Genesis 45:1-15, Psalm 133:1-3, Isaiah 56:1, Isaiah 56:6-8, Psalm 67:1-7, Romans 11:1-2, Romans 11:29-32, Matthew 15:10-28
A). GOD SENT ME HERE.
Genesis 45:1-15.
The Old Testament Joseph is very much a Type of Christ. Favoured by his father (cf. Genesis 37:3), Joseph was sold by his brethren for twenty pieces of silver (Genesis 37:28). Favoured by His Father (Luke 3:22), Jesus ‘came unto His own, and His own (people) received Him not’ (John 1:11), and He was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15).
Joseph went from his father’s favour to the pit, and into slavery. In Potiphar’s house, he went from his master’s favour to false accusation to prison. In prison, Joseph went from the warder’s favour to the forgetfulness of his surviving former cell-mate: but at last the LORD intervened, and Joseph was raised from prison to the position of Prime Minister of the land!
In the passage before us, we see Joseph’s brethren on their second visit to Egypt. They were totally unaware that the powerful man who had been toying with them, seemingly seeking occasion against them, was their despised brother of so long ago. Neither were they aware that he understood every word they were saying.
For Joseph, it finally became too much. “I am Joseph!” he declared. And, following that revelation, the first item on the agenda: “Does my father still live?” (Genesis 45:3). To which the reply was gobsmacked silence!
The powerful man in Egyptian regalia again spoke to his brothers: “Please come near to me” (which they did). “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt” (Genesis 45:4).
Is Joseph now beginning to accuse them, after all these years? No, he encourages them not to be angry with themselves, and three times informs them that “God sent me” here “to preserve life” (Genesis 45:5); “to preserve a posterity for you… and to save your lives by a great deliverance” (Genesis 45:7); “not you sent me here, but God” (Genesis 45:8).
Jesus said, ‘I go to prepare a place for you… that where I am there you may be also’ (John 14:2-3). In like manner, Joseph had sent word to his father, speaking of all his glory in Egypt, and providing for all his father’s posterity in the best part of the land (Genesis 45:9-11).
The likeness to Jesus continues. Given up for dead, Joseph proved to be yet alive (Genesis 45:12). And the grave could not hold Jesus!
Jesus said, in effect: ‘Love your haters, do good to those hostile to you’ (Luke 6:27). It is the kind of Love which God demonstrated when He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16), loving US even while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8). It is the kind of Love which Jesus demonstrated when He forgave Peter (Mark 16:7).
Jesus also said, ‘Be merciful, as your Father also is merciful’ (Luke 6:36). This seems to be what Joseph accomplished here. Joseph “kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers talked with him” (Genesis 45:15).
The whole Joseph cycle shows us the outworking of God’s providence in the life of His servant. Years later, Joseph would reiterate: ‘you meant evil against me: but God meant it for good’ - not only for His own family, but also in sparing ‘much people alive’ Genesis 50:20). All things DO work together for good for those who love the Lord (Romans 8:28).
B). THE DEW OF HERMON.
Psalm 133:1-3.
I like the Scottish Metrical version of this Psalm:
“Behold, how good a thing it is,
and how becoming well,
Together such as brethren are
in unity to dwell!”
A good one to sing, perhaps, as we break bread together.
“Behold” calls us to look carefully, to look intensely. In the Greek of the New Testament, we are told that John ‘saw’ the grave clothes lying on Resurrection morning; but Peter ‘looked intently upon’ them (John 20:5-6). Or we could say, Peter ‘beheld’ them.
So, in our Psalm, what are we to look upon with such intensity? We are to look upon, to consider, “how good and pleasant a thing it is” for “brothers” (and sisters) to dwell together in unity. This applies on every level of life.
First, it applies on the level of kinship. It is more than just ‘nice’ if we can get on with our siblings. However, we are more familiar with negative examples: like Cain’s murderous, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ (Genesis 4:9); or the supplicant before Jesus who complained that his brother had not divided the inheritance with him (Luke 12:13).
In the Bible, Jonathan and David were only brothers-in-law, but their souls were ‘knit’ together in a mutual, covenantal, love (1 Samuel 18:1; 1 Samuel 18:3).
Second, it applies on the level of community. As the bombs fell on London in the early 1940s, many were the acts of sheer human kindness between people in the same plight as one another. Similarly, in the times of distress caused by natural disasters elsewhere in the world.
Third, it is good and pleasant when nations and peoples can learn to get along with one another. But how can they, outside of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ? While any of us tolerate evil, none of us will ever get on!
And of course, fourthly, Christian people. Those who are born again are called upon to ‘bear one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’ (Ephesians 4:2-3). After all, we have but one God and Father, and one Lord (Jesus), and are all members of the same covenant family (Ephesians 4:5-6).
Our unity is found in our very diversity. We do not lose our individuality but live to serve one another. Like the voluntary sharing of the early church (Acts 2:45).
Now, how lovely is this?
“Like precious ointment on the head,
that down the beard did flow,
Even Aaron’s beard, and to the skirts,
did of his garments go.”
The reference is evidently to the anointing of Aaron as high priest. It sounds messy, but it is the aroma of unity. We have a much greater high priest, and our unity in Him is a matter of fact, not of boring uniformity.
Think of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with costly oil, and how the fragrance filled the whole house (John 12:3). Jesus associated this act with His burial (John 12:7). And without His death and resurrection, there are no grounds for unity.
Then we have another illustration:
“As Hermon’s dew, the dew that doth
on Sion’s hill descend:
For there, the blessing God commands,
life that shall never end.”
From Mount Zion, Mount Hermon is far to the north, on the border with Lebanon. So how does the dew of Hermon water Zion? Well, it is not meteorologically impossible, and has been known - although it is rare - for dew from Hermon to bring refreshment to Mount Zion during the arid summer.
But what a picture of unity! The melting snows of Lebanon watering Zion, even as Zion has sent the Gospel out to the wider world (including Lebanon). Or Paul’s churches elsewhere feeding the needy poor in Jerusalem (Romans 15:26).
Christians here, and Christians there, all one in Christ Jesus!
‘We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren’ (1 John 3:14).
And we should ‘pray for the peace of Jerusalem,’ from whence our blessings came (Psalm 122:6).
C). THE INCLUSIVENESS OF THE CHURCH AGE.
Isaiah 56:1, Isaiah 56:6-8.
The idea here seems to be that the community of God’s people should “preserve justice and do righteousness” (Isaiah 56:1). The reason is not far to seek: “for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to be revealed.”
Our ‘doing what is right’ is only possible because we have had ‘His righteousness’ imputed to us (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21). Outside of Christ we simply cannot keep the law: but in Christ we are enabled and empowered and motivated to 1. honour God’s ordinances and to 2. keep our hand from doing any evil, God being with us (cf. Isaiah 56:2).
1. I mention ordinances, but there is one in particular which is named in this passage: the Sabbath (Isaiah 56:6). We read in the New Testament: ‘There remains therefore a rest (i.e. sabbath) to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest’ - not will enter at the end of life, but ‘is’ entered here and now - ‘he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His’ (cf. Hebrews 4:9-10). In other words, we are no longer trusting to our own works for salvation but are resting entirely in the finished work of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Ultimately, the Sabbath represents the final rest of the new heavens and the new earth (cf. Isaiah 66:22-23).
2. Those who are up and doing in this matter are those who have been made righteous in the righteousness of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (cf. Romans 3:21-22). ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved’ (cf. Acts 16:31). Please note that we are saved ‘unto good works’ (cf. Ephesians 2:8-10).
The openness and inclusiveness on offer in Isaiah’s vision is quite remarkable. It is as if the doors of the Temple should be open to the non-Jew, and even to the outcast (cf. Isaiah 56:3). Significantly one of the early converts to Christianity was both (cf. Acts 8:26-27; Acts 8:36-37). The barrier between Jew and Gentile was serious enough, but God was about to do a new thing (cf. Isaiah 45:22; Isaiah 55:5).
All that should be asked of prospective church members is that they should be committed to the LORD (through our Lord Jesus Christ), to serve Him, to love His name, and to hold fast His covenant (Isaiah 56:6). The Church, for her part, should receive all such, regardless of ethnicity or social background.
The bringing of the outsiders to the holy mountain (Isaiah 56:7) is reminiscent of Isaiah 2:2-3. There the prophet was lifting his eyes beyond the present circumstances of the kingdom of Judah towards a future hope which embraces the whole world. According to the Apostle Peter ‘the last days’ began at Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:16-17).
In the days when Jesus walked this earth, the Jerusalem Temple was only partially fulfilling the function of a place of worship for all peoples. Jesus had occasion to remind His contemporaries that ‘It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations,” but you have made it a den of thieves’ (cf. Mark 11:17). The earthly Temple was only ever temporary, as implied in Jesus’ words to the disciples as He left the second Temple for the last time (cf. Matthew 24:1-2).
Jesus did not come to abolish the sacrificial system, but to fulfil it, and to offer Himself as the supreme and final sacrifice for sin (cf. Hebrews 9:25-26). When Jesus’ work upon the Cross was finished, the veil in the Temple was rent in two, from the top to the bottom (cf. Matthew 27:51). Although the Temple rituals continued for a transitional period, the need for sacrifice had been met in His death.
The Temple was the site of many of the scenes in the Gospels and Acts, and it was from here that the message of Jesus went forth to all the world. It is possible that the picture of many nations coming to the house of the God of Jacob represents the progress of the gospel from that place (cf. Isaiah 2:3).
This work is ongoing (Isaiah 56:8), and will continue until the full number of the Gentiles shall be gathered in, ‘and all Israel shall be saved’ (Romans 11:25-26). ‘I have other sheep, which are not of this fold,’ says Jesus: ‘them also must I bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd’ (John 10:16).
D). A BLESSING FOR ALL NATIONS.
Psalm 67.
The opening of this Psalm echoes the beginning of the high-priestly benediction pronounced by Aaron and his sons (Psalm 67:1; cf. Numbers 6:24-25).
The Psalm also has its foundations in the blessing of all the families of the earth through Abraham and His seed (Psalm 67:2; cf. Genesis 12:2-3).
The Apostle Paul elaborates: ‘and that seed is Christ’ (Galatians 3:16).
It is not selfish to pray that God will bless us if that blessing is seen as a channel of blessing for others.
The Psalmist speaks of God’s way being known upon earth (Psalm 67:2) – and again we see Jesus, who is the Way (John 14:6).
We read of God’s “saving power” for all nations (Psalm 67:2) - through a salvation found only in Jesus (Acts 4:12).
God is redeeming a people to Himself, through the blood of Jesus, out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation (Revelation 5:9).
This was the missionary motivation which saw the Church expanding from Jerusalem, Judaea and Samaria, to ‘the ends of the earth’ (Acts 1:8).
The blessing was never meant to be restricted to just one family, but to peoples and nations and families from “all the ends of the earth” (Psalm 67:7).
The Psalm’s refrain calls for “the peoples” to “praise you, O God: let all the people praise you” (Psalm 67:3; Psalm 67:5).
The middle verse elaborates, calling the nations into joyous song. God’s righteous judgment, and His sound government, are given as the reason for this all-encompassing and exuberant thanksgiving and praise (Psalm 67:4; cf. Psalm 96:10-13).
The occasion of this Psalm is identified by the harvest motif. Harvest is both the starting point and the prospect of Psalm 67:6.
Harvest is a theme held in common with the two preceding Psalms (Psalm 65; Psalm 66), and the one following (Psalm 68).
A successful harvest demonstrates the bounteousness of God to the ends of the earth. The ultimate harvest will be when “all the ends of the earth” revere God (Psalm 67:7).
In the meantime, there is a harvest to be reaped through prayer, and the preaching of the Word (cf. Matthew 9:36-38).
And the praising of His name (Psalm 67:3-5)!
E). THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.
Romans 11:1-2a, Romans 11:29-32.
What is causing Paul so much stress and distress is that Israel ‘have not all obeyed the gospel’ (cf. Romans 10:16). As we enter our present chapter, Paul is asking: Does this then mean that God has “cast away His people” (Romans 11:1)? This is a question expecting the answer, ‘No!’ - and Paul is emphatic in saying so - the dynamic of which is caught in various translations - “God forbid!” “Certainly not!” “By no means!” “What a ghastly thought!” “No way!!!’
No, argues Paul. There is always a remnant, a seed (cf. Romans 11:5) - and his own status is a case in point (Romans 11:1). So, no: “God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew” (Romans 11:2a).
In summary, first Paul says to the Gentile Christians, ‘As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes’ (cf. Romans 11:28). Why? “Because God’s gifts (cf. Romans 9:4-5) and calling are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29; cf. Numbers 23:19).
Secondly, we know from experience that God is merciful. If He has been merciful to we who have been far off, how shall He not be merciful to those who were always His people (Romans 11:30-31)? For God has bound us all over to the dungeon of disobedience, until He should have mercy upon all upon whom He will have mercy (cf. Romans 9:15) - both Jew and Gentile (Romans 11:32).
Let us take strength in the fact of God’s covenant faithfulness and mercy. And let us not forget to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (cf. Psalm 122:6), and the promised salvation of Israel.
It is no wonder that the chapter ends in doxology (cf. Romans 11:33-36)!
F). WHAT FLOWS FROM WITHIN.
Matthew 15:10-28.
I). The War Against Sin.
Matthew 15:10-20.
MATTHEW 15:10-11. Jesus turned away from the Pharisees and summoned the crowd to Himself. “Hear and understand,” He taught. Despite what the Pharisees might teach, “it is NOT that which goes into the mouth which defiles a man; but that which comes out of the mouth, THIS defiles a man.”
MATTHEW 15:12-13. The disciples informed Jesus that the Pharisees were offended at this saying, but Jesus answered with timeless teaching concerning the root of evil. We show no mercy to the weeds in our garden, and likewise we must recognise that the Lord will ultimately uproot all false teachers.
MATTHEW 15:14. “Let them alone,” He continued. Such “blind leaders of the blind” will fall into the ditch of their own error, taking their victims with them!
MATTHEW 15:15-16. Peter, no doubt speaking on behalf of all the disciples, asked for further clarification of what Jesus was teaching. It remained “a parable” to them. Jesus scolded their lack of understanding.
MATTHEW 15:17-20. The answer is that sin does not consist in that which we put in our mouths (cf. Matthew 15:11). Sin begins in the heart, and from thence proceeds out of the mouth, thus defiling the man.
‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked’ (cf. Jeremiah 17:9). We speak the wickedness within into existence without. Words are powerful!
Jesus taught elsewhere that adultery begins in the heart when a man looks lustfully on a woman. The sin is entertained in the heart long before it gives expression in the deed (cf. Matthew 5:28). There is a clarion call to engage the enemy of our souls in the war against sin (cf. Hebrews 12:4).
Since sin begins in the heart, we must place the remedy there. That remedy is the Word of God (cf. Psalm 119:11). We renew our minds as we meditate upon the revealed will of God (cf. Romans 12:2).
And the ultimate cure for all evil is found in the work of our Lord Jesus Christ at the Cross of Calvary. And His subsequent resurrection.
II). A Crumb From the Table.
Matthew 15:21-28.
In the earlier part of the chapter, Jesus had disputed with some Scribes and Pharisees about ritual and tradition; and had taught those who would hear that defilement does not come from without, but from within. It is also true to say that FAITH flows from within, as the next incident demonstrates. Faith arises in the heart and comes forth out of the mouth (cf. Romans 10:8-10).
MATTHEW 15:21. Our Lord travelled northwards into the region of Tyre and Sidon, in modern-day Lebanon.
MATTHEW 15:22. We meet here "a woman of Canaan" whose daughter was “grievously vexed with a devil.” This alerts us to the fact, straight away, that the girl had a spiritual battle going on within her. Our battle is not against flesh and blood (cf. Ephesians 6:12). Sometimes, often, that battle is going on within us.
It is good when parents bring the needs of their children to Jesus. We should pray for them constantly and, like this woman, persistently. Her cry amounted to a statement of faith: “O Lord, thou son of David…”
MATTHEW 15:23. Now this woman was a Gentile, a non-Jew, and strictly speaking had no claim upon Jesus. Initially, Jesus ignored her. Then His disciples besought Him to send her away.
MATTHEW 15:24. Jesus now explained to the woman, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” When Jesus had sent out the twelve Apostles, He had warned them not to go into the way of the Gentiles, nor to enter any city of the Samaritans (cf. Matthew 10:5). This was His priority for the time being: the gospel was ‘to the Jew first;’ and only then, thankfully, ‘also to the Gentiles’ (cf. Romans 1:16).
MATTHEW 15:25. The faith of the Canaanite woman emerged as she persisted in her petition. “Lord, help me.” This woman’s importunity has much about it to be admired. She was willing to be discouraged, insulted and all but turned away, holding out in her negotiations for her daughter until she got a result.
MATTHEW 15:26. Next Jesus said that it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to (literally) “the little dogs.” The picture is of puppies, waiting to catch the scraps that fall from their masters’ hands. We are reminded, too, that the Jewish leadership often referred to Gentiles as ‘dogs.’
MATTHEW 15:27. However, such was the faith of the woman that she simply accepted the insult and turned it to her advantage. The faith in her heart knew that even a crumb would suffice: such was the power of Jesus.
MATTHEW 15:28. What came out of her mouth arose from within, and Jesus acknowledged, “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” She no doubt went home, and found that it just as she had asked: ‘the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed’ (cf. Mark 7:30). A miracle conducted at a distance.
There is hope for us, even as there was hope for this woman from the margins of life. There is hope for our children as there was for hers. Who knows what blessings the Lord yet has for those whom we uphold in prayer before Him day by day?
