Devotion for Tuesday, August 18th
Kevin Peterson
Devotional Text: Genesis 37 (To read and even listen to this text for free, click here.)
Verse in Focus: “But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, ‘Let us not take his life.’ And Reuben said to them, ‘Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him’—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. ... Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.’ And his brothers listened to him. ... When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes and returned to his brothers and said, ‘The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?’” (Genesis 37:21-22, 26-27, 29-30).
Related Verse: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20).
Devotional Thought:
Last time, I began a discussion concerning the matter of motivation in our text. In particular, I had us take a look at the crucial role the two initial dreams had in pushing the brothers into actually considering murder. And with that, the unsettling role God played in doing that very pushing. The shadow that God casts over the story of Joseph—especially this first part—does bring up uncomfortable questions concerning temptation and sin. For example, if it was God’s purpose to give the dreams to Joseph so that, when shared, they would drive his brothers to consider murder—did God not, in fact, tempt the brothers to sin? Where do we draw the lines between divine foreknowledge and human responsibility?
In his great commentary on the Lord’s Prayer in his Small Catechism, Martin Luther answers that question this way:
“God tempts no one. We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. Although we are attacked by these things, we pray that we may finally overcome them and win the victory” (Explanation to the Sixth Petition).
As we look back at this incident in our text, we need to first stop and ask: What was it that God gave to Joseph? The answer to this goes beyond the obvious. Of course, the Lord gave Joseph two dreams. But the truth is that, in and of themselves, those dreams were good. They showed how God was going to watch over and bless Joseph in the future. Joseph was in the care and protection of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The second question we need to ask, then, is this: What did Jacob and his brothers do with God’s good gift? Ahhhh, now we are getting somewhere! Notice Luther’s reason for praying the sixth petition: “so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us.” Joseph’s sinful nature deceived him, it would seem, into thinking these good gifts were something to crow about. His brothers, on the other hand, deceived themselves into thinking that their father’s favoritism was shared by God as well. [I mention only the sinful nature here, because the text gives no specific indication that either the devil or the world are involved in this deception.]
So, in the final analysis, we can safely conclude that God cannot be blamed for the murderous thoughts and sinful actions of Joseph’s brothers. Although He can be thanked for taking such evil and using it to bring about much good. God knew the sinful hearts of all involved, so He gave good gifts so that even greater ones could be given. Blessings on your day!
Vaya con Dios!
Pastor Peterson
REMINDER: You can check out previous email devotions from Shepherd of the Valley Devotions by going to http://groups.google.com/group/salmonlutheran
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