natural means of penetrating the wall, but the commander of the Lord’s army appeared and told Joshua to march the soldiers around the city seven times and the walls would collapse. So, Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho. Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumblin’ down!

After the fall of Jericho, Joshua and the Israelites went on to conquer Ai, Bethel, and number of other cities. As long as Israel obeyed the Lord, they won every battle; even though the Israelite army was usually outnumbered. God gave Joshua strength and courage to lead his people and fight their enemies.

The first half of the Book of Joshua tells the story of Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land; the second half of the books tells the story of the dividing of the land between the twelve tribes of Israel. Joshua was the leader of the Israelites until he died at the ripe old age of 110. Like Moses before him, he delivered a farewell speech where he reminded the Israelites of the great deeds that God had done for them and challenged them to keep the covenant. When he died, he was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in the hill country of Ephraim.

Joshua’s Fear

When we read about Joshua and all of the amazing things he accomplished, we might be tempted to think that he had so much strength and courage that he never feared anything. But that is simply not true. There was a time in Joshua’s life when he faced great uncertainty and was overcome with fear. His fear never surfaced when he was a spy or a military commander, but it came when Moses died and it was his time to assume leadership of Israel. Even though he had already been appointed as Moses’ successor, he probably thought that day would never come.

His fear is certainly understandable. He was following in the footsteps of Israel’s greatest leader. He witnessed Moses perform miracles in Egypt! He was there when Moses parted the Red Sea! He was there when Moses delivered the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai. He saw Moses put up with a cantankerous people for forty years and still love them.

Now the baton of leadership had been passed to Joshua, and so many unanswered questions left him terrified! Would he be able to live up to the mentor? Would the people follow his leadership? Would he be able to finish the mission that Moses started and lead the people into the Promised Land? He was facing the biggest change of his life, and he was paralyzed by fear.

Our Fears

Change always produces fear! That is why we can all identify with Joshua! When we don’t know what is going to happen or how things are going to work out, it naturally causes fear to stir in our hearts.

Are you facing any changes or transitions in your life today? Maybe you are facing a change at work? Perhaps you are moving to a new position or changing jobs altogether? Maybe you are facing changes in your family? Perhaps you are still trying to adjust to life since the loss of a loved one? Maybe you are worried about the future of your marriage? Maybe you are concerned about the condition of a relationship with another family member? Maybe you are facing changes in your body? None of us are getting any younger! Maybe you are experiencing physical problems that you have never experienced before and you are afraid that you won’t be able to do the things you used to do?

What changes and transitions are you facing today? What fears are you struggling with? Are you like Joshua? Do you need some strength and courage today?

Well, if you do, look with me at Joshua 1! Strength and courage come from God! The Lord always gives us exactly what we need to get through the transitions of our life. Joshua 1 reveals four ways that he gives us strength and courage. Let’s take a look at them!

1.) God gives us strength and courage through continual encouragement (6, 7, 18)

Since Joshua was so overcome by fear, God knew that he would need continuous encouragement to face his fears and lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. Notice the phrase “Be strong and courageous!” This phrase had already been introduced back in Deuteronomy 31. It was spoken by Moses twice and God once, and now it is repeated by God three times in this chapter. This phrase became the mantra of Joshua’s life and it gave him the strength and courage to move forward.

It is very interesting to see that Joshua actually uses this phrase a number of years later when he was encouraging the Israelite army to march against the five Amorite kings who were hiding in the cave of Makkedah. In Joshua 10:25 he says, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to the enemies you are going to fight.” This shows how far Joshua had come since chapter 1. The continual encouragement he received from this repeated phrase gave him great strength and courage.

I had something very similar happen to me a number of years ago. Not long after I became a Christian, I started to sense a call to pastoral ministry, but this terrified me. I was afraid that I wasn’t smart enough or had the right abilities to be a pastor. Public speaking petrified me! I was also afraid of what my family and friends would think if I became a pastor.

As God continued to encourage me privately in my prayers, he used about eight different people over a period of a couple of months to encourage me toward vocational ministry. Random people would come up to me at church and said, “I think you would make a good pastor!” At the time, I thought that they were crazy, but that repeated phrase became the mantra that gave me the strength and courage to move forward.

How about you? What has God been speaking to you about? What has he been continually encouraging you to do? How is he doing it? Through your prayers? Through other people in your life? Has he given you some word or phrase to help you face your fears and move into the future?

2.) God gives us strength and courage through his Word (7-8)

In verses 7-8 God tells Joshua to be careful to obey the law that Moses gave to Israel. As long as he followed God’s word, he would be successful no matter what he did. If he kept the Book of the Law on his mind and in his mouth at all the time, he would be prosperous and successful. It is like a simple mathematics equation: Knowledge of God’s Word + Obedience to God’s Word = Prosperity and Success.

Joshua obeyed God’s Word throughout his whole life, and God blessed everything he did. He even obeyed God when it didn’t make sense to him. Apart from God’s command, marching around the city of Jericho was the most ridiculous military maneuver in the history of warfare. But Joshua trusted God and kept his command, and the walls came tumbling down. God’s Word gave Joshua the strength and courage he needed to lead the people into the Promised Land.

The same thing is true for us today. When we know God’s Word, we know what he wants us to do. And when we obey God’s word, we do what he wants us to do. Then he blesses us with success and prosperity.

Just as it did for Joshua, God’s Word gives us strength and courage to overcome our fears. His Word sustains us in times of doubt and despair. His Word gives us wisdom and guidance to make good decisions. His Word empowers us in the midst of an uncertain future.

How well do you know God’s Word? Are you meditating on it day and night? How well are you obeying God’s Word? Are you following it right down the middle? God gives us strength and courage through his Word!

3.) God gives us strength and courage through his presence (5, 9-11, 17)

The third way that God gives people strength and courage is through his presence. The three promises of God’s presence in Joshua 1 are also recapitulations of Deuteronomy 31, showing that God repeated various forms of the phrase many times. In verses 5 and 17 there is a direct comparison to God’s presence with Moses, which is quite profound if we remember the burning bush, the pillar of cloud and fire, the Ten Commandments. This assurance of God’s presence greatly increased Joshua’s strength and courage.

God’s promise of his presence in verse 11 is very interesting. The words “the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” sound very much like Jesus’ promise to his disciples right before he ascended to heaven, “And I will be with you to the very end of the age.”

We too can be strong and courageous because God is with us. As God’s presence was with Moses and Joshua, his presence is always with us no matter where we go or what we do. So, whether your fears have to do with your family, finances, or some sort of failure, know that God is with you. Whether your fears are driven by changes, transitions, or just the unknown, know that the omnipresent God of the universe is with you at all times.

As I said, Joshua was filled with fear as he encountered the biggest transition of his life. But through God’s constant encouragement, God’s Word, and God’s presence, Joshua became one of the strongest and most courageous leaders not only in the history of Israel, but in the history of the world! I hope we will follow in Joshua’s footsteps! Be strong and courageous!

Many years ago in a land far away, the Israelites were slaves to the Egyptians. For 400 years Pharaoh brutalized the Israelites and forced them to make bricks and build the great storehouses of Egypt. When Moses came along, a new hope dawned. They wondered if he would be the chosen one who would deliver them from slavery. But after he murdered an Egyptian, he was forced into exile in the Midian desert for 40 years, and the people continued to suffer.

After Moses received special training with his shepherd’s staff, he returned to Egypt, confronted Pharaoh, and set the Israelites free. Moses led them through the Red Sea, gave them God’s Law at Mount Sinai, and led their march to the Promised Land. But the Israelites continued to complain against Moses and God, so they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.

At the end of this 40 years, they headed north toward the Promised Land. They had to travel through the territory that was inhabited by the Amorites. Moses politely asked King Sihon for passage through his land, but he refused and advanced his army against the Israelites. Under the leadership of Joshua, the Israelites made quick work of the Amorites and took over their land.

After this, the Israelites continued toward Bashan, a fertile territory famous for its oak trees and cattle. Like King Sihon, King Og of Bashan sent his army against the Israelites and they encountered the same fate. From there, the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan River across from the city of Jericho.

Now that the stage is set for today’s story, let me introduce you to our cast of characters!

Balak: King of Moab (1-4)

Introducing first, Balak! Other than being the son of Zippor and the King of Moab, we don’t know much about him. The Moabites were descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot. They settled the land on the east side of the Jordan River and worshipped many pagan gods, but their chief god was Chemosh, to who on occasion they would even present human sacrifices.

Balak was terrified by the Israelites! He knew that a people of this size (some estimate over 2 million people) would consume his pasturelands. He compared the horde of Israelites to an ox that licks up the grass of the field. He had also heard about what the Israelites did to the Amorites and the people of Bashon. The thought of them being camped at his back door made him sick to his stomach.

Balak was smart! He knew that the Israelites were too numerous and too strong to attack with militarily, so he decided to attack them spiritually. He gathered a group of Moabite and Midianite elders, gave them with a large sum of money, and commanded them to travel 400 miles to the banks of the Euphrates River and summon the services of a great soothsayer.

Balaam: The Soothsayer of Pethor (5-20)

This leads us to the next character in our story: Balamm, son of Beor, a soothsayer and sorcerer of international renown. People probably called him the “The Powerful Prophet of Pethor”, the “The Marvelous Medium of Mesopotamia”, or “The Diabolical Diviner from Down Under!” He practiced all sorts of divination and magic arts, including the observation of natural phenomenon to determine the will of the gods, the interpretation of visions, dreams, and animal behavior, and most famously, the ability to pronounce blessings and curses that came to pass.

When the elders of Moab and Midian arrived at Pethor, they gave Balaam the letter from Balak requesting his services to put a curse on this people who had come up from the land of Egypt. Balak believed that Balaam’s powerful curses would allow him to conquer the Israelites. He knew that a spiritual attack would give him a better chance than a physical advance.

Balaam was intrigued by this request, but he was even more intrigued by the large money bags in the hands of the elders (Balaam was greedy and usually contracted his services to the highest bidder). But before he jumped in head first, he wanted to test the spiritual waters. He invited the elders to stay the night while he sought the will of God.

As a diviner, he was used to speaking to the gods. He believed that the God of the Israelites was just like any other deity that he could manipulate. But God gave him a clear message to stay away from Moab. So, he refused to go with the elders.

When the elders reported this to Balak, he got more distinguished representatives and an even greater sum of money to entice Balaam. On the surface, Balaam still refused Balak’s offer, saying that no sum of money could get him to go against the command of the Lord, but when he woke up the next morning, he told the representatives that God gave him permission to go. I think the best way to understand verse 20 is that Balaam was lying. I think he saw an opportunity to manipulate God and Balak at the same time. So, he decided to go to Moab!

Balaam’s Unnamed Donkey (21-30)

That brings us to the third and most surprising character of our story: Balaam’s donkey. Apparently Balaam had owned this donkey for a long time and she had become his trusty companion on countless journeys. The next morning he saddled his donkey and headed west.

The Lord was angry with Balaam for going to Moab. So, he placed his angel in the middle of the road with sword in hand to oppose him. Balaam was blind to the angel, but the donkey saw it very clearly and veered off the road and into a field. Balaam began to beat her.

As they continued along, they came to a narrow path with vineyards and rock walls on both sides of the road. The donkey saw the angel again and pressed up close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against the rock. He was so angry with her that he began to beat her again.

Then the angel stood on a narrow pass and there was no place to turn around. This time, the donkey just lay down in the middle of the road and refused to go any further. Balaam was so furious with her this time that he beat her with his staff.

Please do not miss the divine irony in this scene! Donkeys were famous for their stupidity, yet this foolish beast saw the angel standing on the road. Balaam was a famous soothsayer who was internationally known for his insight into spiritual matters, and yet, he did not see the spiritual reality of the living God standing before him. Moreover, Balaam was an expert at interpreting the behavior of animals, but he couldn’t figure out why his dumb donkey wasn’t cooperating.

Well, that brings us to the best part of the story. Notice what it says in verse 28, “The Lord opened the donkey’s mouth.” God performed a miracle and enabled the animal to speak in a clear intelligible language. What did the donkey say? She said, “Balaam, raise your staff again, and I’ll beat your …” Just kidding! He said, “Hit me again and I’ll call PETA.” No, the donkey simply asked Balaam why he beat her three times and pointed out the fact that she had always been faithful to him. He was humiliated by the whole event.

Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes and he saw the angel standing there with his sword drawn, and his humiliation turned into humility. He bowed low and fell facedown, confessed his sin, and showed a willingness to turn back. But the angel told him to go on with the princes of Moab, but he warned him to only speak what the Lord told him to speak.

Yahweh: The Lord God of Israel (31-41)

Even though we have already encountered the fourth character in the story, allow me to introduce you to him anyway. He is Yahweh, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, the Sovereign Living Lord God of Israel. He is the one who orchestrated all of these events to display his power over all other powers and to show his faithfulness to his people by blessing them and leading them into the Promised Land.

I don’t have time to give you a detailed account of Numbers 23-24, but let me summarize how God ironically used this wicked warlock to accomplish his purposes. When Balaam finally got to Moab, Balak took him up onto a series of mountaintops where he could see the Israelite encampments and told him to pronounce curses on his enemies. But every time Balaam spoke, God put his message in his mouth and he blessed the Israelites instead of cursing them.

The high point of Balaam’s blessings came in Numbers 24:17 when God actually used this manipulative magician to utter a messianic prophecy: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.” This messiah will conquer all the enemies of God’s people in the last days.

After God turned the tables on Balak and used the sorcerer Balaam to pronounce blessings instead of curses upon his people, Balaam showed the true nature of his character by giving Balak some evil advice. He told him that even if he couldn’t overcome the Israelites through military might or diabolical divination, there was still another way: sexual seduction. He told Balak to send the prettiest girls of Moab to the Israelite camp to seduce the men into committing sexual immorality and idolatry.

The best way to break the blessing God’s people was to get them to commit idolatry. It is the old strategy: If you can’t beat them, try to make them beat themselves. God eventually held Balaam responsible for his sin. In Numbers 31:8, we learn that the Israelites killed Balaam in during the Midianite raid.

Well, now that you have heard the tale of Balaam and the talking donkey, I would like to highlight a few lessons that we can take away from the story.

1.) The Temptation toward Witchcraft

Like Balak, when many people (including Christians) get in a bind today, they are tempted to turn to witchcraft. I’m not just talking about overt forms of witchcraft like Satanism, Wicca, and Voodoo; I am talking about all forms like black magic, psychic healing, mediums, fortune telling, séances, Reiki, dowsing, Ouija boards, ghost hunting, and some forms of yoga.

Some of us ask the question “Does anyone really participate in these things?” Others ask, “Are these things really dangerous?” The answer is a resounding “Yes” to both questions. These practices can open people up to real demonic forces.

Many people get involved in these things out of mere curiosity. Others get involved to solve some problem in their life. They may seem outrageous to you now, but if you have a disease that the doctors can’t diagnose or you have a missing child, is easy to be tempted. If you ever find yourself tempted toward any form of witchcraft, run the other way!

2.) God’s Sovereignty

In this story, God shows his sovereignty over the physical and spiritual world. He shows his power over the physical word by causing a dumb donkey to speak a human language. He shows his power over the spiritual world by allowing the donkey to see the angel and causing Balaam to bless the Israelites.

God foiled Balak and Balaam’s attempts toward evil and used them for good. God protected the Israelites from a threat that they didn’t even know about. He does the same thing for us all the time. He protects us from harms we can’t see and he even uses evil to advance his purposes and accomplish his plans in our lives!

Also, just as God used this dumb donkey to humiliate powerful prophet, he is still in the business of using the foolish things of the world to humble the wise. He still uses the weak things to baffle the strong. So, just in case you think you have occasion to act proud or strong or independent, be careful! God just might make a donkey out of you!

3.) God’s Faithfulness

Finally, this story shows us how God was faithful to his people. He made a covenant with Abraham that he would multiply his people and give them the Promised Land. God was now making good on his promise in spite of this threat from Balak and Balaam.

God still keeps his promises today. Indeed, Jesus will return one day and defeat all of the enemies of God’s people once and for all. So, let’s thank God for his faithfulness to us by being faithful to him!

Have you ever heard of the medical condition called “arteriosclerosis?” It is a form of coronary heart disease that refers to the hardening of the artery walls throughout the body. Arteries are blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients from your heart to the rest of your body. Healthy arteries are flexible, strong, and elastic.

Over time, however, too much pressure in the arteries can make the walls thick and stiff, restricting blood flow to your organs and tissues. If it is untreated, it can lead to a heart attack! The American Heart Association estimates that twice as many people die from arteriosclerotic disease as from all cancers combined!

Did you know that there is a comparable spiritual coronary disease that affects the human heart? I don’t have any precise figures on how many Americans have it, but I know it is a lot. This disease is known by a number of technical terms including “stubbornness, obstinacy, selfishness, pride, self-centeredness, arrogance, self-conceit.” It is basically the hardening of the heart. If this condition is not treated, it leads to broken relationships, a broken relationship with God, and ultimately spiritual death!

Many people in the Bible suffered from this spiritual disease, but the clearest case we know about is with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. When Moses and Aaron confronted him about freeing the Israelites from slavery, he refused to listen. He hardened his heart toward Moses and God, and it eventually led to his spiritual and physical death!

As we look at Pharaoh’s life today, I hope that it will serve as a check-up for the hardness of our own hearts!

Pharaoh’s Ego: A King and a god

It isn’t surprising that Pharaoh had this spiritual heart disease. His position made him predisposed to the condition. Pharaoh was the most powerful person in ancient Egypt. The title “Pharaoh” literally meant “the great house” and was given to the hereditary line of Egyptian kings. The pharaoh was the political and religious leader of the Egyptian people, holding the titles: ‘Lord of the Two Lands’ which meant that he ruled Upper and Lower Egypt. He owned all of the land, made laws, collected taxes, and defended Egypt against foreigners. His other title, ‘High Priest of Every Temple’, meant that Pharaoh represented the gods on Earth. He performed rituals and built temples to honor the gods.

Since Pharaoh had absolute power in Egypt, he was used to getting his own way. No one told Pharaoh what to do. That is why he ignored Moses’ commands to let the Israelites go. He was going to do what he wanted when he wanted, and he wasn’t about to give up the Israelites who had been their slaves for 400 years. His pride and arrogance made him susceptible to the hardening of his heart!

Pharaoh’s biggest problem was that he believed his own hype. He actually believed that he was a god! He actually believed that he was in control of his life. He actually believed that he was the sovereign ruler of his nation and his people! His ego and selfishness blinded him to God’s truth.

Many people struggle with this same spiritual disease today. Now I don’t know very many people that have the audacity to call themselves a god, but they tend to believe their own hype. They think that they are actually in control of their lives. They are so selfish that they act like their desires are the only ones that count!

How about you? Do you have a Pharaoh-sized ego? Do you actually believe that you are in control of your life? When you make decisions, do you think about how they will affect others? When we have a God-complex, God has a way of reminding us that he is the only one in charge!

Pharaoh Hardens His Heart (7:13, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34)

When Moses and Aaron first went to Pharaoh in Exodus 7, they displayed the Lord’s miraculous power when Aaron threw his staff on the ground and it transformed into a snake. In this famous episode, Pharaoh’s sorcerers did the same thing by their secret arts, but Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. And in Exodus 7:13, it says that Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them.

Since Pharaoh hardened his heart, God sent adversity on Pharaoh in the form of ten plagues. The purpose of these plagues was to show God’s power over the false gods of Egypt and to compel Pharaoh to free the Israelites. Unfortunately, Pharaoh responded negatively to every one of the plagues. Throughout the first five plagues and the seventh plague, we see the same pattern: Pharaoh is obstinate toward Moses’ warning, God sends the plague, Pharaoh appears to repent and let the Israelites go, and he changes his mind and makes a conscious decision to harden his heart toward God and his representatives.

This pattern is highlighted in the seventh plague, the plague of hail in Exodus 9:13-35. Pharaoh refused to comply with God’s command, so Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky and the Lord sent the most vicious thunder storm in the history of Egypt. Huge balls of ice fell from the sky and killed both men and animals, and it beat down the crops and stripped the trees.

The devastation was so severe that it caused Pharaoh to confess, “This time I have sinned. The Lord is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t have to stay any longer.” (Exodus 9:27-28) But after Moses prayed and the Lord stopped the storm, he sinned again. He and his officials hardened their hearts and would not let the Israelites go. (Exodus 9:34-35)

I doubt if anyone here remembers the early 1980’s rock band Quarterflash. The band only stayed together for a few years and they were really only had one hit on the radio. Even though you probably don’t remember the band, you would recognize their one-hit-wonder “I’m Gonna Harden My Heart.”

Cryin’ on the corner
Waitin’ in the rain
I swear I’ll never ever wait again
You gave me a word
But words for you are lies

Darlin’ in my wildest dreams
I never thought I’d go
But it’s time to let you know
All of my life

I’ve been waitin’ in the rain
I’ve been waitin’ for a feelin’ that never ever came
It feels so close
But always disappears

I’m gonna harden my heart
I’m gonna swallow my tears
I’m gonna turn and leave you here…..

This song is about a woman leaving her man and staying bitter toward him.

Unfortunately, it describes decisions that many people make in their lives every day. Somebody hurts them with their words or actions, and they respond with anger, stubbornness, and bitterness. And instead of working through the problem, they break off the relationship and harden their heart toward them.

What is even more unfortunate than this is that many people do the same thing to God! When something bad happens to them or their prayer doesn’t get answered the way they want, they become frustrated with God and withdraw from him. When life doesn’t turn out the way they want, they become very self-centered, cut off relationship with God and harden their hearts toward him.

Pharaoh represents the pattern that many people fall into today. They refuse to listen to God or obey him. They pretend like he doesn’t exist and don’t take his word seriously. Then God sends one or more of his servants to speak his word to them. But their pride and selfishness causes them to dismiss it. Then God brings some adversity into their lives to open their ears. They become interested in God for a while, but then they harden their hearts toward him again.

Where are you in this pattern today? Are you listening to God’s word? Are you taking him seriously from the beginning? Is he speaking to you through someone else? Is he using someone to confront you? How are you responding to his truth? Has he brought some adversity into your life to open your ears? How are you responding? Is your heart getting harder or softer?

God Hardens Pharaoh’s Heart (9:12, 10:20, 27; 11:10; 14:8)

Plagues 1-5 and 7 very clearly place the blame on Pharaoh for hardening his heart toward God, but we find a very different and interesting picture in plagues 6, 8, 9, and 10. At the end of each of these plagues, the text says “The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, just like he said.”

We especially see this in the sixth plague, the plague of boils. Moses and Aaron took handfuls of soot from one of the furnaces and tossed it into the air. The Lord spread this dust all over Egypt and it caused festering boils to break out on people and animal throughout the land. Pharaoh’s magicians couldn’t even attempt to duplicate this because the boils affected them so severely. Then in Exodus 9:12, it says, “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses.”

God was very patient with Pharaoh and gave him plenty of opportunities to repent, and in the end, God simply gave him what he already wanted. Pharaoh was stubborn and hardened his own heart, so God went ahead and hardened his heart for him. Despite the evidence of the signs and miracles, he persisted in defying God. So, basically, God seconds Pharaoh’s motion to harden his heart.

This phrase raises the question for us, “Who is responsible for Pharaoh’s hard heart, Pharaoh or God?” If God is the one who hardened Pharaoh’s heart, how can he hold Pharaoh responsible for his actions? This question gets at the heart of the theological paradox between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will.

God’s sovereignty always trumps man’s free will. If God wants anyone to do anything, he has the power to make them do it. If God wanted Pharaoh to repent, he would have. But God chose to harden Pharaoh’s heart to display his great glory. Pharaoh’s persistence allowed God to show his power over the Egyptian gods and prove that he is all-powerful.

Martin Luther explained the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will this way, “If God did not bless, not one hair, not a solitary wisp of straw, would grow; but there would be an end of everything. At the same time God wants me to take this stance: I would have nothing if I did not plow and sow. God does not want to have success come without work, and yet I am not to achieve it by my work. He does not want me to sit at home, to loaf, to commit matters to God, and to wait till a fried chicken flies into my mouth. That would be tempting God.”

This should cause us great concern and give us great comfort at the same time. On one hand, God holds us morally responsible for every decision we make, including every sin. On the other hand, he has the power to bring good even out of our poor and sinful decisions.

The character of Pharaoh and the story of the 10 plagues on Egypt should cause us to take a look at our own hearts today. Have you been hardening your heart toward some person in your life? Have you been hardening your heart against God for some reason?

The only remedy for a hard heart is grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. He suffered and died on the cross for our hard hearts. Jesus wants to give us a heart transplant. When we repent from our sins, he replaces our hard and sinful hearts with his own heart!

Are you in need of a heart transplant today? The good news is that we don’t have to wait for a donor. He is ready to give us a new heart today! Will you accept his offer?

“So I have a younger brother and he’s super cool- he has awesome grades, and is a great athlete. Everyone always brags that he’s going to be the next Michael Jordan or whatever. However, nobody remembers me, or at least it doesn’t seem like it. I hated all the people from my high school, but it still hurts that I wasn’t really that popular at school. If someone did know me, it was because I helped them with their homework or I helped maintain the rules at school, or I was a good student who did everything the teacher would say- a teacher’s pet. By the time I got to be a senior at the school (my brother was a freshman), people were asking me already if I was related to my brother instead of if my brother was related to me.”This is part of a letter written by a college freshman!

Some of us know what it is like growing up in the shadow of an older sibling, but can you imagine what it would be like growing up in the shadow of a younger sibling? That is exactly what life was like for Aaron. He was Moses’ older brother. While Moses is one of the leading candidates to receive the award for “Best Lead Role in Biblical History”, Aaron couldn’t even scrounge up enough votes for “Best Supporting Role.”

When we hear the name Moses, we immediately think of the incredible encounter with the burning bush, the spectacular parting of the Red Sea, and the dramatic declaration of the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments). When we hear the name Aaron, we scratch our heads and say, “Uh, I know he did something in the Bible, but I can’t remember what it was!”

Well, today I would like for us to learn something about the life Aaron and something from the life of Aaron!

Aaron’s Golden Tongue (Exodus 4:14-17; 6:28-7:13)

When Moses received his calling from the Lord to lead the Israelites out of slavery, he protested on the basis that he had a speech impediment and was a poor public speaker. He said, “I am slow of speech and tongue.” He was afraid that Pharaoh would not listen to him, so he asked God to send someone else to do it.

God is never impressed with excuses and he wasn’t going to let Moses off the hook. He said to Moses, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? He is a gifted speaker! I have given him a golden tongue! And he is already on his way here to meet you. You will tell him what to say, and he will speak the words. I will help both of you!”

So, God used the golden tongued Aaron to become Moses’ mouthpiece, and the two of them confronted Pharaoh together. Aaron commanded Pharaoh to free the Israelites, but God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he did not listen to him. When Pharaoh challenged them to perform a miracle, Aaron threw his staff on the ground and it turned into a snake. His staff ate up the staffs of the Egyptian sorcerers. God also used Aaron to announce and execute the first three plagues on Egypt.

Aaron’s golden tongue reminds us how God gives people special talents and abilities to use for his glory. When we think about the Exodus story, who is the main character that comes to mind? Moses! But think about where Moses would have been without Aaron? Sure, Moses had the gifts of discernment and leadership, but Aaron had the gift of public speech! Moses couldn’t have accomplished what he did without Aaron.

This is the way it is in God’s church today. Nobody is talented in every area, but everyone is talented in some area. Like Moses and Aaron, God gives each of us a special ability to serve him. Our different gifts and roles are designed to complement each other.

What gifts and abilities has God given you? Discernment and leadership like Moses? Public speaking like Aaron? Teaching? Cooking? Listening? Building? Aaron used his talent of public speaking to glorify God and advance his plan, how about you?

Aaron and Hur Support Moses’ Hands (Exodus 17:8-15)

In Exodus 17, there is another episode that gives us a glimpse of the significance of Aaron’s life and ministry. As the Israelites continued their journey out of Egypt, they crossed the Desert of Sin and camped in the region of Rephidim. There they were attacked by the Amalekites, a godless tribe that descended from Esau.

Moses told Joshua, his aid, to gather up some men and fight against the Amalekites. He told him, “Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.” As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. After a while, Moses arms got so tired that he couldn’t hold them up any longer, but Aaron and another man named Hur came along and held Moses’ arms up for him. They did this the whole way until sunset, until Joshua and the Israelites won the battle.

This episode shows us that supporting ministry roles are just as important as leadership roles. Aaron was not called to be Israel’s leader, Moses was! Aaron was not called to be the general of Israel’s army, Joshua was. But God called Aaron to support these men. Moses and Joshua would have failed if it hadn’t been for Aaron and Hur. You wouldn’t think that holding up someone’s arms would be a very important ministry, but if they hadn’t played their part, the Israelites would have been wiped out.

I learned this same lesson when I was in college preparing for the ministry. I attended Parkview Presbyterian Church in Oak Park, IL, the first suburb west of Chicago. It was a small struggling church, but our pastor, Dr. Hassell Bullock, preached the gospel faithfully. About the same time I started attending Parkview, a group of students from Moody Bible Institute and Wheaton College started attending too. Over the next few years, the church became fruitful again. Every time I see Dr. Bullock, he tells me, “You were like Aaron and Hur holding up my arms in the desert. I wouldn’t have survived if it hadn’t been for your support!”

Pastor Vawn and I have been called to lead this church community, but we could not do what we do if you didn’t do what you do. Whether you are in a leadership role or supporting role, I want to thank all of you for your faithful service to the Lord. As we continue to work together (some holding up the staff, others holding up the arms) we will win the battle against sin and the devil!

Aaron’s Golden Calf (Exodus 32:1-6)

Well, so far Aaron has been cast in a positive light, but we begin to see some weakness in his character in Exodus 32. After the Israelites left the region of Rephidim, they entered the Sinai desert and camped at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Moses went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets with the law and commandments on it and he stayed there for forty days and forty nights.

People always grow fearful when their leader isn’t visible, and even though God performed many miracles through Moses, the Israelites’ patients grew thin with him. Their faith was still weak and many of them wished that they were still slaves. They gathered around Aaron and put pressure on him by saying, “Come, make us gods like we worshipped in Egypt! As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what happened to him.”

Aaron was forced to make a difficult decision. Would he persevere through the pressure and remain faithful to God and his brother Moses? Or would he succumb to the pressure, turn his back on the one true God, and do what the people wanted?

Well, Aaron fell hard! He told them to give him all of their gold earrings and he melted them down and fashioned it into a golden calf. The people had the audacity of crediting the calf with leading them out of Egypt.

When Aaron saw that the people were pleased with the calf, he built an altar in front of the calf and declared that tomorrow would be a day of partying. So, the people worshipped the sacred cow by sacrificing burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. They celebrated their idolatry by feasting on the manna that God had provided and they indulged themselves in such drunken decadence and sexual perversion that it made Woodstock look like a birthday party.

We are put in similar positions all the time. There will always be people who put pressure on us to do what is evil in God’s sight. They want to drag us down to the pit of sin and give us all sorts of reasons why it is OK.

Like Aaron, sometimes this pressure comes from unlikely people. It is hard to imagine that the Israelites, who just experienced all of these miracles and were delivered by God, would so quickly turn their backs on him and put pressure on Aaron to do the same. Has a fellow Christian ever pressured you to do something wrong? Has your spouse ever pressured you to put them or something else before God? How about one of your parents, children, a sibling, a coworker, a classmate, a boyfriend, a girlfriend!

The question for us is: What will you do? Will you stand firm under to the pressure or will you cave into the pressure? Will you please God or will you please the people?

Aaron’s Excuses and Moses’ Intercession (Exodus 32:7-35)

While Aaron and the Israelites were indulging in revelry, Moses was still on the mountain receiving the tablets from the Lord. He told Moses all about the golden calf and the people’s corruption and threatened to destroy them. But Moses interceded for them and begged not to spare their lives. In one of the most interesting conversations in the Bible, Moses reminded God of the covenant he made with their forefathers and persuaded him to spare their lives.

When Moses and Joshua descended the mountain, they heard the people singing and saw them dancing around the calf. Moses became so angry that he took the stone tablets which God wrote with his own finger, and he hurled them at the people and they broke into pieces. Then he took the calf, burned it, ground it into powder, scattered it in the water, and made the people drink it.

When Moses confronted Aaron about his sin, Aaron shifted the blame onto the people by saying, “You know how prone these people are to evil” (22) and made ridiculous excuses for his actions by saying “Then they gave me their gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” (24)

The next day Moses went back to the Lord and made intercession once again. He forced the people to reckon with their sin and confessed their sin to God and begged him to forgive them.

This episode teaches us two lessons: the outrageous nature of excuses and the importance of intercession. We have all followed Aaron into the arena of excuses. When we are confronted with our sinful attitudes and actions, our natural instinct is to abrogate our personal responsibility with ridiculous reasons. We justify our own behavior by shifting the blame to others. The fact is that there is never a good excuse for our sin, and the faster we own up to it, the faster it can be forgiven.

Also, if Moses hadn’t interceded for the people, God would have destroyed them. If Moses hadn’t confessed their sin for them and try to make atonement, it would have been the end of them. Even though God did send a plague to punish them for their sin, he did not pour out the fullness of his fury.

This should evoke feelings of gratitude in our own hearts today. You see, we have an even better mediator than Moses. Jesus Christ died on the cross to satisfy God’s anger and grant us forgiveness for our sins. Jesus paid the ultimate price for us so that can receive full atonement.

Like Aaron, we have all sinned! Like Aaron, we are all guilty of caving into the pressure! Like Aaron, we all guilty of moral lapses! Like Aaron, we are all guilty of worshipping something visible over the invisible God! Like Aaron, we are all guilty of pleasing people over pleasing the Lord! But thank God, Jesus has interceded for us!

Well, I know that Aaron will never live up to the legacy of his younger brother, but I hope that you have not only learned something about him; I hope that you have learned something from him today!

Today I would like to share something with you that I have never shared with you before. It’s about my own life and it is a little awkward to talk about. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I discovered that the parents that raised me were not my real biological parents. I grew up thinking that I was someone, only to find out that I was someone else. You can imagine the shock and confusion I felt when I also discovered that I had an older brother and sister that I never knew about.

By the time I found out about all of this, my real parents had already passed away, but at least I was able to find out about them. I learned that they were both brick makers. They worked very hard every day, but their boss treated poorly and they never made very much money. When I came along, my parents already had my older brother and sister, and they never knew if there would be enough food to feed their family. It was a difficult time for everyone, but they continued to pray to God day after day.

Even though my parents were poor, they loved our all of us very much. I guess that’s why my mother cried so much. You see, not long after I was born, they thought I was going to die. My mother had to keep me in seclusion for the first three months of my life, and every time she nursed me, her tears rolled off her cheeks and dripped onto mine. She never knew if this was going to be the day she would lose me, but she constantly prayed that God would spare my life.

I don’t know if we ever fully understand why things happen in our lives the way they do—my mother certainly didn’t understand why this was happening to me. But the fact that I lived showed her that God had a special plan for my life! Even though she didn’t raise me, she always wondered how God was going to use me!

You must understand, when I was born, I didn’t have any disease or deformity. What threatened my life was a great act of cruelty. It didn’t only threaten my life; it threatened and took the lives of all the newborn boys in the land of Goshen. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, saw that my people, the Hebrew people, had become quite numerous. He was afraid that if war broke, we would join with Egypt’s enemies and overpower them. He didn’t want to lose his slave labor which made the bricks and built the great storehouses of Egypt.

So, to fix this population problem, he dealt with our people shrewdly and commanded our midwives to kill all the newborn boys. But they feared God more than Pharaoh and they refused to participate in this genocide. Then Pharaoh ordered that every boy must be thrown into the Nile River. In this way, thousands of little Hebrew boys were snatched from their mother’s arms and drowned to death. To this very day, our whole nation still mourns this tragedy in our history!

God Saves Moses at Birth (1:1-2:10)

This is why my mother kept me in seclusion for three months. She protected me as long as she could, but when she realized that she couldn’t keep me hidden any longer, she left me to the mercy of the Nile. Instead of casting me into the water to drown, she made me a little boat out of a papyrus basket and set me adrift down the river. My older sister Miriam was so heartbroken that she walked along the bank of the river to see what would happen to her beloved baby brother, and I am so glad she did.

With a stroke of divine providence, my basket boat got caught in the reeds. Now it just happened that Pharaoh’s daughter, the princess of Egypt, had gone to that area of the river to bathe that day. And it just happened that she saw my basket floating on the water. And when she opened it and saw me inside, even though I was a Hebrew baby, she felt sorry for me. As she was figuring out what to do with me, my sister appeared and asked her if she wanted her to get one of the Hebrew women to nurse him for her. And when she said yes, the most ironic thing of all happened. Pharaoh’s daughter actually paid my biological mother to nurse and take care of me. The princess named me Moses, which means “I drew him out of the water.”

Even though my biological mother nursed me for the first few years of my life, I have no memory of her. When I got a little older, I went to live in Pharaoh’s house and was raised by the princess. I grew up with all of the privileges of a prince of Egypt. For all those years, I had no idea that my true identity had been hidden.

When I finally found out who I was and heard the story of how my life had been spared, somehow I knew that it was the God of my ancestors who orchestrated these events. I knew that he delivered me from death because he had a special purpose for my life.

This is true of you also! God is always working behind the scenes of your life. He is always orchestrating the events of your life to accomplish his special purposes. You may not understand why things have happened the way they have, but someday you will. I didn’t understand why I was born to Hebrew slaves but was raised by Egyptian royalty until I was 80 years old. When God finally revealed his ultimate plan for my life, everything made perfect sense.

I think we all have questions about our lives! Why was I born where and when I was? Why did God give me the family he gave me? Why have I experienced the trials that I have? One day, you too will understand! But until that day comes, keep trusting the Lord.

Moses Flees to Midian (2:11-25)

When I found out that I was actually a Hebrew, I finally met my sister Miriam and my brother Aaron. As I started spending time with my people and I became more and more disturbed by the way the Egyptians treated them. My people were forced to work the fields of Egypt. Their bodies were broken from carrying bricks and their backs were bludgeoned by the slave master’s whips. A sense of injustice that was bubbling in my heart and it ran over one day when I saw an Egyptian brutally beating one of my people. After I looked around and saw no one, I took justice into my own hands and killed the Egyptian. I knew it was wrong, but my anger overtook me!

I covered up the murder by burying the man’s body in the sand. I thought that no one else knew about it, until the next day when I broke up a fight between two Hebrews. With all of the abuse they received from the slave masters, I couldn’t understand why these two were fighting. When I asked the one who was in the wrong, I was shocked by his response when he said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” I got scared when I realized that my crime was known.

When Pharaoh found out what happened, he got scared too. He wasn’t overly concerned about the man I killed, but he was concerned about my growing sympathy for the Hebrews. Now that I knew my true identity, he knew that I was a threat to his regime of oppression, so he tried to kill me. Just like when I was three months old, my life was no longer safe in Egypt. So, I fled across the desert to Midian.

When I arrived in Midian I found shelter under the tents of a priest named Reuel. I married his daughter Zipporah and she bore my firstborn son Gershom. Now don’t misunderstand me, my father-in-law was a good man, he treated me kindly and gave me his daughter, but as it is with most father-in-laws, he wanted something in return. So, I became his chief shepherd and tended his sheep for the next forty years.

The pastures of Midian were a lot different than the palaces of Egypt. My first forty years were spent in royalty; my second forty years were spent as a refugee. As I tended the flocks day after day and year after year, I began to wonder about God’s plan for my life again. Did God save me from the mouth of the Nile just to tend sheep in the desert? My life wasn’t turning out like I had planned or hoped!

Has that ever happened to you? Do you ever feel like your life isn’t turning out like you planned or hoped? Have you ever fallen from the peak to the pit? Have you ever been kicked from the palace to the pasture? It is a humbling experience, but sometimes that is exactly what we need!

I didn’t know it at the time but the Lord was using these years to prepare me for his ultimate purpose. Back then, I had no idea that he was planning to use me to confront Pharaoh and deliver the Hebrew people from slavery, but he used forty years of learning how to lead sheep to teach me how to lead people. The best place in the world to get an MPA (Masters of People Administration) is at Shepherd University.

The Lord may be doing the same thing in your life! He may be using your past mistakes or your present struggles to prepare you for his future purposes!

Moses and the Burning Bush (3:1-22)

On one very average day, I was out tending the flocks on the back side of the desert at the foot of Mt. Horeb. As I looked up at its tall and jagged face, I saw something very strange. There was a bush on fire, and yet, it did not burn up. Ordinarily, I never would have climbed that dangerous mountain, but I was so intrigued that I started up. When I got to the top and stepped forward to look at this sight, the voice of the Lord called out to me from the bush and said, “Moses! Moses! Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” I turned my head because I was afraid to look at God.

Then he told me that he saw the misery of his people and heard their cries. He assured me that he was concerned about their suffering and that he had a plan to bring about their deliverance. Then he gave me the biggest surprise of my life. He said, “I am sending you to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

I was overwhelmed and confused! I immediately protested, saying, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and deliver the Israelites. Don’t you know who I am? Don’t you know about my past? I’m a murderer! Don’t you know what I am now? I’m a simple shepherd, not an eloquent spokesman! Don’t you know that I have a speech impediment? Pharaoh will laugh at me. You can’t use someone like me! Surely there must be someone more qualified than me!”

But God said to me, “Don’t you know who I am? I am who I am! Don’t you know about my past? I am the God of your Father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! Don’t you know that I made a covenant with them long ago? Don’t you know that I promised that I would always be with them and bless them and give them the Promised Land? I intend to keep my promise and I will use you to do it!” At that moment, I understood why all of the events in my life happened the way they did. I was 80 years old and God finally revealed his ultimate purpose for my life!

I learned something about God that day! I learned that he really is all-powerful. If he can use stuttering murderer to deliver a whole people from slavery, he can do anything! Maybe you look at your past sins, present disabilities, or even your age and think, “God could never use me.” Well, I am living proof that he can!

Moses Delivers a Nation (4-15)

Well, God kept his promise! It wasn’t easy, but he used me to free my people from slavery. Pharaoh didn’t listen to me at first, but God wore him down with a series of ten plagues. And they were bad ones too—frogs, gnats, flies, locusts, etc. But it was the plague of the firstborn son that finally made him listen. I told Pharaoh that if he didn’t let my people go, the spirit of death would come upon Egypt and all the firstborn sons would die. I guess it was a little divine retribution for what Pharaoh did to the Hebrew boys years before.

So, I led our people through the Red Sea and to the brink of the Promised Land. God also used me to deliver his Ten Commandments, establish his laws, and to this day I still serve as judge over the people. It is amazing to think about how God can transform someone from a common criminal into a community leader—a murderer into a minister!

Now that I am old and think back over my life, I see that God was with me from the beginning. I now understand why I was spared from the Nile, raised by Egyptian parents, and spent forty years as a lowly shepherd. Even though I didn’t understand any of it at the time, he orchestrated all of the events of my life perfectly. You may not understand the events of your life now, but someday you will!

As my own day of death now draws near, there is still one question that I have. God used me to deliver his people from slavery, but I wonder if he will ever raise up other unlikely person to deliver his people from slavery to sin? I bet he will!

Have you ever wondered why bad things happen to good people? Why do healthy people get cancer? Why do responsible people have financial problems? Why do hard working people get robbed and nice families get killed by drunk drivers? Why do Christians get persecuted for their faith? Why do some people suffer for doing the right thing while others prosper for doing the wrong thing? Well, if you have ever pondered these questions, the story of Joseph is for you!

Joseph: Daddy’s Favorite (Genesis 37:1-11)

Even if parents aren’t willing to admit it, they usually have a favorite child, and Joseph was definitely Jacob’s favorite son. Since Joseph was the first child of his favorite wife Rachel, he was his daddy’s favorite son, and everyone knew it. Most parents at least try to hide their favoritism, but not Jacob. He gave Joseph preferential treatment and he didn’t care what anyone thought about it. On one occasion, Jacob made Joseph a beautifully ornamented robe as a sign of his preference. What did he make for his other sons? Absolutely nothing!

Jacob’s favoritism for Joseph made his brothers and their mothers despise him. And Joseph’s behavior certainly didn’t help matters. He grew up as a spoiled little brat. He flaunted his beautiful robe and had a reputation as a tattle-tale. Every time his brothers did something wrong, Joseph went and told daddy what they did.

Joseph was also a dreamer. He had dreams that he would one day rule over his whole family, but instead of keeping his dreams to himself, he shared them with everyone else. In one of the dreams, they all had sheaves of wheat, and the sheaves of the ten older brothers gathered around that of Joseph and they all bowed down to it. In another dream, the sun, moon, and stars bowed down to him. This offended even Jacob, because it indicated that he (the sun) and Rachel (the moon) would be subservient to Joseph.

Joseph Gets Sold by His Brothers (Genesis 37:12-36)

By the time Joseph turned seventeen, his brothers had had all they could take! And when the opportunity came to teach Joseph a lesson, they pounced on it like a lion. While the brothers were out grazing their father’s flocks, Joseph went looking for them. When they saw him coming, they said, “Look! Here comes that dreamer” and they plotted to kill him, throw him into a dry cistern, and tell their father that he had been devoured by a wild animal.

But thankfully they changed their mind and decided to sell him to a caravan of Midianite merchants—they were on their way to Egypt to sell spices. So, for a measly twenty pieces of silver, they sold their own brother into slavery.

Joseph had his share of flaws, but he certainly didn’t deserve this! He was a spoiled little brat but he didn’t deserve a life of slavery. After all, these were his brothers!

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife (Genesis 39)

Even though this very bad thing happened to Joseph, the Lord was with him. The humiliating experience of being sold into slavery seemed to cure Joseph of any arrogance left in his character. When the Midianites got to Egypt, they sold Joseph to a man named Potiphar, who was one of Pharoah’s wealthy and powerful royal officials. Joseph was a competent and hard worker and the Lord gave him success in whatever he did. Potiphar was impressed with Joseph and realized that the Lord was with him, so was put in charge of Potiphar’s whole household. Joseph was so trustworthy that Potiphar didn’t have to concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Just when everything seemed to be going well for Joseph, disaster came over the horizon again. Joseph was a young heartthrob. Most women took a double take when they passed him, and it wasn’t long before Potiphar’s wife took notice of him. Maybe she was emotionally neglected or maybe she was just a cougar on the prowl, but she began to make sexual advances toward him. But Joseph showed his moral resolve by refusing her pleas. He said, “My master has trusted me with everything he owns; he doesn’t have to concern himself with anything. How could I do this wicked thing against him and sin against my God?”

One day when Joseph showed up to work, the house was mysteriously empty. None of the other servants were there, but Potiphar’s wife suddenly appeared (probably in some slinky Egyptian lingerie), grabbed him by his cloak, and demanded that he sleep with her. He refused and ran out of the house in a panic, leaving his cloak in her hands. She was so enraged that, like Joseph’s brothers, she plotted an evil scheme to destroy him. She called in her husband and accused Joseph of rape. Potiphar burned with anger and put Joseph in prison.

Again, we sympathize with Joseph in this episode. Even though he took the high road, he got hit with a low blow. He did the right thing and suffered for it. Is this the thanks he got for years of hard and noble work? Is this his reward for putting God first in his life? This story makes us ask, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

Joseph in Jail (Genesis 40)

Even though this bad thing happened to Joseph and he now found himself in an Egyptian dungeon, the Lord was still with him! The Lord showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. Joseph again showed such noble character and leadership competence that the warden put him in charge of the whole prison. Can you imagine that? An inmate running the prison! The Lord again gave Joseph success in everything he did!

As time went on, Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer and chief baker landed in Joseph’s prison. We don’t know what they did to offend their master; perhaps the cupbearer dropped a piece of the king’s fine china or maybe the baker burned a loaf of bread. Regardless of what they did, they were assigned to Joseph and they all became friends.

One night, the cupbearer and the baker had strange dreams and when they woke up in the morning they were both distraught. When Joseph asked them what was wrong, they told him that they both had dreams and neither one of them could figure out what they meant. Now it just so happened that Joseph was dreamer too, and God had given him the special ability to interpret dreams.

So, Joseph interpreted their dreams for them. For the cupbearer, he had good news. Joseph told him that within three days Pharaoh would restore him to his position. He asked him to remember his kindness before Pharaoh and help him jet out of prison. For the baker, he had bad news. Joseph told him that in three days Pharaoh was going to hand him from a tree and that the birds would come and eat his flesh. Both of these dreams came true, just as Joseph predicted. Unfortunately, when the cupbearer was restored to his position, he forgot Joseph; so Joseph continued to suffer in prison for two more years!

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dreams (Genesis 41)

As Joseph sat in prison, Pharaoh started having some troubling dreams. Joseph was the only one who could interpret Pharaoh’s dreams because God had given him a this special ability. He told Pharaoh that there was going to be seven years of abundant crops and that this would be followed by seven years of famine. The reason why God had given him this dream now was so he could make preparations for the famine. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders.” In this way, a Hebrew slave came to be second in command over the whole country of Egypt.

Joseph’s Brothers Come to Egypt (Genesis 42-50)

Pharaoh’s dreams came true just as Joseph predicted and Joseph did a wonderful job of storing away food during the time of abundance for the time of famine. The famine affected the whole Middle East, but thanks to Joseph, Egypt was the only country that was prepared for it. Soon people from other countries began to flock to Egypt to find food.

Back in the land of Canaan, Joseph’s father Jacob was running out of food and he was forced to send his sons to Egypt. (Yes, the same sons who sold Joseph into slavery.) When they got to Egypt, Joseph immediately recognized him, but they did not recognize him because he dressed and spoke like an Egyptian. After toying with them for a while to help them acknowledge their guilt, he was gracious to them and gave them grain and spared their lives. Eventually, Joseph’s whole family moved to Egypt and Pharaoh gave them the fertile land of Goshen. The Israelites flourished there and grew into a great nation.

After their father Jacob died, Joseph’s brothers became worried that he would pay them back for what they had done to him. But, Joseph responds with grace and acknowledges God’s providence in his life when he says, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:19-20)

This is one of the clearest statements of God’s divine providence in the whole Bible. Even though it didn’t seem like it to Joseph at the time, God was with him and was orchestrating every event of his life. It wasn’t an accident that he was his father’s favorite son or that he got sold into slavery or that he spent years in prison for a crime that he did not commit or that this Hebrew slave became second in command of the whole country of Egypt.

God allowed all of these things (even the bad things) to happen to him because God had a special mission for his life. God had a larger plan for Joseph that he could not see at the time. Yes, Joseph’s brothers were responsible for their evil actions, but God is in the business of bringing good out of evil!

Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? First, there is a flaw in the question. If we are really honest with ourselves, there aren’t any good people. The Bible tells us that we are all sinners and have fallen short of God’s glory. Bad things happen because we bad people. Suffering is the result of sin. Jacob’s favoritism, Joseph’s arrogance, his brother’s jealousy, Potipher’s wife’s lust, was the cause of his suffering.

But thankfully, there is a second answer to this question. God allows bad things to happen to “good” people because he always accomplishing his plans in the bigger picture of our lives. Like Joseph, we can’t see it in the moment, but God is always transforming human evil into a greater good. Joseph’s brother’s actions were evil and hurtful, but God used that event to get Joseph to the right place at the right time to save the lives of thousands of people. God does the same thing in our lives all the time.

If you are suffering in some way today…if you are the victim of some evil…if you are confused about your life…if you are wondering why you are experiencing so many bad things…know that God is using these things to accomplish a greater good and a bigger purpose in your life.

As I conclude, allow me to share with you the greatest example of God using human failure and evil to accomplish a greater plan. There is only one person who has ever lived a truly good life. His name is Jesus Christ, God’s one and only son. Even though he lived a sinless life, God allowed him to experience horrible things. He was misunderstood, mocked, and mistreated—he was stripped, stretched, and stabbed—he was prodded, pummeled, and pierced—nails were driven through his hands and feet and thorns were pressed into his skull.

Why would God allow his own son to suffer like this? Because he was bringing about the greater good and accomplishing the bigger plan of saving our souls! If God would have kept his son from suffering, where would we be today? We would still be lost in our trespasses and sins—we wouldn’t have any hope of forgiveness or salvation. When I think about it like this, I am so thankful that bad things happen to good people! How about you?

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Jacob “He Deceives” (Gen. 25:19-26)

Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah. For twenty years they tried to have children, but they were unsuccessful. But Isaac prayed fervently and faithfully to God and when he was sixty years old, Rebekah conceived and gave birth to not only one son, but two. Now anyone who has ever had twin boys would expect to see some knock down drag-it-out fights through the years, but these boys started going at it when they were in the womb. The pain from this internal wrestling match made her wish that she had still been barren.

This pregnancy caused her to cry out to God and ask, “God, why me?” God answered her question by revealing the destiny of her two sons. He told her that two nations were in her womb, and that one people would become stronger than the other one; the older would serve the younger.

When the time for the delivery came, the first boy was a real sight to see. His body was red and he was covered with so much hair that it looked like he had clothes on already. So, they named him Esau, which means hairy. The second son immediately followed his brother. As a matter of fact he was grasping at his brother’s heel. So, they named him Jacob, which means “he grasps the heel.” Ironically, this phrase was a common figure of speech that meant “he deceives.” His name foreshadowed of his destiny as a dirty rotten scoundrel.

Jacob’s Deception to Get Esau’s Birthright (Gen. 25:27-34)

As these two boys grew up, they couldn’t have been more different. Esau was a man’s man macho man. He was strong, loved the outdoors, and became a skillful hunter. Jacob was a quiet sissified mama’s boy who preferred to stay indoors. It comes as no surprise that Esau, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau more, while Rebekah loved Jacob more. All children bear resemblance to their parents, but we might say that Esau got his father’s brawn, but Jacob got his mother’s brains!

We begin to see Jacob’s craftiness when his brother returned home from a weekend at deer camp. Now we know that Esau didn’t pray for a deer because no one in their right mind would do that; nevertheless, he went home empty handed. After spending the whole day in a tree stand, you work up quite an appetite; and Esau returned hungry. And that is where our story gets interesting.

Jacob just happened to be cooking up a big old pot of lentil stew. It also just happened to be a reddish color. Esau just happened to go by the nickname Edom, which means “red.” I don’t think any of this was accidental. He set the whole thing up to trick his brother out of his birthright. Jacob was a master of manipulation, and he was actually cooking up some Esau stew. Esau’s decisions were dictated by his appetites instead of his intellect. He was about to get cooked by his brother.

Jacob made his brother an offer that he knew he couldn’t refuse. He offered him all the lentil stew and freshly baked bread he could eat in exchange for his birthright. The birthright entitled the firstborn so to inherit all of his father’s possessions. We see that Esau wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer when he reasons “What good is my birthright if I starve to death?” So, he swore an oath and traded his birthright for a bowl of soup. Oaths like this were binding and irrevocable, and from that time on, Esau despised his birthright. Jacob’s deception shows that he was a dirty rotten scoundrel!

Jacob’s Deception to Get His Father’s Blessing (Gen 27:1-40)

Some time later, Jacob’s dirty rotten deception stuck again. Even more important than a son’s birthright was his father’s deathbed blessing; this granted the authority to be the leader of the tribe. Like the birthright, once the father’s blessing was given it was binding and irrevocable.

Isaac was getting old and he knew he would live much longer. So, he determined that it was time to transfer the blessing to his oldest and favorite son Esau. He told Esau to take his bow and arrow to the wilderness and kill some wild game and prepare it the way he liked it, and then he would give him his blessing.

Neither Isaac nor Esau realized that Rebekah had overheard their conversation, and she came up with a plan for Jacob, her favorite son, to steal his brother’s blessing. Where did Jacob learn his tricks? From his mother, I presume! She told him to slaughter some goats and she would prepare them to taste like venison. (She must have been a good cook; I have no idea how you get goat to taste like venison.) She also said that she would dress him up to look and feel like Esau.

After Esau left for the wilderness, Jacob took advantage of his father’s blindness and tricked him. He pretended to be Esau and blatantly stole his brother’s blessing. We see the depth of Jacob’s treachery in his repose to his father’s question in verse 20. Isaac asked him, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” And Jacob said, “The Lord your God gave me success.” It was bad enough that he lied to his father, but he actually invoked God’s name in his lie.

Well, it wasn’t much later when Esau returned home from a successful hunt. He was looking forward to receiving his blessing. When he realized that his brother stole his blessing, he was furious. He exclaimed, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? He deceived me out of my birthright and my blessing!” Unfortunately for Esau, it was too late. There wasn’t anything he could do about it. Again, Jacob shows himself to be a dirty rotten scoundrel!

Jacob and Laban: The Trickster Gets Tricked (Gen. 27:41-46; 29:1-30)

We have all heard the phrase, “What goes around comes around.” This is exactly what happened to Jacob. After he tricked his brother out of his birthright and blessing, Esau was so angry that he vowed to kill Jacob after his father died. But again, Rebekah found out about Esau’s plan and outwitted him by sending Jacob to live with her brother Laban.

As Jacob traveled east to Paddan Aram, he came upon a well where some shepherds were watering their sheep. Jacob asked the shepherds if they knew Laban. They said, “Sure, we know him. Here comes one of his daughters right now. When he turned around and saw Rachel, he was awestruck by her beauty and began to weep tears of joy. It was love at first sight!

When Jacob got to the tents of his uncle Laban, he made a deal to work for him seven years in exchange for Rachel’s hand in marriage. He worked hard for seven long years, but they only seemed like a few days to him because of his great loved for Rachael. When the seven years were up, Laban arranged the wedding. In those days brides wore veils that totally covered their faces and the veil wasn’t lifted until after the marriage was consummated. So, you can imagine the shock Jacob felt when he woke up the next morning and realized that he had married the wrong woman.

He immediately went to Laban and said, “What have you done? Why did you deceive me?” And Laban said, “Oh yeah, I guess I forgot to tell you, it is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one.” Then he said, “I tell you what, I’ll give you Rachel too, if you promise to work for me seven more years.” So, he took Rachel and worked seven more years. And Jacob learned the lesson, “What goes around comes around!”

Jacob’s Family: A Scandal of Jealousy (Gen. 29:31-30:24)

Jacob soon discovered that being married to two sisters carries its share of problems. He loved Rachael more than Leah, so the Lord decided to play a little trick on the trickster himself. God opened Leah’s womb and she gave birth to four consecutive sons.

In those days bearing sons was a woman’s glory, and Leah received all of the glory. When Rachael saw that she wasn’t getting pregnant, she turned into a petty little drama queen and grabbed Jacob by the collar and said, “Give me children or I’ll die!” Jacob became angry and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”

Rachael’s jealousy became so great that she went back to an old trick that she learned from Jacob’s grandmother Sarah; she arranged for her husband to sleep with her maidservant Bilhah that she might build her family through her. Bilhah bore Jacob two sons.

By this time Leah had stopped having children and she became jealous. She jumped into the same game as her sister and gave Jacob her maidservant Zilpah. She bore Jacob two more sons.

As Jacob kept going through this revolving door of sleeping with four women, Leah gave birth to two more sons and one daughter. Eventually, Rachael did get pregnant and gave birth to two sons.

Therefore, Jacob fathered twelve sons and one daughter with four different women. Can you imagine what he must have paid in child support? This story seems like more like something we would see on the Jerry Springer than something we would read in the Bible. Two sisters torn apart by jealousy; two sisters using sex and getting pregnant to vie for the affection of one man!

All the while, Jacob sat back and pretended to be the innocent party in this mess. Can you hear him?—“I’m just doing what my wives tell me.” This episode reveals Jacob’s character—he was a DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDREL!

Jacob’s Sheep Stealing (Gen. 30:25-43)

After Jacob worked for Laban for fourteen years, he wanted to return to his homeland, but Laban gave him another offer that he couldn’t refuse. He said, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.” They agreed that Jacob would receive all of the sheep and goats that had spots on them, but Laban deceived him by having his sons hide all of the sheep and goats that would have gone to Jacob.

When Jacob realized what Laban had done, he said, “I can play this game too!” He acted on an old superstition whereby he put streaked stakes at all of the watering places. He believed that this would trigger the livestock to produce spotted offspring. He then saw to it that only the best animals went to those spots, thus insuring that his flocks would come from the strongest animals. Even though he had no knowledge of genetics, God blessed his plan and in this way he became very wealthy.

In order to avoid confrontation with Laban, Jacob pulled another deceitful stunt. He waited until Laban was away shearing his sheep and then he gathered up his whole family and all of his possessions and left without warning. To make matters worse, Rachael stole her father’s idols and hid them in her saddle bags and lied to her husband about it. In this way, they went back to Jacob’s homeland, securing his reputation as a dirty rotten scoundrel.

Jacob ’s Ladder (Gen. 28:10-22)

Tucked away in the middle of the story of his deception and sin against his brother, father, uncle, and wives we find the famous episode of Jacob’s ladder. After Jacob stole his brother’s birthright and his father’s blessing and before entered his love quadrilateral and ripping off his uncle, Jacob had a dream in which he saw a stairway that stretched from the earth the whole way to heaven. Angles were ascending and descending the ladder, and God stood at the top of it and reaffirmed the covenant that he made with Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth and all the peoples of the earth would be blessed through him. And then, in spite of all of Jacob’s deception and sin, in 28:15 God promises that he would always be with him. God pours out his blessing on Jacob and turned this dirty rotten scoundrel into a dirty rotten blessed scoundrel!

Jacob is one of the dirtiest rottenest scoundrels in the whole Bible. His given name certainly proved to be his destiny. He bamboozled his brother, manipulated with his mother, took advantage of his father, swindled his uncle, and fathered thirteen children with four different women. And yet, God was faithful to him! God stayed with him! God kept his promises to him! God blessed him!

Jacob’s story is really a microcosm of the story of the whole Bible. The story of the Bible is about God’s love and faithfulness in spite of human failure.

Jacob’s story is really our story. Which of us has never told a lie? Which of us has never taken advantage of someone? Which of us has never manipulated someone or something for personal gain? Which of us has never committed a sexual sin? None of us! Like Jacob, we are all dirty rotten scoundrels!

But God is faithful to us in spite of our failures. While we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ died on the cross to provide forgiveness and atonement for our sins. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are all blessed. We don’t deserve his grace, but he offers it to us freely. We are all dirty rotten scoundrels, but through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we can be dirty rotten blessed scoundrels!

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When I was in college, I had a friend named Randall who lived a few doors down the hall from me. Even though he was a senior and I was a freshman, we quickly hit it off. I suppose it had something to do with our mutual passion for the game of ping pong. On many occasions we played late into the night and had a lot of fun.

Randall was a peculiar fellow. He a deep thinker and had a pleasant personality, but he didn’t like anyone asking too many questions about his background or anyone taking his picture. His photograph never appeared in a single year book, even from when he was a kid. He said, “I just like to protect my identity. I always thought this was a little strange.

After college, Randall attended the same seminary that I did. While in seminary he became very interested in the relationship between theology and politics, and he took a lot of classes at Harvard. After he graduated, he got a job with the CIA and I never heard from him again. I always thought it was ironic that my non-photographed friend wound up in the CIA.

Has that ever happened to you? Has someone ever come into your life, had a profound influence on you, and then they were gone and you mysteriously never heard from them again?

Like my friend Randall, today’s Bible character is mysterious. We don’t know where Melchizedek came from or whatever happened to him. We know very little about his life, but he has had a profound influence on biblical history. The Bible only gives us three verses about his life (Genesis 14:18-20) but it gives us two whole chapters on his significance (Hebrews 5 & 7). Today I would like for us to try to unravel the mystery of Melchizedek’s life and see its significance for us!

Melchizedek’s Life (Genesis 14:17-20)

Melchizedek first appears in Genesis 14. It is the story of Abraham rescuing his nephew Lot from captivity. If you remember, Lot and Abraham parted company because their households and herds were getting too large to remain combined. Abraham allowed Lot to choose whichever part of the land he wished, and Lot chose the Valley of Siddum, known today as the Dead Sea. But it was not dead in that day. Rather, it was a lush, fertile valley, reminiscent of the Garden of Eden. Lot settled in a city located in that valley called Sodom. Abraham turned and went in the opposite direction.

One day a messenger arrived at Abraham’s tent with terrible news. A coalition of kings captured Sodom and enslaved all of its inhabitants – including Lot and his family. Abraham immediately organized a rescue party. He eventually caught up with the raiders and attacked them at night. He recovered his nephew and all of the wealth of Sodom.

However, the most unusual part of the story took place on the return journey. The king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh. This was presumably the place where kings came to negotiate. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, also came out to meet Abraham.

Melchizedek’s Name- “King of Righteousness” (Hebrews 7:1-2)

The first thing we notice about Melchizedek is his name. When we name our children today, it is often only because we like the sound of it. But names in the ancient world were full of meaning, especially among the Jews. Names were given to tell something about the character of the person. This is why you occasionally see a person whose name is changed in Scripture. This was the case with Abraham. His name was originally Abram, which meant “father of high places.” But God changed it later to Abraham, which meant “father of a multitude.” The name Melchizedek is actually a compound name. It is made up of two Hebrew words that have been joined together. “Melek” is the Hebrew word for “king.” “Zadok” means “righteousness.” So, as the author of Hebrews tells us, Melchizedek is the king with righteous character.

Melchizedek’s Rule- “King of Salem” (Hebrews 7:1-2)

The second thing we know about Melchizedek is where he reigned. Both Genesis and Hebrews tell us that he was the King of Salem. Salem is one of the ancient names for the city of Jerusalem. Before the city became the capital of Israel, it belonged to a people known as the Jebusites. Their city was alternately known as “Jebus” and “Salem.” Its name today reflects a composite of those two names: Jebus+Salem = Jerusalem.

But remember, names have meaning. And the meaning of the word Salem is “peace.” It is a derivative of the word many Jewish speaking people use as a greeting, “Shalom,” which also means “peace.” So Melchizedek is the King of Salem, ancient Jerusalem, or according to the meaning of his name, he is the King of peace.

Melchizedek’s Ministry- “Priest of God Most High” (Hebrews 7:1-2)

The third thing we know about Melchizedek is that he was a priest of God Most High. This is somewhat surprising because at this time the region around Salem was inhabited by Canaanites, and they worshipped false gods. Somehow Melchizedek came to know the One True God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth. God revealed himself to Melchizedek and ordained him a priest and he acted as a mediator between God and his people. He presented offerings to God, interceded on behalf of his people in prayer, ministered to their needs, and pronounced blessings upon them. As a priest and king, he was a religious and political leader, watching over the physical and spiritual well-being of his people.

When Melchizedek heard about Abraham’s victory against the kings in war, he went out to the Valley of Shaveh to meet him and performed two priestly functions: he ministered to Abraham by bringing him bread and wine and he pronounced a blessing upon him. Abraham showed his appreciation for Melchizedek’s ministry by giving him a tenth of the plunder.

Melchizedek’s Genealogy (Hebrews 7:3)

The fourth thing we know about Melchizedek is actually something that we don’t know at all—his genealogy. The author of Hebrews says in 7:3, “Without father or mother, without genealogy…” This doesn’t mean that he was supernaturally born; it simply means that he doesn’t have a recorded genealogy. Genesis doesn’t identify his father or mother and his role as a priest was not genealogically derived. Unlike the Levitical priesthood, he received it directly from God.

Likewise, when the author of Hebrews says, “Without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest forever” he doesn’t mean that Melchizedek wasn’t ever born or ever died. He means that his priesthood was not for a fixed term (as in the case of the Levitical priests). Under the Old Testament law, priests began their service at the age of 30, and the Levites served until they were 50 years old. (Num. 4:3; 8:24-25).

Since Genesis doesn’t say anything about Melchizedek’s genealogy, birth, or death, he didn’t have the right qualifications for the Levitical priesthood in the Law of Moses. The Levites were priests by virtue of heritage and ceased from the office upon death, but Scripture places no such limitations on Melchizedek’s priesthood. This is why Jesus is a priest forever, “in the order of Melchizedek.”

Melchizedek’s Superiority (Hebrews 7:4-10)

The fifth thing we know about Melchizedek is that his priesthood is superior to the Levitical priesthood. The author of Hebrews calls our attention to this in verse 4 where he says, “Just think how great he was…” The patriarch Abraham, the father of Israel, showed his spiritual inferiority to Melchizedek by receiving his blessing and giving him a tithe of the plunder. In Old Testament times, the greater person always blessed the lesser person, not the other way around. And since the Levitical priesthood hadn’t even been formed and the Mosaic Law hadn’t been given yet (it was still in Abraham’s body), Abraham’s tithe shows that Melchizedek’s priesthood is superior. Abraham established the practice of tithing a few hundred years before it was instituted in the Law of Moses.

Melchizedek & the Messiah

Now that I have told you everything we know about the person of Melchizedek, let me tell you about his significance. His primary role in the Old Testament was to foreshadow the coming Messiah. His primary role in the New Testament is to help us understand the Messiah that came. And we are still beneficiaries of his ministry 4000 years later. But how?

“King of Righteousness”

Melchizedek, a king of righteousness points us to Jesus, the true king of righteousness! Jesus Christ is the only human being who ever lived a truly righteous life. He is absolutely perfect; there is no moral wrinkle or blemish in him. He is the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. If Jesus had been a sinner like us, his blood couldn’t atone for our sins.

When we respond to Christ in faith, we are justified in God’s sight. He gives us his righteousness in exchange for our sin. Even though we are sinners who deserve eternal punishment, God sees Jesus’ righteous in us. Therefore, we can escape judgment and enjoy eternal life in heaven. Jesus offers us his righteousness because he is the king of righteousness! Have you put your trust in Jesus Christ and received his righteousness?

“King of Peace”

Melchizedek was also a king of peace, but he points us to Jesus, the true king of peace. In Isaiah 9:2 we read that one of the Messiah’s names is “Prince of Peace.” Jesus came to restore peace. Ever since Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden, the world had been at war with God and each other. Jesus’ death on the cross healed our broken relationship with God.

His sacrifice satisfied God’s wrath, paid our penalty for sin, and set off a great chain reaction of peace. Jesus restores peace to our relationship with God. When we have peace in our relationship with God, then we experience internal peace in our souls. When we have internal peace in our souls, then we can have peace in our relationships with one another. And when we have peace in our relationships with one another, then we can have peace in our society and world! True peace begins with Jesus Christ, the king of peace!

“Priest of God Most High”

Melchizedek, a priest of God Most High points to Jesus, our great high priest who sympathizes with us in our weaknesses. He was tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he was without sin. The Apostle Paul said, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.” (I Timothy 2:5-6)

The Levitical priests sacrificed animals to atone for the sins of the people. But unlike the other high priests, Jesus does not need to offer sacrifices day after day. His sacrifice on the cross was once and for all. No other sacrifice needs to be made.

Jesus’ priestly ministry continues even now. After Jesus completed his ministry on earth, he sat down at the right hand of the Father and serves in the true tabernacle that was built by God, not man. He always lives to intercede for his people. As our great high priest, he is praying for us right now!

“Bread to Eat and Wine to Drink”

When Melchizedek met Abraham in the Valley of Shaveh, he brought him bread to eat and food to drink. That is a very interesting meal, isn’t it? This is actually a foreshadowing of a foreshadowing. Melchizedek’s meal foreshadowed the Passover meal that was instituted during the Exodus. Remember, Moses about to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. The night before, they had a meal of bread and wine. The bread was unleavened because they didn’t have enough time to let the yeast make the bread rise. This meal was reenacted every year to remind the Israelites of how God saved them.

The Passover meal was a foreshadowing of how God would save the world from its sins though his son Jesus Christ. As he and his disciples ate the Passover meal the night before he was crucified, Jesus showed how the meal foreshadowed his death. The bread represents his broken body. The wine represents his spilled blood. He instituted communion as a constant reminder of his compassion.

Melchizedek’s meal looked forward to Christ’s sacrifice. It was no accident that Melchizedek served bread and wine. This shows us that God planned for his Son to die on the cross 2000 years before it actually happened.

Well, as I mentioned, we don’t know much about Melchizedek, but we do know that his ministry of pointing to the Messiah is significant. I hope that Melchizedek’s ministry has pointed you to Jesus Christ!