Through the Bible in one year - Day 47

Psalm 47:5-6

God has gone up with a shout,

the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

Sing praises to God, sing praises!

Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

This is what Joseph said to his brothers:

On the third day Joseph said to them, "Do this and you will live, for I fear God: if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households, and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die." (Genesis 42:18-20)

As we’ve been reading along, we might have suspected this day was coming – but isn’t it interesting that the question is ‘if you are honest men...’ when we know firsthand that Joseph knows they are not honest men, after all they tried to kill him. We begin to see the suffering these 10 have endured through these years – they jump to the conclusion that they are paying the price for their sins against their brother; obviously this has been weighing upon their minds all these years – and been between them also. Reuben is quick with the ‘I told you so’ isn’t he? Anyway we look at this, though we can see they have not gone unscathed by their rash actions all that time ago. It is not surprising that Jacob says no. None here are giving praise and glory to God; will tomorrow bring a change of heart?

This prayer of Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles today is interesting. He reminds himself, and the people of all that God has done – we might say he is sharing his testimony. We can see this remembering in other places in the Bible and we can see it today in our own churches – and yes in our families. The little ones will ask – don’t you remember when...we did this or you did that, or tell me about that other time when something happened. This praying that Jehoshaphat does with the people reminds all of them of their togetherness in the Lord God’s grace – and then he does something that harkens back to this Psalm – he says praise God and give thanks – for what he will do; give praise and thanks and believe – before you have new evidence. By remembering in this way out loud Jehoshaphat gives validity to the call to believe; if God has done these things in the past, for people who believe and obey, then our job is to believe and obey, and gives thanks according to those beliefs. That may not be a model we are as comfortable with, those of us who wish to treat others as they treat us – to trust those who prove themselves to be trustworthy – that is not the same as faith, that is more quid-pro-quo, and in this case, we see that it is decidedly not how God is. (Thankfully.) YET, Jehoshaphat ended badly – he turned aside and the people did not keep their heart with God, I am glad to have read this so that I can see how important it is to continue to keep faith. It is not a one-off, it is ongoing.

If I were to commend a reading to someone who wished to know about God and about Jesus, I might suggest this 13^th Chapter of the Book of Acts; Paul takes us through the narrative of the Old Testament and into the presence of the saving grace of Jesus in the course of this reading. And then in the 14^th Chapter they are able to preach some more, and support the faith of the lame man by charging him to stand up – which he did joyfully! And this receives mixed reviews. In some circles they are about to be enshrined as gods – and others wish very strongly to kill them and get them the heck out of town. Before they are stoned they shout to everyone:

“In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness." (Acts 14:16-17)

I love these witnesses; the rains and harvests and joy. These are indeed witnesses that like the Psalmist, sing praises! Let us join our voices to theirs.

Today’s readings: Psalm 47, Genesis 42, 2 Chronicles 20, Acts 13 and 14