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Exodus 14:11-12 - Leaving Egypt

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:00:26 GMT

The Battle Between Freedom and Commitment

11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” - Exodus 14:10-12 ESV

It was under Joseph that the Israelites arrived in the land of Egypt. This would be their home for the next four hundred years. On that day, seventy men arrived in the nation (see Genesis 46:27). Joseph settled them in the land of Goshen where they tended their flocks and prospered greatly.

After the death of Joseph, a new Pharaoh came into power. He did not know Joseph or the contribution he had made to the nation of Egypt. Seeing the prosperity of the Israelites, this new ruler was seriously concerned that God’s people could turn against him in the event of a battle with a foreign nation, and determined to take control over them by subjecting them to harsh labour. Life for the Israelites became a misery. When Pharaoh saw that they continued to multiply despite their cruel treatment, he commanded his people to throw their male children into the Nile River. When this Pharaoh died, the people of Israel cried out to God for rescue from slavery (see Exodus 2:23). God heard their cry and send Moses and Aaron to speak with him about setting them free.

The heart of this new Pharaoh, however, was hard. He did not want to lose the Israelites. Moses and Aaron returned repeatedly to him demanding he let them go, but each time Pharaoh refused. Each time Moses and Aaron returned, however, they unleashed a new judgment of God upon the land of Egypt. These judgements had a devastating effect on the land and the morale of the people. Over the weeks that followed his first refusal to let the people go, the economy of Egypt was decimated, and there was death in every family in Egypt. In the end, Pharaoh was forced to let the people go.

Six hundred thousand men, plus women and children left the land of Egypt and entered into the wilderness. They had been in Egypt for 430 years (see Exodus 12:40). They were finally free from their bondage and slavery. God led them by means of a pillar of cloud and fire toward the Red Sea. In Exodus 14:1-4 we read:

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.” And they did so. - Exodus 14:1-4 ESV

Notice a few details in these verses.

First, God told Moses where the people were to camp. They were in this location by God’s design and leading:

1 … encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. - Exodus 14:1

Second, God knew what Pharaoh’s response would be. What the king chose to do, did not surprise Him:

3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ - Exodus 14:3, ESV

Finally, observe that God would use this situation for His glory and the good of His people:

4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.” And they did so. - Exodus 14:4, ESV

God was working out every detail to accomplish His purpose and give Israel complete victory over Egypt.

When Pharah learned where God’s people had camped, he figured that they had been hemmed in by the sea and would not be able to escape. He prepared his army, took six hundred chariots and pursued them. Notice the response of God’s people when they saw that mighty army of Egyptian chariots at a distance heading straight for them:

10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” - Exodus 14:10-12 ESV

First, Israel “ greatly feared .” This approaching army caused terror in the hearts of the Israelites. While they had seen God break the Egyptians through a series of miraculous signs under Moses and Aaron, somehow they still feared the power of Egypt. While they had been set free from bondage by the power of God, they had never come to understand that the power that had saved them would also keep them. They somehow believed that they had to fight this army in their own strength.

This is a problem with many believers today. They have not come to understand that the God who saved them from sin is also able to provide, keep and deliver them in the ongoing issues they face each day. How often do we worry and concern ourselves over matters that are completely in the hands of God? How often have we attempted to deal with matters too big for us to address, forgetting that God has promised to be our defender. How often, for that matter, have we tried to change our own heart when God has promised to give us a new one. All too often we live as if that battle is ours to fight and not the Lord’s. The Israelites had every cause to fear greatly if that battle was theirs to fight. The reality, however, is that it wasn’t. They still had to learn that lesson.

Note second, that the people “ cried out to the Lord .” These words are sandwiched between the words, “ they greatly feared ,” and “ Is it because there are no graves in Egypt. ” This leaves us to wonder what they cried out to God and the state of their faith when they did. Not only did they fear but they were convinced that they were going to die in the wilderness. The cry of the people is a last resort of a desperate people and not that cry of faith and confidence in the God of Israel. How often has the name of God come to the lips of the unbeliever when faced with trials and opposition. They cry out to him but there is no real trust or assurance that He has heard their cry.

Finally, after crying out to God, note what they said to Moses.

In saying this, they reject Moses as their leader and the work of deliverance that God had accomplished in their lives. They tell Moses to let them return to Egypt to serve the Egyptians once again. If there is one thing clear it is that it was easier to take the people of Israel from Egypt than it was to take Egypt from the people of Israel. Egypt was still in their hearts and minds.

Consider what took place in the months that followed. In Exodus 16, the people arrived in the wilderness of Sin, between Elim and Sinai. The people were hungry and began to grumble against Moses and Aaron. Listen to what they told them that day:

3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” - Exodus 16:3 ESV

Notice again how the people longed to return to Egypt. They reminded Moses of the meat and bread they had in Egypt and told him that it would have been better to die in Egypt than this barren wilderness. The life of freedom was not what they had anticipated. They had expected things to be easier. They didn’t know where the next meal was going to come from. While God provided for their every need, they were not in control. They were being forced to rely on the Lord for everything. This was an uncomfortable position for them and an affront to their human dignity and independent spirit. They began to long for the meat and bread of Egypt.

When we come to the Lord, the battle only just begins. His Spirit will reveal things in our heart that need to be addressed. The sinful longings of our heart must be crucified and brought into line with Christ and His purpose. You can’t have your freedom and the fruit of Egypt at the same time. To choose God and His freedom is to die to Egypt and its delights. Israel had been physically removed from the nation of Egypt, but Egypt had yet to be removed from their hearts. Its fruit still appealed to them. Listen to the words of Jesus in this regard:

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. - Matthew 6:24 ESV

Freedom comes at a cost. Israel’s heart was divided. They had been set free but still longed for bondage. They had not fully counted the cost of their freedom. As Jesus said:

28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? - Luke 14:28-31 ESV

In Luke 9, Jesus challenges all who would follow Him to take up their cross:

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? - Luke 9:23-25 ESV

To leave Egypt is to leave behind its fruit as well. This is a commitment we must make. Jesus must have all. He must be Lord in our lives. His purpose and His ways are to become ours. Nothing of Egypt must remain. Our secret longings for the fruit of Egypt will only hinder our walk with Him. Israel’s heart was divided. They wanted freedom and the fruit of bondage at that same time. Egypt was still in their heart.

How much of Egypt remains in my heart? How much do I still long for what is not mine to have now as a child of freedom? Am I ready to die to those passions and commit myself to Him and His purpose, even if it brings me through the wilderness? God called his people through that wilderness to seek Him and His purpose alone. Like us, however, they struggled to die

In Exodus 17, the people moved from the wilderness of Sin to Rephidim where there was no water for them to drink. Notice what took place that day:

3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” - Exodus 17:3 ESV

There is a point in each of our lives when we must confess and accept that we are not in control. Israel was helpless here in Rephadim. She couldn’t go to the well and draw water whenever she wanted. She was at the mercy of God. Her life or death was in His hands. She was completely dependant on Him for everything. This was such an affront to her human pride and independence. She had to come to a place of complete surrender. God brought her to a point where she had no choice but to recognize her dependence on Him for everything. Israel did not like this idea. She struggled to surrender completely to Him.

The Christian life is a life of total dependence on God. We must all learn to die to ourselves and our own ideas and efforts, and learn to walk in His way and His provision. This is an insult to our independent spirit. Israel struggled to accept God’s provision, God’s way, and God’s purpose for their lives. They struggled to give Him full control and full right. The life of faith was uncomfortable to them.

As we move to Exodus 32, Moses has been on the mountain in the presence of God. During that time God taught him His purpose for the people of Israel. Through a series of laws and commandments God showed Moses His purpose for his relationship with His people. As Moses delayed in the presence of the Lord, the people of God, began to worry that Moses would never return to them. Approaching Aaron they said:

1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” - Exodus 32:1 ESV

Israel was afraid of the God of Israel. She feared that He had destroyed Moses in the fire and cloud that had descended upon the mountain that day. He had revealed himself to them as a powerful and holy God. They were afraid of Him and his requirements. Calling on Aaron that day, they pleaded with him to make them a new god to go before them. They wanted a god but they wanted one of their own making. They wanted a god on their own terms. That day Aaron made them a golden calf saying: “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 32:4b). Aaron gave them the god they wanted. One they created out of gold. One they could see in the flesh. One they could control. Ultimately, however, this golden calf was not a god but a servant to minister to their every need.

The reality of the matter is that many people are not looking for a God but a servant. They want His protection and provision. They want His comfort and approval but they want it on their own terms. They want to be in control. This, however, is not the God of the Bible.

These passages teach us something very important about our relationship with the God of the Bible.

First, the God of the Bible is not a changeable God. When I go to a restaurant, I can pick and choose ingredients I want in my sandwich. This, however, is not the kind of God I have. I have to accept Him as He is. I have to accept the whole package. He is a God of comfort but also a God of wrath. He is a God of free will but also a sovereign God. He is a God who gives freedom but calls me to full surrender. He is a trinity but yet one. These are paradoxes I must accept. I cannot change God to suit my needs. He is who He is and I must surrender to Him as He is.

Second, God’s ways are different from my ways. He may bring me into the wilderness to teach me. He may bring me to a place of need to show me how He provides. He may bring me to a place of total helplessness to reveal His strength. He may bring me to the end of myself so I can learn to trust in Him. He calls me to trust His provision and direction as a sovereign God.

Third, the God of the Bible calls me to recognize the cost of following Him. Israel failed to do this. She grumbled and complained in the wilderness. She was unwilling to give Him complete control. She didn’t like not being in control. She didn’t like not knowing where her next meal or drink of water was going to come from. She disliked not knowing where God was going to lead them the next day. Committing everything to the Lord and surrendering their lives to Him was not easy, but that is what God demanded. He was to be their God. He was to be their Lord. They surrendered all control and rights to Him. Not everyone is comfortable with this.

Fourth, the God of the Bible calls us to count the cost. Your freedom from bondage comes at a cost. For us as believers it came at the cost of Jesus’ life. But there is a cost that we must pay as well. That cost is a life of total surrender. He must be Lord. His will must be ours. The path He chooses for us is the path we must willingly tread. We must surrender all rights to Him. We must learn to trust His provision and His ways. Our lives will be from this point forward His, totally His, to do with as He sees fit.

Finally, the God of the Bible calls us to do what we cannot do in our own strength. He places Israel in circumstances that were too big for them. He leads them to waterless wastelands where He quenches their thirst. He moves them into the barren desert where they feast upon manna from heaven. He entraps them before the Red Sea where the powerful Egyptian army can overtake them and drowns every Egyptian soldier, setting His people forever free from their oppression. Left to themselves, Israel would have died in the wilderness. The strength to fight that battle before her was not in herself. Had God did not provide, and fight for her, she would have perished. Yet Israel struggled to give Him control.

Will you count the cost? Will you surrender to the God of Israel and His ways? Will you trust Him and His leading as you venture out into the wilderness? Will you count the cost and submit to Him as Lord of your life? Will you turn your back on Egypt and follow the cloudy pillar, trusting on His provision and strength as you make your way to the land of promise?

LTMP 1st Quarter Report 2026

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 17:50:09 GMT

LTMP First Quarter Report 2026

Over the past three months I have been busy working on a variety of projects. Here is an update on what has been going on.

1) Online Bible

In January, Online Bible told me that they had trained some new workers to format books for their platform, and wanted the files for my Old Testament commentaries so they could be added to their platform.

My English New Testament commentaries have been available on the aOnce and work on the next volume of my verse-by-verse New Testament commentary series. pp for some time now. This platform is available worldwide and it is a real privilege for me to make my books available for free to so many people.

2) Burmese Contract

I set up a contract with the Berean Evangelical School of Theology in Yangon, Myanmar. This contract will give then the right to translate, print and distribute my books in the Burmese language in Myanmar. I will continue working with them in the translation of my books into this language.

3) Publication of Burmese Books with Ingram Spark

While we have printed books in Myanmar for distribution, I have been working to get them published with Ingram Spark. Ingram Spark is a worldwide distributor, so this makes the books available to Burmese speakers outside of Myanmar for the foreseen future. In the first quarter, I was able to publish 3 Burmese books, a commentary on 2 Corinthians, a commentary on Galatians and Ephesians, and a study on Matthew 15 called If Your Brother Sins.

4) Telugu Translation & Printing

We completed the translation of the Telugu edition of "A Sinner Meets the Saviour." One thousand copies have been printed and are being distributed in India.

5) African Bible School Libraries

As most of my books are available online, I have been emailing Bible schools in Africa to inform them of the availablity of my online library. I have now been in touch with Bible Schools, Seminaries and Universities in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Kenya, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. I am hoping that this online library will be an added resource for their students to use.

6) New Burmese Translation

The latest book to be translated into Burmese is "By Grace Through Faith." The Lord willing, I will publish this through Ingram Spark in the coming weeks.

7) Notes From My Bible - Volume 1

The first volume of a new series called "Notes From My Bible" was published in March. I have an accumulation of notes from my Bible readings that I have been expanding on and using in sermons and in this written format. I am working now on the second volume in this series (mainly reflections in the book of Exodus).

8) Light To My Path New Testament Bible Notes

As you know, I have been working on a New Testament verse-by-verse commentary series. The latest volume is on the Epistles of Peter, John and Jude. I have completed the rough draft of this book and will be submitting it for publication in the second quarter of the year.

As I look ahead to the next quarter, I hope to get more Burmese books published. I am revising my commentary on the Epistles of Peter, John and Jude and hope to have it abailable as well. Once this book is published, I hope to begin a verse-by-verse commentary on the Gospel of John. I will also continue to write my devotional reflections for the second book in that series as well. Thanks to all who have been interested in this ministry. Thanks for ypur prayers.

The Battle is The Lord's

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 17:28:02 GMT

The Power of Perseverance and Non-Compromise

In Exodus 7-8, Moses appeared before Pharaoh, calling for the release of the people of Israel. Standing before the king, Aaron cast his staff on the ground, and it became a living serpent. Pharaoh’s magicians and sorcerers did the same (Exodus 7:11). Moses returned the next day, and striking the waters of the Nile, they turned to blood, killing the fish, and poisoning the water. Pharaoh's magicians repeated the same miracle, and the king’s heart was unmoved. Seven days later, Aaron stretched out his staff and frogs came out of the river, covering the land of Egypt. Egyptians found frogs in their beds, their ovens, and their cooking pots. Once again, however, the magicians did the same by their magic arts (Exodus 8:7). Pharaoh’s heart was untouched by the signs and wonders they performed.

The plague of frogs created a significant problem for Pharaoh and his people. Calling Moses and Aaron to appear before him, he asked them to have them removed, promising to let the people go:

8 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the LORD to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.” - Exodus 8:8 ESV

Moses cried out to the Lord, and that very night, God answered his prayer. The frogs that came onto the land died. The Egyptians began a massive cleanup operation, piling dead frogs in heaps throughout the land. Their rotting bodies made the land stink, but the only living frogs were in the Nile River.

Pharaoh’s request for Moses and Aaron to pray that the Lord take the frogs away demonstrates that he had come to an awareness of the power of the Israelite God. He now understood Him to be more powerful than his magicians and sorcerers. Observe what happened, however, when the plague ended, and all the frogs were cleaned up:

15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. - Exodus 8:15 ESV

Pharaoh broke his promise to Moses and Aaron. The brief glimmer of hope Pharaoh had given them flickered out like a candle in a windstorm, amounting to nothing.

In Exodus 8:16, God told Moses to have Aaron stretch out his hand and strike the ground with his staff. When he obeyed, gnats appeared on the surface of the ground. The Hebrew word כֵּן (kēn) can either be translated as gnat or lice. These gnats appeared on both the Egyptians and their animals. We can imagine how they caused great discomfort for the people. What is important to note here are the words of the magicians to Pharaoh in Exodus 8:18-19:T

18 The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. 19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. - Exodus 8:18-19 ESV

When the magicians were unable to repeat this sign, they told Pharaoh that what had happened that day was beyond their ability, and that they were seeing the finger of God’s judgment upon them. That day, Pharaoh's magicians were convinced that the God of Moses and Aaron was bigger than them. While Pharaoh's heart remained hardened to the purpose of God for His people, you can't help but wonder what he was feeling when the support of his magicians was taken from him. Prior to this, it was a battle between God, Pharaoh, and his magicians. God removed the magicians, and Pharaoh stood alone in his opposition.

Moses and Aaron returned the next morning and demanded that Pharaoh let the people go. They informed him that God would send swarms of flies on his land if he didn’t. They would fill the Egyptian homes, and there would be no escape from them. Only the region where the Israelites lived would be free from these flies. This fourth plague forced Pharaoh's hand. Calling Moses and Aaron to appear before him, he said:

25 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” - Exodus 8:25 ESV

Pharaoh offered a compromise. He suggested that the people offer their sacrifice in the land of Egypt and not in the wilderness as God required. He would give them time off work to do this. While this might seem like a realistic compromise, there were two significant problems.

First, it was a compromise. When it comes to business and personal relationships, compromise may be important, but this is not the case with God. You don't bargain with God. Pharaoh was not ready to fully surrender. He knew he had to do something, but he did not want to lose the Israelites and their service to the nation. God, however, does not accept partial surrender.

The second problem came from the fact that the Egyptians and Hebrew ways were so different that the sacrifices the Hebrews made would have been an abomination to the Egyptians:

26 But Moses said, “It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the LORD our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? - Exodus 8:26 ESV

If the Israelites were serious about their faith, they would offend the Egyptians. The Israelites risked being stoned to death by making these offerings in the land. The worldview of the Egyptians and the Israelites was radically different. Those who want to live a godly life in a dark world will be an offense. The way of faith and the way of the world are, in many ways, polar opposites. For Israel to serve the Lord as He required, they needed to separate themselves from the people of Egypt. No believer can truly thrive by surrounding themselves with darkness and sin.

When Moses rejected Pharaoh’s compromise, the king agreed to let the people go into the wilderness on one condition:

28 So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away. Plead for me.” - Exodus 8:28 ESV

Pharaoh promised to allow the people to go into the wilderness for their sacrifices if they did not go too far away. Pharaoh gave them permission to leave their work and go into the wilderness, but he wanted them at arm's length, to ensure that they would come back and he could continue to use their free labour.

We have all met people like this in our day. They want the protection of God and his blessings. They fear His judgment, but they also want their own way. Their hearts are not sold out to God. They want to do enough to keep on His good side, but they don’t want to surrender all. When the plague of flies passed, Pharaoh soon forgot his commitment and promise. Obedience to God was only a matter of convenience, not from the heart.

When Moses and Aaron return in Exodus 9, they inform him that God would afflict the horses, camels, herds, and flocks of Egypt. By the next day, animals belonging to the Egyptians were dead, while Israel’s animals remained healthy and untouched.

When Pharaoh continued to resist, the Lord told Moses and Aaron to throw handfuls of soot from a kiln into the air. When they did, boils broke out on the Egyptians and the remaining animals. We can only imagine the agony of the people and animals in the land that day. Despite the ongoing suffering, Pharaoh would not let the people go.

God sent hail upon the land, destroying the crops of the field. Moses and Aaron warned him that any person or animal remaining outside in the field would die. Hail fell that day, destroying everything that was not protected: human, animal, and plant. The harvest of barley and flax was destroyed (Exodus 9:31). The loss was devastating for Egypt, and Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron to appear before him. He told them:

27 Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28 Plead with the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” - Exodus 9:27-28 ESV

Pharaoh saw the power of God. He confessed that he had sinned against HIm, and pleaded with Moses to have God stop the thunder and hail. Note, however, the words of Exodus 9:31:

31 (The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.) - Exodus 9:31-32 ESV

While the fax and barley were destroyed, there was still the wheat and emmer to fall back on, for it came up later in the season. As long as he had something left, Pharaoh chose to resist. When the hail stopped, he once again went back on his word.

God was Pharaoh’s last resort. He would only seek Him when there was nothing else to fall back on. God, however, would not be last, and so He continued to break Pharaoh down.

Pharaoh was counting on the wheat and emmer harvest. When Moses and Aaron returned to Pharaoh, however, they told him that if he did not let the people go, God would send locusts to cover the surface of the land and eat what the hail had not destroyed. By sending the locusts, God took away what Pharaoh was counting on.

While Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, his servants seemed to shock him back to reality. Listen to what they told him in Exodus 10:7:

7 Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?” - Exodus 10:7 ESV

His servants pleaded with Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. Note especially the words: “Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?” This shows us something of the blindness of Pharaoh to what was happening. He was so focused on resisting and winning this battle that he was not seeing the devastation his resistance was causing. Our rebellion does have implications not only on us but on those around us. Like Pharaoh, all too many people learn this lesson too late.

His hand forced, Pharaoh called again for Moses and Aaron and asked them who they were taking with them into the wilderness. Moses told him:

9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD.” - Exodus 10:9 ESV

There would be no compromise for Moses. He was taking young, old, sons, daughters, flocks, and herds. Everything and everyone was going with him. Hearing this, Pharaoh’s anger and resistance surfaced once again. He was beginning to understand that these Israelites would never return. He made a further concession to Moses, however, and granted permission for the men to go, but the women and children were to remain.

It could have been easy for Moses to compromise, but he refused to do so. The locusts came and devoured every plant on the surface of the ground. Exodus 10:15 tells us that “not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt.” This was a total devastation of the land.

Pharaoh “hastily” (Exodus 10:16) called for Moses and Aaron and confessed yet again that he had sinned against God and against them. He pleaded with them to remove the locusts. Moses and Aaron prayed, and God sent a strong wind that drove them into the Red Sea. When Pharaoh again hardened his heart, God sent darkness over the entire land. This time, Pharaoh made yet another concession. When he told Moses and Aaron that he would let all the people go, but they were to leave their flocks and herds behind, Moses responded:

26 Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the LORD our God, and we do not know with what we must serve the LORD until we arrive there.” - Exodus 10:26 ESV

I imagine that Moses and Aaron were getting tired of returning to Pharaoh and hearing him reject their demands. Pharaoh told them this time, however, that if they ever returned, he would kill them:

28 Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me; take care never to see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.” - Exodus 10:28 ESV

Pharaoh felt the need to get something out of this for himself. God would settle for nothing but absolute and complete surrender. When Pharaoh hardened his heart once again, the Lord inflicted the worst plague yet. Moses told Pharaoh that at midnight, the angel of the Lord would pass through the land of Egypt, causing the death of the firstborn of every Egyptian family, as well as the firstborn of all their cattle. The grief they would experience in those days would be unlike any they had experienced. In Exodus 11:29-30, we read:

29 At midnight, the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. - Exodus 12:29-30 ESV

This was the final straw for Pharaoh. Summoning Moses and Aaron, Pharaoh finally gave his full permission for the men, women, children, flocks, and herds to leave Egypt. As they left, he pleaded with them to pray for him and his land.

That day, according to Exodus 12:37, six hundred thousand men, besides women and children, left the land of Egypt. If there were 600,000 men, we can assume that there was at least an equal number of women. Remember that there had been a genocide of Israelite males, so their number may have been lower than that of the women.

How many children were there in these Israelite families? While we have no indication in the passage, Exodus tells us that they were greatly multiplying in the land. We likely have here at least two million Israelites leaving the land of Egypt that evening. As they left, the Egyptians showered them with silver, gold, and clothing (see Exodus 12:35-36).

There is one more point we need to make. Exodus 14:5 tells us that when Pharaoh was told that the Israelites had left, he changed his mind. That day, assembling over 600 chariots, he pursued the people of Israel. That decision would be his last. Pursuing the Israelites across the Red Sea, on dry land, the Lord broke the banks of water and drowned the entire army when their chariots became stuck in the mud. To the very end, Pharaoh resisted. He would die with a hard heart that refused to be softened. There are people like this today. They will not allow the Spirit of God to soften their heart. They resist to the end.

Repeatedly in these chapters, we read how God told Moses that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart so that He would not listen. Is God to blame for Pharaoh’s demise? Did He make it impossible for Pharaoh to repent? Did Pharaoh have any freedom to choose God, or was he destined to perish in his rebellion?

While we cannot answer for God, the question we need to ask is this: What does it take to harden a heart? Let’s consider this in terms of the soil in which we plant our seeds. What happens if soil is not broken, tilled, and watered? Doesn’t it become hard? All God has to do to harden a heart is to leave it to its own devices. That heart will harden naturally without the work of God to keep it soft. In the case of Pharaoh, God chose to leave him alone and let him make his own decisions. Pharaoh alone was to blame for the hardness of his heart. A soft heart is a heart that God has not abandoned to itself. It is a heart that He has been breaking, tilling, and watering with His spirit. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart.

Understand something else here about Pharaoh’s resistance. Pharaoh resisted not once or twice but more than ten times. Even with all the opportunities God gave Him to repent, there came a time when he would resist for the last time. God would take his life, and he would stand before the one he resisted to receive his sentence. We don’t know when that time will come, but be assured that it will. Treat every opportunity you have to hear his voice as if you will never have another.

We see an intense battle raging in this section of Scripture. That battle is not for the strong but for the persevering and uncompromising. Who were Moses and Aaron compared to Pharaoh? Pharaoh offered concessions and compromises, but God’s servants refused to take anything less than one hundred percent. Anything less than this would dishonour their Lord and His purpose for them as a people. Banish the thought of fifty or sixty percent. Resist seventy or eighty percent. Your God wants one hundred percent. Don’t be content until He has it.

I can’t help but think of the power of God displayed over those days. As God’s people stood on the banks of the sea, trying to process what had happened, I wonder what they were thinking. They stood at the edge of the water, understanding that never again would this Pharaoh’s cruel commands cause anguish and sorrow. He was no more. His influence had ceased. He and his entire army lay dead on the bottom of the sea. They were totally free. Though the path was long and difficult, the victory was the Lord’s. He had fought for them. Before them lay the vast wilderness and the potential of a new and bright future free of oppression and bondage. All this was the Lord’s doing. The battle was His. Theirs was the victory.

Proove Yourself

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 03:00:12 GMT

Are Calling and Gifts Enough?

8 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. 12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. - Exodus 7:8-13 ESV

The people of Israel have been held in cruel bondage by the Egyptians. In their agony, they cried out to the Lord and He sent Moses and Aaron equipped with His word, signs, and wonders to deliver them from bondage.

Arriving in Egypt, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh with the word of the Lord God. In Exodus 5:1 we read:

1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” - Exodus 5:1 ESV

Israel knew this God to be the Creator of heaven and earth, and the source of all life. He was an all-powerful and all-wise God, whose word alone put the heavens and earth in place. He was also a holy God who demanded obedience and punished those who rebelled against His purpose. This was the God who told Moses and Aaron to go to Pharoah and proclaim: “Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.” These words carried weight, even before Pharaoh. They were spoken by God through His servant Moses. To refuse them was to refuse God.

Notice, however, the response of Pharaoh to this word from God:

2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” - Exodus 2:2; 5:2 ESV

Pharaoh boldly rejects the word of the Lord through Moses. “ Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice ,” he said. His words are blasphemous, bold and proud. “Do you know who I am? I am the Pharaoh of Egypt. Why should I listen to your God? Who is He that I should even entertain what He has to say? His words mean nothing to me. He has no authority over me. I do what I please. As shocking as those words are, they are all to common, even in our day.

The word of God confronts Pharaoh and he doesn’t bat an eye. He doesn’t see why he has to listen to it. He is his own authority. As powerful as that word is, we have all seen people respond to it in the same way. We speak the word of God but they don’t see that it has anything to do with them. It goes in one ear and out the other. They close their minds and hearts. The reality of the matter is that until the Spirit of God softens their heart, this word will not have any impact on their lives. This world will reject it and walk away untouched. Moses felt deep pain in the rejection of the word given to him. Crying out to God that day, he said:

22 … “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.” - Exodus 5:22-23 ESV

When Jesus was on this earth, the religious leaders turned against Him and despised what He taught. Should it surprise us that if they rejected the word of our Lord, they will reject us and what we share as well?

One day the Lord appeared to the prophet Isaiah and said: “ Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? ” When Isaiah heard that call, he volunteered to go as His messenger saying: “ Here I am! Send me .” Notice what God tells the prophet as he goes:

9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ 10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

God was telling His servant that while he would deliver His message, the people would not listen. Their heart would be dull, their ears heavy, their eyes blind. When Isaiah asked how long he was to preach to a people who would not listen, God responded:

11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, 12 and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. - Isaiah 6:8-12 ESV

God told Isaiah to preach His word until the judgement came, there was no one left in the cities and the streets were deserted and lay in waste. Moses proclaims the word of the Lord. God does not always call us to preach to those who will respond. He sometimes asks us to speak to those who reject our message. We are called to share the truth whether people respond to it or not.

Speaking directly to Moses in Exodus 7 God says:

2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. - Exodus 7:2-4 ESV

Pharaoh would resist to the end, but Moses was not to stop speaking what God commanded him to speak. Don’t let the hardness of people’s heart keep you from speaking the truth. God commands the preaching of His Word, and the teaching of His precepts. We must persevere in this work until there is no one left to hear what we have to say.

When Pharaoh rejected the word of the Lord, God sent Moses back again. Note, however, that this time the approach was to be different. Listen to God’s command this time:

God knew that Pharaoh would demand a sign to prove that Moses spoke on His behalf. When God called Moses to go to Pharaoh, he not only gave him a word to speak, but also a sign to perform before him to prove he spoke on God's behalf.

Approaching Pharaoh, Moses cast down his staff on the ground and it became a living serpent. As impressive as this was, Pharaoh then summoned his magicians and sorcerers and they performed the same sign using their occult arts. While Exodus 7:12 tells us that Moses' staff swallowed the staffs of the magicians and sorcerers, Pharaoh's heart was not moved to let the people of Israel go.

The next morning God told Moses to return to Pharaoh with another sign. This time Moses was to stretch out his staff over the waters of Egypt. When he did, the waters turned to blood, killing the fish in the Nile River. Everywhere there was water, it had turned to blood. Nobody could drink it. Seeing this, once again Pharaoh called his magicians and sorcerers. Exodus 7:22-23 tells us that they did the same thing using their secret arts.

22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

Notice the response of Pharaoh, when he saw that the magicians and sorcerers did the same thing:

23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. - Exodus 7:22-23 ESV

This second miraculous sign had no impact on Pharaoh whatsoever. For seven full days, the Egyptians suffered with this bloody water. Only after those seven days without water were over did God send Moses back to Pharaoh.

This time, Moses told Pharaoh that if he did not let the people go, the Nile would swarm with frogs and they would come out of that river into their homes. They would find them in their bedrooms, their ovens, and kneading bowls. Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters and frogs came up as Moses predicted. Once again, however, the magicians and sorcerers performed the same sign and made frogs come up out of the river onto the land.

6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt. - Exodus 7:11; 8:6-7 ESV

While Pharaoh was not convinced, the inconvenience of having so many frogs did move him to petition Moses to have his God remove them from the land.

The battle between Pharaoh and God continues. Moses returns time and time again, only to see the forces of evil repeat the same signs he had performed before Pharaoh. While God was not finished with what He intended to do, these first meetings between Pharaoh and Moses have much to teach us.

Consider first how Pharaoh resisted the word for the Lord spoken through Moses. When Moses returned with a sign from God, Pharaoh continued to resist. When he saw how his magicians did that same thing, he hardened his heart. The passage shows us something about the hardness of the human heart. A staff took on life and became a serpent, water was turned to blood, frogs infested his land at Moses’ command, but none of that opened Pharaoh’s eyes or softened his heart.

Revelation 9 has always spoken powerfully to me about the human heart. Here we read of how the bottomless pit is opened and demonic beings are released to torment those who did not know the Lord. They afflicted them with such pain and agony that they wished they could die but couldn’t. Plagues were unleashed on the earth killing one third of humankind. Then we read the following words:

20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. - Revelation 9:20-21 ESV

It will take more than the worst pain imaginable and the death of one third of humanity to change the sinful human heart. Greater than changing a stick into a serpent, or changing water into blood is the softening of the human heart to God. If your heart is tender toward Him today, understand that this one the greatest of all miracles, and a true work of God in your life.

Second, understand that not all miracles or signs are from God. Pharaoh’s heart was not touched, in part because his magicians and sorcerers were able to repeat the same signs as Moses and Aaron. Those who repeated these signs did so, however, by magic arts and demonic influence.

Revelation 13 speaks of the Beast predicted in the end times. Listen to the words of the apostle John about this beast:

11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. - Revelation 13:11-14 ESV

This great enemy of God will have the power to bring down fire from heaven and perform great and miraculous signs to deceive the inhabitants of the earth.

Speaking about the judgement to come, Jesus said:

22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ - Matthew 7:22-23 ESV

Preachers and miracle workers will stand before the Lord on the Day of Judgement but He will declare to them, “ Depart from me, I never knew you. ” They did mighty works in the name of Jesus, but did not belong to Him. Satan has the power to deceive. He will deceive many through these signs. Not all signs and miracles are from God. We must carefully examine not only the signs but also the message these people present along with their signs.

Understand that God did sent Moses with signs for Pharaoh but he resisted them. God does equip His servants for the work to which He calls them but that does not always guarantee that you will see people repenting of their sin. It takes more than the Word to convince a sinner of his or her need. It taks more than miracles and signs for people to be saved. This work belongs to God alone. He will used His word. He may even use miracles and signs, but make no mistake. it is the Spirit of God alone who can break that hard heart of stone and soften it to the truth.

Now You Will See

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 12:00:29 GMT

God's Victory in Human Failure

Exodus 6:1 - Now You Shall See

God’s Victory in Human Failure

1 But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” - Exodus 6:1 ESV

Exodus 6:1 begins with the words of the Lord: “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh.” The important word here is “now”. It implies that a series of events has taken place leading up to this moment. The word “now” tells us that these events have not been by chance, but orchestrated by the hand of a sovereign God to accomplish a specific purpose. That purpose is to show the people of God what God would do to Pharaoh. This forces us to look back in time to see what it was that brought us to this point, and how those events gave God’s people a deeper appreciation of what He was about to do.

We begin in chapter one with a new king in Egypt who did not know Joseph or his contribution to the nation (Exodus 1:8). Seeing the Israelites in Goshen, and observing their number and strength, this new king became fearful that they would join their enemies and fight against them if war broke out. To remedy this, he set taskmasters over them and set them to work on building the store cities of Ramses and Pithom (Exodus 1:11). The more he oppressed Israel, however, the more they multiplied and spread throughout his land (Exodus 1:12).

Pharaoh intensified his efforts to control Israel and weaken them. He subjected them to slavery and “ made their lives bitter with hard service ” (Exodus 1:14). He also told the midwives that when they assisted in a childbirth, they were to kill every male child born to an Israelite woman. Fearing God, however, these midwives refused to obey Pharaoh’s command, and the result was that the Israelites “ multiplied and grew very strong ” (Exodus 1:20).

Pharaoh again increased his oppression of the people and commanded his citizens to cast every male child, born to a Hebrew woman, into the Nile River (Exodus 1:21). It is uncertain how many male infants died in those days, but one in particular was spared –a young infant named Moses. At the age of forty, Moses visited the people of Israel and was so enraged by the cruelty of an Egyptian beating an Israelite that he lashed out and killed the oppressor (see Acts 7:23). Pharaoh issued a death sentence for Moses as a result, and he was forced to flee Egypt to save his life. This Israelite oppression began before Moses was born. He was forty when he escaped Egypt. At the age of eighty, in exile, God appeared to him in a burning bush to call him back (see Acts 7:30). Eighty years have passed between the time Moses was spared from being drowned in the Nile until he was called back to rescue his people from bondage. All this time, God’s people suffered at the hands of their Egyptian masters.

Sometime during Moses’ exile from Egypt, the king “ who did not know Joseph ” died. It appears that God began to work in the lives of His people in those days. Because of the cruel oppression they suffered under this king, Israel began to cry out to God for deliverance.

23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. - Exodus 2:23 ESV

We know very little about Israel’s faith when Pharaoh began to oppress them. Things were going well prior to this point, and they were certainly living under the blessing of the Lord. It is uncertain, however, how much they knew about the Lord God of their ancestors. Those years of Egyptian oppression seem to culminate, however, in this cry to the God of Joseph for help. God brought His people to rock bottom before they cried out to Him. When they did, He heard their cry for help.

The Lord reached out to Moses in exile, in response to his people’s cry. When Moses fled Egypt, he was a wanted man with a death sentence over his head. After forty years of absence, however, every person seeking his life had died:

19 And the LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” - Exodus 4:19 ESV

Moses was free to return without risking his life. God protected him from his enemies in his exile. As reluctant as he was, Moses returned with the promise of God’s power and victory.

Arriving in Egypt, Moses and his brother Aaron went to the people of Israel and told them what God had spoken to them. They also performed the miraculous signs God gave them as confirmation of their calling. Notice the response of the people in Exodus 4:31:

31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped. - Exodus 4:31 ESV

The children of Israel saw Moses and Aaron as God’s answer to their cry for help. They praised Him for hearing their cry and anticipated great things through His servants.

In Exodus 5, Moses and Aaron approach Pharaoh to request permission to take the Israelites into the wilderness to hold a feast to the Lord their God. The negotiations did not go as they had anticipated. Pharaoh had no intention of giving relief to the Israelites and no interest in the Israelite God or His feasts. In fact, the request caused Pharaoh to increase the people’s workload, commanding that no straw be supplied to make bricks. They were to gather their own straw but still maintain the same quota of bricks per day. The whole incident caused the people to turn against Moses and Aaron, saying:

… “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” - Exodus 5:20-21 ESV

The question we are left with here is this: What went wrong? Why did Moses and Aaron appear to have failed in their negotiations with Pharaoh? Let’s consider this question more carefully.

First, understand that God specifically called Moses to deliver His people from the oppression of Pharaoh. Listen to what God told him in Exodus 3:10:

10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” - Exodus 3:10 ESV

Moses had been called to do exactly what he attempted to do that day, but Pharaoh did not let the people go.

Second, in Exodus 4:1-9 God gave Moses the ability to perform three powerful signs. When Moses went to Pharaoh, he was equipped by God and anointed for that very purpose. He left Pharaoh’s presence, however, feeling defeated.

Third, Moses had the support of the people of Israel and their prayers behind him as he approached the king:

31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped. - Exodus 4:31 ESV

The people praised the Lord God of Israel for them.

Fourth, the message Moses spoke was the very message God had given him to speak:

1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” - Exodus 5:1 ESV

Pharaoh heard the words of God and rejected them. He had no interest in what the God of Israel had to say to him.

Fifth, the timing was right. God told Moses to go to Pharaoh at that time. Despite his initial reluctance, Moses obeyed and went when God told him to go.

Everything appeared to be in place: the calling, the gifting, the support, the message and the timing. Yet Moses and Aaron failed to convince Pharaoh, and the result was devastating for the people of God. They no longer trusted Moses and Aaron, and questioned the God of their fathers. Moses was crushed by these events and cried out to God:

It would be easy to feel that Moses and Aaron had failed. The reality of the matter, however, is that what happened that day was exactly what the Lord intended. Consider what the Lord told Moses when He called him in Exodus 3:

19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that, he will let you go. - Exodus 3:19-20 ESV

God repeated this in Exodus 4:21 when He told Moses:

21 And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. - Exodus 4:21 ESV

God told Moses that Pharaoh would not listen. He informed him that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not let the people go until He had demonstrated His power to Israel as His people and Egypt as His enemy.

What looked like failure to Moses was exactly what God intended. Moses perfectly accomplished the purpose of God in that first interview with Pharaoh. God wanted to demonstrate His power and decided to do this through Pharaoh’s resistance. The whole world would see the power of Israel’s God.

It is in this context that we read the words of God to Moses in Exodus 6:1:

1 “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” - Exodus 6:1 ESV

Pharaoh, hearing the word of God through Moses, chose to resist. In doing so he defied the Lord God of Israel. He challenged God to take the people from him. God accepted that challenge and told Moses, “ Now you will see what I will do. ” There are three important truths we need to learn from this story.

First, the victory was not in Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron very likely went to Pharaoh with a certain confidence in what they could do with the signs of God, and His calling on their lives. When they appeared to fail in their negotiations, Moses in particular appeared to be devastated (see Exodus 5:22-23).

The words, “ Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh ,” would have struck Moses powerfully. While Moses could not change Pharaoh’s mind, God would. Moses’ confidence in his calling, and gifts was admirable, but they were no substitute for God. That day, God declared that what Moses’ calling could not do, He would do through Him. What the miracles and wonders Moses performed could not achieve, God would accomplish. How easy it is to allow our calling to replace God, and our gifts to push Him aside.

Second, what looked like defeat, was actually the path to great victory. Pharaoh threw the first punch by increasing the burden for God’s people. God would very quickly respond with one plague after another, devastating the land of Egypt. Yes, the enemy may have dealt the first blow, but the battle is not over. Watch what God does in response.

Finally, understand that God will sometimes allow things to get worse so we can see the glory of His victory and His gracious compassion toward us. Israel needed to see the power of God acting for their good. Had Pharaoh willingly let the people go, they would never have understood the nature of their God and His work on their behalf.

The trials you face today may be overwhelming. Understand, however, that when God chooses to act for us, nothing on this earth can stand in His way. The battle may be hard, but victory is assured. Watch and see what God will do.

Shiphrah and Puah

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 12:00:07 GMT

Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Circumstances

15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. - Exodus 1:15-17 ESV

Years have passed between the end of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus. We read in Exodus 1:

6 Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. - Exodus 1:6-7 ESV

Notice two details in these verses. First, Joseph and all his generation had died. Second, the Israelites, who had settled in Goshen, had now “ multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. ” We are not told how many years have passed, but it is clear that the seventy who arrived in Egypt under Joseph had become a large multitude of people.

Something else happened in those years between Genesis and Exodus. Exodus 1:8 tells us that “there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” We are left to wonder why this new king did not know Joseph. Understand, first, however, that a whole generation had passed, and Joseph had been dead for many years by this time. Second, we are not told where this new king came from. The Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible has this to say about verse 8:

About sixty years after the death of Joseph a revolution took place—by which the old dynasty was overthrown, and upper and lower Egypt were united into one kingdom. Assuming that the king formerly reigned in Thebes, it is probable that he would know nothing about the Hebrews; and that, as foreigners and shepherds, the new government would, from the first, regard them with dislike and scorn.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible". Marion, IA: Laridian, Inc., 2021. Public Domain

What is clear is that this new king did not know Joseph, understand his contribution to the nation, or and why the people of Israel lived in Goshen. What is clear, however, is his response to their presence:

9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” - Exodus 1:9-10 ESV

This new king had four concerns about the people of Israel in his land. First, there were too many of them. They were no longer a small group of foreigners in Egypt. They represented a large part of the population base of that region.

Second, they were too mighty for him. We are not told what brought Pharaoh to this realization. Clearly, however, the blessing of God was on His people and they prospered greatly at that time. It is quite possible that they were living at a higher standard than the average person in Egypt.

Third, they had a different allegiance, and the king feared that if war broke out the Israelites might join the enemy against Egypt. The people of Israel had another God and did not follow the customs and traditions of Egypt. They had different laws that governed their behaviour. They were foreigners in Egypt with no particular allegiance to Pharaoh. This was concerning for him.

Finally, Pharaoh feared that Israel would escape his land. Pharaoh saw the blessing of God on the lives of the Israelites and knew that this blessing flowed also to them because of their presence among them. He set his heart, therefore, to do what he could to benefit from their presence but keep them under control.

Exodus 1:11 tells us that Pharaoh set taskmasters over the Israelites to “ afflict them with heavy burdens .” This new Pharaoh subjected Israel to forced labour. This would establish his dominance over them and keep them from working their own fields or tending to their sheep. This would strip them of prosperity and make them more dependent on Pharaoh. By using Israel as cheap labour, Pharaoh advanced his own cause at their expense. Exodus 1:11 tells us that Israelite forced labour built the cities of Pithom and Raamses for Pharaoh.

The question we ask ourselves here is this: Why would God allow His people to be subjected to forced labour? While none of us can speak for God, what becomes obvious is what happens when Pharaoh begins to oppress Israel:

12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. - Exodus 1:12 ESV

God used oppression to multiply and spread His people throughout the land. This, in turn, caused the Egyptians to be in greater dread of them. God showed His people that He was bigger than what the Egyptians were doing to them. He showed the Egyptians the nature of the God they were fighting.

Notice Pharaoh’s response to the blessing of God on the lives of his people under forced labour:

13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. - Exodus 1:13-14 ESV

Pharaoh tightens his grip. He commits to fight what God was doing in the lives of His people. The word used in this verse is פֶּרֶךּ (perek) meaning severe or cruel. While God wanted to bless His people, Pharaoh’s objective is to break them. He declares war with God over Israel, makes them his slaves, and treats them cruelly.

We discover from verse 14 that the prosperous and peaceful lives of Israel in Goshen radically changed. The Egyptians “ made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field.” It is not God who is lashing out at the Israelites here. It is the cruelty of a fearful king who saw the blessing of God on His people and despised them for it.

We are in the midst of a spiritual battle. Consider what the Lord Jesus tells us about this in John 3:

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. - John 3:19-20 ESV

Those who love the world, hate the light of Christ. This means that we who love the Lord and walk in His purpose, will be hated by the world:

13 And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. - Mark 13:13 ESV

The apostle Paul tells us that anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted:

12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, - 2 Timothy 3:12 ESV

This is what we are seeing in this passage. The clash between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of evil is very real. Satan lashes out at the people of God, seeking to crush and abuse them.

Note the extent of this demonic oppression against Israel in those days:

What kind of evil is it that commands a midwife to kill every male child born to an Israelite mother? This, however, became the law of the land, as commanded by the king. The intention was to keep Israel from multiplying. Evidently, God was still blessing His people under this cruel servitude as slaves, and they were continuing to increase in number. The command of Pharaoh to the midwives was to defeat the purpose of God.

Let’s take a moment to consider the two midwives to whom Pharaoh issued his decree. Their names were Shiphrah and Puah. The name Shiphrah comes from the Hebrew word שִׁפְרָה (šiphrāh) meaning brightness. The word itself is derived from the root word שֵׂפֶק (šāphar) meaning to glisten. The name Puah is derived from the word פּוּעָה (pūʼāh) which interestingly also means brilliant or to glisten. The point is this. In the midst of this great darkness in Israel's history, God rose up two glistening stars to brighten the lives of His people.

God did not leave Israel to fight this battle alone. He counters what Pharaoh did by raising up two simple women. In the strength of the Lord, these two midwives would thwart the evil intention of the most powerful ruler on the earth, and break through the darkness of Pharaoh’s plan. They would prove the truth of the Psalmist who said:

13 With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes. - Psalms 108:13 ESV

When oppressing the people of Israel and making them slaves did not weaken them or stop them multiplying, Pharaoh came up with a bolder plan. By the king’s decree, when Shiphrah and Puah assisted in a birth, they were to kill every male child born to an Israelite woman. What the king did not understand, however, when he gave this command, was that Shiphrah and Puah “ feared God ” (verse 17). Because they feared God, they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded.

Shiphrah and Puah risked the wrath of Pharaoh out of a fear of God. They were willing to sacrifice their own lives to honour the God of Israel and do His will. There may come a time in each of our lives where our fear of God will be put to the test. Not everyone passes this test. Many give in, and surrender to evil and sin. Shiphrah and Puah, however, stood up against the order of the Pharaoh of Egypt and resisted his command.

This defiance did not go unnoticed. He called them to appear before him and demanded an accounting. “ Why have you done this, and let the male children live? ” Pharaoh questioned in verse 18. Note their response in verse 19:

19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”

The midwives declared the Hebrew women to be vigorous, and told Pharaoh that they did not need midwives to assist them, they were strong and gave birth on their own. We are not told what Pharaoh’s response was to the midwives, nor do we understand the role Shiphrah and Puah played in protecting the Israelite women and their male children from this command of Pharaoh. What is clear is how God responds to them. Verses twenty and twenty-one tells us that “ God dealt well with the midwives. ” That is to say, they knew His special favour in their lives because they chose to obey Him rather than Pharaoh. God also gave the midwives families (verse 21). He blessed them with children because they protected the children of His people. God turned the very thing Pharaoh asked the midwives to do to Israel against him and the people continued to multiply.

20 So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. - Exodus 1:20 ESV

Pharaoh subjected Israel to forced labour, made them slaves and attempted to kill the male children, but none of this worked. God’s people continued to multiply and grow stronger day by day. Shiphrah and Puah stood up against the purpose of Pharaoh, choosing to honour God rather than that king. These two midwives, out of a deep fear and reverence for God, resisted Pharaoh and saved the lives of countless male infants born in those days.

The story of Shiphra and Puah forces us to ask the question: How much do I fear God? Do I only obey when it is convenient, or will I risk everything to honour the God I fear and do what is right? Will I stand like them against the powerful forces of evil and choose obedience rather than compromise?

Exodus 1 recounts how two simple midwives thwarted the plan of one of the most powerful kings on earth at that time. Their commitment to obey God and do what was right, saved the lives of many infant males from Pharaoh’s evil plan. Their simple obedience made them powerful instruments in His hands.

Let me make one more point here. Have you ever looked at your circumstances and thought: How could anything get any worse? Israel was being oppressed. The Pharaoh of Egypt had made them his slaves, and their lives were “ bitter with hard service,” (Exodus 1:14). The king had now set his eyes on murdering every male child born to Israel. Things were certainly pretty bad for the people of God. Understand, however, that when Pharaoh subjected them to forced labour, God responded by causing them to multiply and spread abroad (Exodus 1:12). When Pharaoh commanded the midwives to kill every male child born to an Israelite woman, God led him to speak to two midwives who feared His name. He also strengthened the Israelite women so that they gave birth on their own (Exodus 1:19). The result was that His people continued to multiply and grew very strong (Exodus 1:20).

Despite the evil of that day, God was very much present with His people, strengthening and multiplying them for His purpose. Admittedly, that process was difficult, but if God’s people opened their eyes, they would see how He was using whatever Pharaoh did to make them a stronger people. I have to admit that all too many times I see the struggle but fail to see the strengthening hand of God, equipping, training, and drawing me closer through what I suffer. May God open our eyes to see His presence in the difficulties we currently face.

Genesis 50:15-21 - Am I In The Place of God?

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 13:01:41 GMT

Redeeming Evil

19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? - Genesis 50:19 ESV

Joseph had invited his brothers to join him in Egypt where he promised to take care of them during a famine that was decimating the nations at that time. His father Jacob was 130 years old when he arrived in Egypt (Genesis 47:9). He had not seen Joseph for twenty-two years. God, however, gave Jacob seventeen years with his son before he died at the age of 147 (Genesis 47:28).

The death of Jacob was a significant event. He asked his family to bury him in Canaan with Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and his wife Leah. Joseph had his father embalmed as was the custom of the Egyptians, a process requiring forty days. Genesis 50:7-8 tells us that when Jacob’s body was ready, the family travelled to Canaan for the burial. They were not alone. Accompanying them were Pharaoh’s servants and the elders of Egypt. They left their children and flocks in Egypt. Arriving in Canaan, seven whole days were set apart to mourn Jacob.

There was another reason why the death of Jacob, the patriarch of the family, was significant. His death made Joseph’s brothers worried. Genesis 50:15 describes the cause of their anxiety:

15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” - Genesis 50:15 ESV

Joseph’s brothers feared that he was being kind to them for their father’s sake. They were concerned that with the death of their father now, there was nothing holding Joseph back from getting even with them for selling him into slavery. For seventeen years, Joseph had cared for them and demonstrated nothing but compassion to them, but they were not convinced of the sincerity of his heart toward them. They were not sure he had truly forgiven them.

To address this potential problem, Joseph’s brothers sent a message to him, supposedly from their father, which read:

17 ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.” … - Genesis 50:17 ESV

While we have no record of Jacob giving this message to his sons apart from this verse, it is certainly possible that he was concerned that Joseph might change his mind about his brothers when he passed away. Notice in the note that Jacob recognized the evil his sons had done to Joseph. While everything ultimately turned out for good, the end result did not justify the sin.

Joseph’s brothers also understood that they had done wrong. They followed up the message given to them by their father with the words:

17 … “And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” - Genesis 50:17 ESV

Note the words, “ Please forgive the transgressions of the servants of the God of your father .” They confessed to Joseph that they had sinned against him, and despite the blessings they bathed in that day, they were guilty of selling him into slavery. Their crime was a serious one in the eyes of the law, and one for which they may have possibly even been sentenced to death:

7 “If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. - Deuteronomy 24:7 ESV

It is important to note how Joseph’s brothers confess to a crime that ultimately brought great blessing and saved so many lives. All too many people believe that if everything turns out well in the end, they have nothing to confess. They somehow believe that God justifies their sinful actions by turning it into good. The confession of Jacob and his sons, however, shows us that even when things turn out for good, we are still accountable for our sin.

There is something else we need to understand in this passage. Joseph was a boy of about seventeen when he was sold into slavery. He entered Pharaoh's service at the age of 30. His family arrived in Egypt nine years later (Genesis 44:6). This means that Joseph was 39 years old when his family arrived. Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years before he passed away at the age of 147 (see Genesis 47:28). Joseph was about fifty-six years old when his father died. This means that thirty-nine years have passed since Joseph had been sold into slavery. Notice what happens after thirty-nine years in verse 18:

18 His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” - Genesis 50:18 ESV

Thirty-nine years later, Joseph’s brothers bow, broken before him, pleading for forgiveness, and offering to become his slaves for what they had done to him. They appear to be genuine in their repentance. It is never too late to confess our sin and be freed from its poison in our veins. Time does not erase the guilt of unconfessed sin. It only lingers and destroys us little by little, sapping away our strength and relationship with God.

Note Joseph’s response to his brothers in Genesis 50:19-21:

19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 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. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. - Genesis 50:19-21 ESV

Let’s consider three details in Joseph’s response to his brothers thirty-nine years after they had sinned against him.

First, note the words of verse 19:

19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?” - Genesis 50:19 ESV

What was the concern of Joseph’s brothers? Listen to what they said to each other when their father died:

15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” - Genesis 50:15 ESV

Joseph’s brothers were concerned that Joseph “ hated ” them and “ pay them back ” for the evil they had done to him. They had sold him into slavery for twenty shekels of silver. They had acted on their hatred toward him. They had lied to their father and led him to believe that wild animals had killed his son.

Imagine what Jacob must have felt about sending his young, seventeen-year-old son alone to his brothers. I can imagine that there would have at least been the temptation to blame himself for sending him. I wonder how many times he thought: If only I hadn’t sent him out, he would still be alive today. His brothers knew the special relationship between Joseph and his father, but they let him suffer because the truth was more bitter than the lie.

With Jacob gone, Joseph’s brothers believed that nothing held Joseph back from seeking vengeance. Joseph was now in a position of power and had the ability to pay them back for their crimes against him. They feared serious repercussions at Joseph’s hand.

Notice Joseph’s response, however, in the words, “ Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?” These words are important. They show us first that Joseph had no desire to take vengeance on his brothers. Second, they reveal that Joseph, as powerful as he was, knew that there were some things he did not have the right to do. One of those things was to take vengeance on someone who did him wrong.

Listen to what the law of Moses says about vengeance in the book of Leviticus:

18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. - Leviticus 19:18 ESV

The apostle Paul would repeat this teaching in his epistle to the Romans when he wrote:

19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” - Romans 12:19 ESV

Joseph understood that he had no right to exact vengeance upon his brothers. Vengeance belonged to the Lord alone. The question, “ Am I in the place of God? ” is one we need to ask ourselves every time we want to get back at someone for something they have done to us. We can seek vengeance in deed, or in words. Some of the most subtle forms of vengeance come in the form of spiteful and hateful words spoken against those who have offended us.

Joseph understood his place. He recognized that his brothers had sinned against him, but placed this matter in the hands of God. He would not be his brothers’ judge. They would have to answer to someone higher than him for their actions. “Do not fear,” said Joseph. I am not your judge.

Second, not only did Joseph recognize that God was the only one who could take vengeance, but he also believed that God was fully able to take what was meant for evil and change it into good.

20 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.

Observe that Joseph knew his brothers meant evil against him. That is to say, what they did to him that day was not accidental. It was preconceived and intentional. Joseph’s brothers hated him and wanted to kill him. They agreed together to sell him into slavery and profited from it. He describes their intentions and actions as evil. Joseph recognized the seriousness and horrendous nature of what his brothers had done to him at the age of seventeen. Nothing could excuse those actions. They sinned against him, and acted with evil intent. For this they were guilty.

While Joseph did not minimize the evil his brothers had done to him, he also knew that God had taken the evil of his brothers and used it for good in the end. We often think of evil as being unredeemable but consider what God did in your life and mine. He took a sinner and made him or her his child. In the case of the apostle Paul, God took a persecutor of the church and transformed him into one of the church's greatest apostles and missionaries.

Consider the people of Israel, pursued by the Egyptian army after escaping from their bondage and slavery. If I were among those escapees, I could not have thought of anything worse that could happen at that time. Yet, God took the evil intentions of their pursuers and transformed it into good. By the time the Israelites got to the other side of the sea, they were rejoicing in a sovereign God of judgment as every Egyptian lay dead on the floor of the sea. What the enemy meant for evil, God transformed into incredible victory.

One of the greatest examples of how God takes evil and transforms it into good, is the crucifixion of Jesus. The religious leaders hated our Lord. The Jews cried out for His crucifixion. But as Jesus hung on the cross, bleeding and dying, He took your sin and mine, and restored our relationship with the Father. What the enemy used for evil against Him, God used to bring us salvation.

Understand here that while God transforms evil into good, this does not make him a participant in evil. God may fix what we broke. He may use an evil deed that got us into trouble to get our attention. He will teach us through the things we suffer. He can stir up a passion in us by means of the tragedies of life to teach or comfort others in similar situations. In Joseph’s case, he used the evil his brothers did, to bring him into a position of great authority and power so that he was able to save his family from a famine that could easily have wiped them out.

I don’t pretend to understand how God can sovereignly use the evil done to us to accomplish good. I do know that the apostle Paul understood this to be true when he said:

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28 ESV

Included in the “ all things ” Paul mentions here are the horrific tragedies of life and the offenses brought against us. In Joseph’s case, it was the hatred of his brothers, being sold into slavery, being falsely accused and imprisoned. All of these things worked together in the hands of a sovereign God for good. Yes, his brothers meant evil against him, but God used it for good. Be assured that God can use what you face as well to bless you more than you could ever know. There have been times when I have looked back at some of the most difficult moments of my life and gave thanks to God for what He accomplished through them in my life, ministry and relationships. How absolutely frustrating it must be to the enemy, when everything he does to us only draws us closer to God and makes us more powerful in service.

Third, note how Genesis 50:21 begins with the word, “so.”

21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. - Genesis 50:19-21 ESV

This little word is important and connects the verse to what Joseph has just said. Joseph had just told his brothers two things. First, only God had the right to vengeance. Second, He had changed the evil his brothers intended into good. The word, “so” speaks now of Joseph’s conclusion about these two facts.

If taking vengeance was not his right, then it must be God’s purpose for him to help, for not helping would be to take vengeance. If God used what his brothers did to him to put Him in a place where he had the power to provide for their need, then it must be God’s intention that he do so.

It is one thing to come to a conclusion, and another to commit yourself to act on that conclusion. The flesh cries out for vengeance. It wants to see those who hurt us suffer for what they have done. What we see in Joseph, however, is not the response of his flesh but of the Spirit of God giving him victory over anger, bitterness and unforgiveness. Joseph would bless those who hurt him as God had blessed Him. He appears to be at peace in what God had done for him through the trials of his life.

Now maybe you look at Joseph’s story and say, “If God made me prince of Egypt, without a worry in the world, I would have his attitude as well.” What we need to understand, however, is that being forcibly removed from his family by brothers who hated him, was a very trying experience. Being forced to serve as a slave in the home of an Egyptian family was no picnic either. Losing his hard earned position through the false accusation of his master’s wife accusing him of sexual abuse, would have broken many men. Being held in prison on false charges had to be discouraging. Yet despite these tremendous trials, Joseph persevered. He rose to his position through overwhelming obstacles. Step by step he learned to have confidence in God. Overcoming bitterness and anger, he committed himself to follow God’s leading. He used the circumstances God placed him in for the glory of Lord. He left all vengeance with God. He allowed God to transform his circumstances into good. He concerned himself only with what God set before him, and lived obediently and confidently in that purpose. God did the rest.

Genesis 45:5-8 - Not You But God

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 13:01:40 GMT

Responding to the Tragedies of Life

5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. - Genesis 45:5-8 ESV

Our story begins in Genesis 37, where we read that Jacob had a son named Joseph whom he loved more than any other son. He showed favour to Joseph by making him a special robe of many colours. The robe only served to emphasize this favouritism, and Genesis 37:3-4 tells us that Joseph’s brothers “hated him and could not speak peacefully to him:”

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. - Genesis 37:3-4 ESV

The time came when Joseph’s brothers were tending their sheep in the region of Dothan. Their father Jacob wanted to know how they were doing and sent Joseph to inquire of their well-being. When his brothers saw him approaching at a distance, in their hatred for him, they planned to kill him, throw him in a pit, and tell their father that a wild animal had devoured him:

18 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” - Genesis 37:17-20 ESV

Were it not for Reuben, the eldest brother, they would have taken Joseph’s life that very minute, but he encouraged them instead to simply throw him in a pit and leave him there. The brothers agreed to Reuben’s suggestion and left him to die a slow and cruel death. As they sat down to eat, a band of Ishmaelite traders passed by on their way to Egypt. Judah suggested that instead of leaving Joseph to die in the pit, they could make some money by selling him to these traders. Pulling him out, they sold him instead for twenty shekels of silver. Joseph was taken to Egypt and sold as a slave.

It was the captain of the guard in Pharaoh’s army who purchased Joseph. He was an important man in Egypt. Over time, Joseph proved to be very useful to Potiphar, gaining his absolute confidence. Genesis 39:2-4 describes what took place as Joseph served in his household:

2 The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. - Genesis 39:2-4 ESV

God was with Joseph and blessed him abundantly. His master ultimately put him in charge of his whole household. His brothers had sold him into slavery, but God used their evil intention to give Joseph a place of great importance in one of Egypt’s most influential families.

The day came, however, when Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of acting inappropriately towards her. This resulted in Joseph losing his position in Potiphar’s household and being thrown into prison. We can only imagine how Joseph felt about this false accusation and imprisonment. What appeared to be a tragic injustice, however, would prove to be a blessing in disguise.

The prison keeper quickly discovered what Potiphar had seen in Joseph. God was with him and blessed what he set his hands to do. As a result, the prison keeper put Joseph in charge of the prison, and the Lord made whatever he did to succeed. What Joseph did not understand yet was how the Lord would use this new position in the prison to raise him even higher in the land.

In time, two of Pharaoh’s servants wronged their master and were cast into the prison where Joseph was serving. Though he was himself a prisoner, Genesis 40:4 tells us that Joseph was given charge, by the captain of the guard, over these two men. Genesis 39:1 tells us that Potiphar, Joseph’s former master, was the captain of the guard. While it is not specifically stated here, it may be that it was Potiphar who demonstrated this confidence in Joseph.

One night, both the chief baker and the king’s cupbearer had a dream. There is nothing unusual about dreaming at night, but what is particularly of interest to us is that when Joseph saw the men in the morning, he noted that they were both troubled by their dreams:

6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” - Genesis 40:6-7 ESV

The fact that both of these men had a troubling dream the same night is significant and shows that God was speaking to them. Joseph reminded the prisoners that the God who gave them both these dreams was also able to give them the meaning. That day God gave Joseph the interpretation – the cupbearer would be restored to his position with the king, but the chief baker would be beheaded. Within three days the interpretation came to pass as Joseph predicted.

Note what takes place in Genesis 41:1:

1 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, - Genesis 41:1 ESV

Two years after the cupbearer’s dream was fulfilled, his master, the king, had a dream that troubled him as well (see Genesis 41:8). When all the magicians and wise men were unable to interpret the dream, the cupbearer, who had regular access to the king, remembered how Joseph had interpreted his dream when he was in prison. He informed Pharaoh of this, and Joseph was called from prison to appear before Pharaoh.

That day, God gave Joseph the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream. He told Pharaoh that God was showing him that seven years of plenty would be followed by seven years of great famine. Joseph advised the king to store up grain during the years of plenty in preparation for the famine. The king was so impressed with Joseph’s interpretation and wise counsel that he put him in charge of that project, making him second in command of the nation, only accountable to himself.

Genesis 41:46 tells us that Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of the king. We learn from Genesis 37:2 that he was a boy of seventeen years when he pastured flocks with his brothers.

2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.

Note how he was referred to here as a “boy.” His older brother Reuben still refers to him as a boy when he was sold into slavery in the same chapter:

29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes 30 and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?” - Genesis 37:29-30 ESV

We can assume from these verses that Joseph was likely around the age of seventeen when he was sold into slavery. This means that thirteen years have passed between the time Joseph was sold to Potiphar and he became second in command of Egypt. For at least two of those years, Joseph was in prison before Pharaoh had his dream and released him (see Genesis 40:20-41:1). Thirteen years is a long time. God’s presence, however, never left Joseph during those years. He blessed him abundantly, training and equipping him in preparation for even greater service. We have the advantage of knowing the whole story. For Joseph, however, that story was still being written, and the end was uncertain.

As God revealed through Pharaoh’s dream, the next seven years were years of plenty. Genesis 41:46-48 tells us that Joseph went through all the land of Egypt, gathering up the abundant harvests from the fields and storing them in the various cities of the nation. The result is described for us in Genesis 41:49:

49 And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured - Genesis 41:49 ESV

The harvest amassed and stored up over those seven years in all the Egyptian cities was so great that they could not measure it.

In the eighth year, as Joseph predicted, a seven-year famine struck the earth, threatening to destroy whole families and nations. Joseph opened the storehouses and began to manage the distribution of provisions to needy families throughout the land. Genesis 41:57 tells us that nations from all over came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph.

Among those families coming to Joseph was his own family from Canaan, whom he had not seen for about twenty years. Ultimately, Joseph would bring them to Egypt and settle them in the region of Goshen, where they would remain for the next 430 years (Exodus 12:40-41). Joseph’s family numbered 70 when they arrived in Egypt under Joseph (Genesis 48:27). Four hundred and thirty years later, six hundred thousand men, plus women and children, left Egypt to return to Canaan to establish themselves as an independent nation.

The famine that ravaged Canaan could have destroyed Jacob and his family. God put Joseph in the right place at the right time, however, so that his family could be saved and mature into a large nation over the generations to come.

When Joseph finally revealed his identity to his brothers. Genesis 45:3 tells us that they were so shocked that they could not answer him, “for they were dismayed at his presence.” The word “dismayed” is the Hebrew word בָּהַל (bāhal), which means to be alarmed, frightened, anxious, or troubled. His brothers knew what they had done to Joseph. They stood before one they had sold into slavery, and seeing that he had the power to harm them, they were afraid. Notice the response of Joseph to his brothers in Genesis 45:4-8, however.

First, Joseph recognized and exposed his brothers’ sin:

“I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. - Genesis 45:4 ESV

There can be no victory over sin we refuse to admit or confess. Joseph brings this sinful act out in the open and exposes it for what it was.

Second, Joseph addresses the anger and distress his brothers felt because of what they did to him.

5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here - Genesis 45:5 ESV

Joseph’s brothers felt guilty because of what they had done to him. Joseph was sold into slavery at about 17 years of age. He entered the service of Pharaoh thirteen years later at the age of thirty. When Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, he told them there were five more years of famine left (Genesis 45:6). This means that he had served Pharaoh during the seven years of plenty and two out of the seven years of famine (nine years). Joseph was now about thirty-nine years of age when he told his brothers who he was. His brothers had borne the guilt and shame of what they had done to him for twenty-two years.

Joseph did not want to see his brothers suffer any more on his behalf. He did not want them to be angry with themselves because of what they did. He forgave them and released them from any debt to him.

Third, Joseph recognizes how God turned the evil done to him into good.

For God sent me before you to preserve life. -Genesis 45:5b ESV

Joseph was now seeing the big picture. He saw how God had raised him up and put him in this place for a reason. He saw how God used what his brothers had done to him to accomplish this wonderful purpose. Admittedly, the road leading to this day had been rough, but the destination was so perfect that Joseph could not hold anything against his brothers. His slavery was the path to leadership over the entire nation. Had his brothers not sold him into slavery, the nation of Israel might have perished. God used every trial he faced to train Joseph and advance his position. Every struggle was blessed and used to accomplish God’s perfect purpose.

How could Joseph be angry at his brothers for what they had done when God used it for so much good? He sent him ahead to preserve the lives of his family and many other people around the world.

7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. - Genesis 45:7-8 ESV

Finally, observe how Joseph not only forgave his brothers but also extended a hand of blessing to them.

9 Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. 10 You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11 There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ - Genesis 45:9-11 ESV

Joseph offers his protection to those who had sold him into slavery. He opens the door for them to live with him, under his protection and blessing. He promises to provide for them as a family for the duration of the famine. Joseph’s extended hand of blessing was part of the healing his brothers needed.

Joseph could not be angry about a circumstance God had chosen to redeem for good. If God redeemed Joseph’s tragic circumstances, can he not do the same for you? What has He accomplished in you through your trials? How has he refined you through your pain? God never leaves us alone in our suffering, but uses every situation to strengthen and prepare us for future ministry and service. People may do bad things or say evil things about us, but God can change all that into good. Cast off bitterness and anger. Let God redeem the offense and transform you. Fix your eyes on what He does through the things you suffer. Let the blessing of His presence, new life, refined character, and greater ministry opportunity transform any bitterness you may feel into praise and gratitude to a sovereign God who can change what people mean for harm into great blessing.

Genesis 29-49 - Judah, The Father of Our Lord's Tribe

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 04:00:01 GMT

An Imperfect Reflection of His Glory

Judah was the fourth son of Jacob’s wife Leah. We read about his birth in Genesis 29:35.

35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” Therefore, she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing. - Genesis 29:35 ESV

The name Judah יְהוּדָה (yehūdāh) is derived from the word יָדָה (yādāh) literally means to hold out or to extend the hand (as an individual would in worship). Genesis 29:35 tells us that it is this sense that Leah intended when she named her son Judah, saying, “This time I will praise the Lord,” or I will extend my hands in praise to God for this son.

Names in Scripture are important. Judah represented the gratitude of his mother and the joy she had in what the Lord had done for her in giving her this son. The question we ask ourselves here is whether Judah’s life and ancestry would be a reflection of the praise and gratitude Leah felt on the day of his birth.

One of the first times we encounter Judah, he is with his brothers in the region of Dothan, tending sheep. Their father Jacob, sent Joseph to them to inquire of their well-being. Joseph was a favoured son of his father, and his brothers resented him. Seeing him coming at a distance, they determined to kill him and throw him in a pit:

18 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” - Genesis 37:18-20 ESV

Were it not for the intervention of his oldest brother, Reuben, Joseph’s brothers would have followed through with their plan. Reuben encouraged them not to take Joseph’s life but to simply throw him in that pit and leave him there. Genesis 37:22 tells us that it was his intention to rescue him from that pit and get him back to his father.

22 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. - Genesis 37:22 ESV

Not understanding Reuben’s intentions, the brothers agreed to leave Joseph in the pit to die a slow and cruel death. As the brothers sat down to eat, however, they saw a group of Ishmaelite traders heading to Egypt with their goods for sale. When Judah saw them, he suggested that instead of leaving Joseph to die in the pit, they could sell him into slavery. His brothers agreed to this and were paid twenty shekels of silver for Joseph. The Ishmaelite traders took Joseph to Egypt.

Judah’s suggestion to sell Joseph to these traders was cruel and bitter. Consider, however, what would take place as a result of Judah's suggestion. Joseph was sold to the captain of the guard in Pharaoh’s army. He found favour with his master, who gave him more and more influence and authority:

4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. 5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field. 6 So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him, he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. - Genesis 39:4-6 ESV

Through a series of divinely orchestrated events, Joseph rose in power and became second in command of the nation of Egypt. When a famine struck Canaan, Joseph invited his family to join him in Egypt, where they were spared from what could have destroyed them as a people. Judah’s cruel decision to sell Joseph into bondage set the scene for the salvation of the entire nation. Speaking to his brothers about this, Joseph said:

20 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 ESV

Judah’s decision to sell Joseph into slavery was meant by God to accomplish great good for the entire nation. God protected Joseph and blessed him abundantly until he was in the place He intended him to be. As cruel as Judah’s decision appears to be, it was used by God for good and would ultimately bring great praise and honour to the God of his father Jacob.

Let’s consider, in more detail, the famine that struck Canaan in the days Joseph was ruler in Egypt. Jacob and his sons felt the full impact of that famine and found themself in want of food to feed their families. Hearing that there was grain for sale in Egypt, Jacob sent his sons to buy some and bring it back for their families. Leaving Benjamin, their youngest brother, behind, the brothers made the trip to Egypt for supplies. Unknown to them, Joseph was in charge of the grain. Recognizing them as his brothers, Joseph hid his identity and spoke harshly with them, accusing them of being spies. His brothers reassured him that they were all brothers from a simple family in Canaan. They told him that they had a father and younger brother, and families still at home, and they had simply come to buy supplies to feed them.

Joseph told his brothers that the only way he would believe them was if they brought his youngest brother to him. To assure that they would, he took Simeon, bound him, and kept him in Egypt until they returned with Benjamin.

When their food ran out a second time, the brothers were compelled to return to Egypt to restock their grain supply. When Jacob again asked his sons to return to Egypt, Judah reminded his father that this would not be possible if they did not bring Benjamin with them. Jacob was reluctant to let Benjamin go. Judah negotiated with his father, however, and made him see that there was no other possibility:

8 And Judah said to Israel, his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. 9 I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. 10 If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.” - Genesis 43:8-10 ESV

Note what Judah does here.

First, he reminds his father that the lives of the entire family were at stake. If they did not go, they would starve to death, and the whole family would be lost.

Second, they would not be received in Egypt unless they brought Benjamin, so if Jacob wanted to save the family from certain death, he had to allow his son to go with them. Only Benjamin could save the family.

Third, Judah commits himself as a pledge to assure Benjamin’s safety, and tells his father that if Benjamin did not return safe and sound, he would take the blame and any repercussions demanded by his father.

Finally, Judah reminded his father of the urgency of making a decision on this matter. They could have gone to Egypt and returned twice in the time Jacob hesitated to let Benjamin go.

Judah takes a position of leadership in this matter. We have seen that his brothers took his advice to sell Joseph into slavery. Now we see him negotiating with his father to save his family from famine. It is Judah who convinced Jacob to let Benjamin go with them to Egypt. Were it not for Judah’s negotiating and leadership skills, his family could have perished.

As we come to Genesis 44, we see that Judah’s promise to pledge his own life for Benjamin’s is put to the test. Arriving in Egypt, the brothers stood before Joseph, who had not yet revealed his identity to them. Joseph receives them, speaks with his younger brother, and sends them on their way home, wagons loaded with grain. He told his steward, however, to secretly put his personal cup in Benjamin’s bag. After the brothers left for Canaan, Joseph sent his steward after them, accusing them of stealing his cup. The steward told them that the person in whose bag the cup was found would be taken captive and become Joseph’s servant. The cup was found in Benjamin’s bag.

The brothers returned to Egypt to stand before Joseph. Note, however, the words of Genesis 44:14:

14 When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there. They fell before him to the ground. - Genesis 44:14 ESV

Observe the phrase “when Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house.” Judah is clearly seen as the leader among his brothers. That leadership becomes evident when they arrive at Joseph’s home, and Judah becomes Benjamin’s spokesman and defender. When Joseph insisted that Benjamin remain in Egypt as his servant, Judah asked for permission to speak. He explained about the special relationship Benjamin had with his father and that if they returned without him, this would, in all likelihood, cause such grief to their aging father that it would kill him. Listen to Judah’s words here:

32 For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.’ 33 Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. 34 For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.” - Genesis 44:32-34 ESV

Judah pleads with Joseph to allow him to take his younger brother’s place as his servant. What is most interesting is the response of Joseph to Judah’s petition:

1 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence - Genesis 45:1-3 ESV

It appears that Joseph was powerfully touched by Judah’s petition and willingness to take Benjamin’s place. The brother who had suggested he be sold into slavery is now willing to take his younger brother’s place. Judah, the leader among his brothers, becomes a picture of self-sacrificing love by his willingness to take Benjamin’s punishment upon himself.

After revealing his identity to his brothers, Joseph invites them to live in Egypt for the duration of the famine under his protection. The brothers informed Jacob that Joseph was alive and returned to Egypt to live. Genesis 46: 26-28 recounts what took place when Jacob and his brothers arrived in Egypt:

26 All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. 27 And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy. 28 He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. - Genesis 46:26-28 ESV

It is easy to miss what these verses tell us about Judah. Jacob sent him ahead “to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen.” Judah was sent ahead to contact Joseph and to lead the family to their new home. The man who was willing to sacrifice himself for his father’s beloved now goes ahead to lead his people into the land promised to them by Joseph. It is to him alone that the father entrusts this task.

The final words we read about Judah, the son of Jacob, come from his father Jacob. As Jacob was nearing the point of death, he called his sons to him and blessed them. Of particular interest to us here are the words of Jacob about his son Judah as recorded in Genesis 49:8-12. Let’s take a moment to examine Judah’s blessing, as prophetically pronounced by his father. Understand that the blessings of Genesis 49 were prophesied over the sons of Jacob but would extend to their tribe over the years to come.

Note first the words:

8 “Judah, your brothers shall praise you” - Genesis 49:8 ESV

Remember that Judah’s name comes from a Hebrew root meaning to extend the hand as one does in praise to the Lord. His mother Leah called him Judah, saying, “This time I will praise the Lord” (see Genesis 29:35). Jacob uses a play on words here, but in the process confirms that the name his wife Leah gave Judah was prophetic. The day would come when all of Judah’s brothers would look to his tribe and offer praise. While Judah and his tribe would certainly be great among the tribes of Israel, Hebrews 7:14 reminds us that the Lord Jesus was from the tribe of Judah. His work brought salvation to the ends of the earth. I believe that the day will come when the tribes of Israel will turn to the Lord Jesus, and this prophecy will be ultimately fulfilled in Him.

Second, Jacob told his son Judah that his hand would be on the neck of his enemies.

8 … your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies - Genesis 49:8

As we read the story of the tribe of Judah, we see how God certainly protected them and gave them victory over many enemies. Ultimately, however, true and eternal victory over sin, Satan, and the grave only comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. As Paul the apostle said:

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. - Romans 8:35-37 ESV

In Christ Jesus alone, the descendant of Judah, will this prophetic word come true. In Him alone will there be ultimate victory over every enemy.

Third, Jacob declared that Judah would be a lion’s cub and all his brothers would bow down before him.

8 … your father’s sons shall bow down before you. 9 Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?

The lion is the king of the wild beasts, powerful and inspiring terror in the hearts of the other animals of the forest. Judah would be elevated before his brothers, powerful and demanding respect. As Jacob said, “who dares rouse him?”

In Revelation 5, John saw a scroll with many seals containing the purpose of God for the judgment of the earth. Initially, no one in heaven or on earth was found worthy to open up those seals and execute the purpose of God. John wept, for if no one was found worthy, sin and evil would triumph. Listen, however, to the words of one of the elders to grieving John in Revelation 5:5:

5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” - Revelation 5:2-5 ESV

The Lion of the tribe of Judah had conquered and was the only one found worthy to open the scroll and its seals, unfolding God’s judgment upon the earth. He was the true lion to whom all of Jacob’s sons would one day bow.

Genesis 49:10 is somewhat difficult to translate. In essence, however, we see that Jacob tells his sons that Judah would be given a sceptre and a ruler’s staff. In life, Judah proved to be a leader among his brothers. That position of authority and respect would be given to his family and tribe. They would be kings and leaders among their brothers.

Observe, however, that the time would come when that position would be given to one to whom tribute and obedience of all people was due. The King James Version translates this part of the verse by the words, “until Shiloh comes.” The word “shiloh” means tranquil, safe or prosperous. Imagine a land with no enemies producing abundantly, with its inhabitants living in peace and tranquility. What is important to understand here is that the word “shiloh” came to refer to the Messiah who was to bring this peace, safety, and prosperity. He was Shiloh.

What Jacob is telling Judah here is that he would be a leader among his people, and out of his line would come the Messiah, who would bring this tranquility, safety, and prosperity as a true leader of His people. To Him all tribute and obedience were due.

There is one final blessing Jacob gave to his son Judah and to the tribe that would be called by his name. Jacob pronounces this blessing by the use of a series of images.

First, Jacob would bind his foal and donkey’s colt to a choice vine.

11 Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine - Genesis 49:11, ESV

Foals and colts were generally placed in a pasture where they ate the grass of the field. The prosperity of Judah, however, would be such that they would bind these animals to the best vines and let them feast on grapes. Even their animals would feast in abundance and luxury.

Second, the richness of the tribe would be seen in the fact that they would wash their garments in wine:

11 … he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. - Genesis 49:11, ESV

While clothes were usually washed in water, the abundance of wine would be such that they would wash them in the “blood of grapes” instead.

Finally, note in Genesis 49:12 that their eyes would be darker than wine and their teeth whiter than milk.

12 His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk. - Genesis 49:8-12 ESV

The picture seems to be related to plenty. Judah would have plenty of wine from the vines and would drink it in abundance. This would be reflected in his eyes. His herds would produce an abundance of milk, whitening his teeth as they drank it.

Judah would be prosperous and blessed. The Messiah from the tribe of Judah promised this blessing to all who would come to Him:

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. - John 10:10 ESV

Abundant life in this world and streets of gold in the next are the inheritance for all who open their hearts to this Lion of the tribe of Judah.

What do we see from the life of Judah, the father of our Lord’s tribe? His life was not perfect. He made bad decisions. Despite this, you can’t help but catch a faint glimpse of the coming Messiah through his life. Ultimately, as his name prophesied, he did bring praise to the Lord through his life, the life of his descendants, and particularly the life of the one descendant to whom the sceptre of kingship, the tribute and obedience of all nations belonged. As the father of our Lord’s tribe, he imperfectly reflected something of what was to come in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As the one whose name represents the praise of the Lord, he would be a link in the family line of the Lord Jesus Christ to whom all tribute and obedience is due. His name looked forward to this Lord to whom we now bow in praise. There are pictures in his life of self-sacrificing leadership and concern for the salvation of his people. The blessings he received from his father pointed to the Messiah who was to come. His tribe would pass on the sceptre to Him as the King and leader of His people who would vanquish all His enemies and be the great “Shiloh,” leading His people into safety, and eternal blessing at His side.

All of us reflect the person of the Lord Jesus. As imperfect as that reflection may be, we do catch glimpses of the Messiah to come through him. I ask myself the question as I reflect on this life: To what extent will my life reflect the Messiah, my Lord Jesus Christ?

Genesis 29-49 - Jacob's Family

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 04:00:03 GMT

Is Fruitfulness Earned?

19 And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun. - Genesis 30:19-20 ESV

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were great men of God, the fathers of the Jewish nation through whom God would bless the entire world. What would it have been like to be raised in the home of one of these great men of faith? This is a subject the Bible is surprisingly very open about, especially when it comes to the life of Jacob. In this reflection, I would like to take a moment to examine Jacob’s family life as portrayed in the book of Genesis.

The Inlaws

Jacob did not have a good relationship with his brother Esau. In fact, because Jacob had stolen both his birthright and blessing, Esau vowed to kill him as soon as his father Isaac died (see Genesis 27:42). As a result, Jacob was forced to flee Canaan, and settled in Mesopotamia where his mother’s relatives lived. It was here that he met Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban. It was not long before he determined that he wanted her as his wife and so proposed to her father that he would work seven years for him if he would give him Rachel’s hand in marriage. Laban agreed.

When his seven years of service were over, Jacob approached Laban and asked for Rachel. Laban prepared a feast, gathered the people of the region to celebrate the wedding, and on the wedding night gave him his daughter. Only the light of the next morning revealed, however, that the daughter he gave Jacob was not Rachel, but her older sister Leah. When Jacob demanded an explanation, Laban would only agree to give him Rachel as well, if he bound himself to another seven years of service.

This deception of Laban set the tone for Jacob’s relationship with his father-in-law. In fact, when he had completed his second seven years, he was determined to take his family and leave for Canaan, where he could have his own life. In Genesis 30:25 we read:

25 As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. 26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.” - Genesis 30:25-26 ESV

Laban was unwilling to let them go, however, and offered Jacob whatever wages he required to stay (Genesis 30:28). Jacob agreed, but tension with Laban’s sons began to mount (Genesis 31:1), and his relationship with Laban deteriorated (Genesis 31:2). We catch a glimpse of how Laban treated Jacob during the years he served him in Genesis 31, when speaking to Leah and Rachel, he says:

6 You know that I have served your father with all my strength, 7 yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me. - Genesis 31:6-7 ESV

Note two details here. First, Laban changed Jacob’s wages ten times. Clearly, he was not giving him a raise, but diminishing his salary. Second, Laban would have harmed Jacob were it not for the protection of God. Knowing how their father was taking advantage and abusing their husband, Rachel and Leah agreed to leave and go to Canaan with Jacob.

The opportunity came when Laban left to shear sheep (Genesis 31:19). We read in Genesis 31:20, 21:

20 And Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee. 21 He fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead. - Genesis 31:20-21 ESV

Jacob knew that Laban would do everything he could to keep him under servitude. The only way he could leave was to do so when his father-in-law was away and unsuspecting. The family felt trapped under the authority and domination of a cruel father-in-law.

Only after three days, was Laban informed of Jacob’s flight. Gathering a small army of kinsmen, Laban pursued him. God met Laban on the way, however, and strongly cautioned him to be careful about what he said to his son-in-law. While it is uncertain what Laban intended to do to Jacob, listen to what he told him when they finally met up:

29 It is in my power to do you harm. But the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ - Genesis 31:29 ESV

Laban told Jacob that day that he had power to harm him but God warned him not to do so. Hearing those words, twenty years of frustration exploded in Jacob and came gushing out in one big geyser of anger:

36 Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? ... 38 These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. 39 What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. From my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40 There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41 These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.” - Genesis 31:36,38-42 ESV

That day, Jacob and his father-in-law set up a pillar of stones vowing not to cross that line with evil intent to harm each other.

51 Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me. 52 This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm. - Genesis 31:51-52 ESV

That would likely be the last time Jacob and his wives saw Laban. Jacob did not have a good relationship with his inlaws. What we need to understand, however, is that this strained relationship was a significant part of what God used to bring Jacob back to Canaan, the land He had promised to Abraham.

The Wives

Let’s turn our attention now to Jacob’s two wives. Jacob never wanted to marry Leah. She had been given to him through the deceit and trickery of his father-in-law. It was his second wife Rachel that Jacob loved. As for Leah, she would struggle all her marriage to get her husband to love her but always seemed to be the unloved wife, forced upon Jacob by her father.

God was aware of Leah’s grief in this matter and reached out to her.

31 When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. - Genesis 29:31 ESV

God showed His favour to Leah, as the unloved wife. This did not go unnoticed, and when Leah gave birth to her first child she named him Reuben. Notice the reason for this name:

32 And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” - Genesis 29:32 ESV

Leah knew this son was a blessing from the Lord and hoped this first child would draw her and Jacob together as a couple, and maybe he would even learn to love her as the mother of his child.

When she bore Jacob a second son she called him Simeon saying:

33 … “Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. - Genesis 29:33 ESV

Another year has passed and Leah still thought about how much her husband hated her. While the first child didn’t remedy this, her hope was that this second one might make things right.

Her third son was Levi. When he was born she said:

34 … “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” - Genesis 29:34 ESV

The words “this time” are important and indicate that she is still searching for love and attention from her husband. When child one and two did not assure her of her husband’s love, she hoped this third son would. Consider, however the words of Genesis 30:19:

Even after giving Jacob six children, Leah is still looking to be honoured by her husband as his wife and mother of his sons.

An incident occurs in Genesis 30:14-15 that seems to show how Jacob gave preference to Rachel over Leah. Leah’s oldest son, Reuben, went out one day and picked his mother some flowers. When Rachel saw the mandrakes Reuben brought his mother, she asked if she could have some. Listen to Leah’s response to Rachel:

15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” … - Genesis 30:15a ESV

Leah, accuses Rachel of taking away her husband. The idea is that Jacob was spending his time with Rachel and not with her. As a wife who felt unloved, this was a big deal for her. It was only when Rachel told her that Jacob could sleep with her that night that Leah agreed to give her the flowers:

Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” - Genesis 30:15 ESV

We are not told if Jacob ever had a change of heart about Leah or whether she went to her grave feeling like the unloved and neglected wife.

What about Rachel, the wife Jacob loved? Her struggle was not to know the love and affection of her husband, but with her sister Leah. Rachel was jealous and angry with her sister and saw her as competition in their marriage. This is quite clear in Genesis 30:1 where we read:

1 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” - Genesis 30:1 ESV

Rachel could not bear to see her sister give Jacob children when she could not. She decided to give Jacob her servant Bilhah to bear children on her behalf. When Bilhah bore Jacob his first child, Rachel called him Dan because she said: “God has judged me and has heard my voice and given me a son.” Rachel saw herself on trial. She had a complaint against her sister who had taken her place and married her husband through deceit. She believed God had ruled in her favour by giving her this son through her servant Bilhah.

When Bilhah bore Jacob a second son Genesis 30:8 tells us:

8 Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali. - Genesis 30:8 ESV

Rachel saw herself in a big fight with her sister. The birth of this second son made Rachel feel like she had dealt her sister a serious blow and put her in her place. What is striking, however, is what happens next. In Genesis 35:16-20 we see that Rachel, herself became pregnant and bore Jacob one more son; she died, however, delivering that last child. She died as a relatively young woman of child bearing age. God took the wife Jacob loved and left him with the one he didn’t. Jacob buried her in the region of Bethlehem (Genesis 35:19).

We do not have a record of when Leah died. Jacob outlived her, however, and buried her before he moved to Egypt to be with his son Joseph. Note the words of Jacob to his sons before he died in Genesis 49:28-31:

29 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— - Genesis 49:29-31 ESV

Jacob wanted to be buried with his fathers. Abraham and Sarah were buried in that cave, as were Isaac and his wife Rebekah. Note that he had honoured Leah by burying her with his family. It was now his dying wish to be buried with Leah in that same cave. His body would not lay next to Rachel in death, but Leah.

Jacob struggled in his marriage with these two sisters. Leah spent a good part of her life trying to compete for his attention and love. Rachel clashed with her sister over their husband. Jacob knew the pain of losing the wife he loved at an early age. He also knew what it was like to live with a wife he struggled to love.

The Children

There are a lot of things we could say about Jacob’s children, but in this reflection we have to be specific. His children were not perfect and in fact, some of them caused great heartache for him and his wives. Consider first, the story of Dinah, Jacob’s daughter through Leah.

Dinah

Genesis 34 recounts the story of how Dinah “went out to see the women of the land.” The night out with the girls, however, quickly turned into a nightmare when Shechem, the prince of the land, seized and raped her (Genesis 34:2). We can only imagine what this news did to the family. We read that her brothers, in particular, were outraged that the prince would defile their sister in this way:

7 The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing must not be done. - Genesis 34:7 ESV

This would not have been an easy time for them as a family.

Simeon and Levi

When Shechem, the man who raped Dinah, expressed an interest in taking her to be his wife, Jacob’s family agreed on condition that all the men of the city be circumcised. This was agreed to, but three days after the circumcision, when the men were healing from their wounds, Simeon and Levi took their swords, went into the city, and slaughtered all the males, plundering the city, and taking their wives and children captive (see Genesis 34:25-29). Their impetuous act brought great shame to their father who said:

30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” - Genesis 34:30 ESV

Reuben

Genesis 35:22 tells us that Reuben, Leah’s oldest son, slept with Bilhah, his father’s concubine and mother of some of his children:

22 While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it. … - Genesis 35:22 ESV

This act was not only a blatant act of disrespect to his father but also to his half brothers born to Jacob through Bilhah. We can only imagine that this caused a great turmoil in the already stressful family dynamic at that time.

Joseph

While Joseph proved to be a wonderful and specially loved son to his father Jacob, his brothers hated him because Jacob treated him with favour. Their hatred of Joseph was so great that, when he came to see them while they were keeping sheep, they decided to sell him into slavery to some Ishmaelite traders. To hide the deed from their father, they took Joseph’s cloak, dipped it in goat blood, and brought it to their father who assumed that a wild animal had killed him. They let their father live in this cruel deception for years before the truth was revealed.

Judah

Genesis 38 recounts how Leah’s son Judah married a Canaanite woman and bore three sons. He found a wife for the eldest son Er by the name of Tamar. Er, however, was so wicked that the Lord took his life before he could have a child (see Genesis 38:7). Judah then gave Tamar to his second son Onan, but knowing that the first child born to Tamar would legally belong to his brother Er, Onan refused to give her a child. This so displeased the Lord that he took Onan’s life as well. Seeing what had happened, Judah sent Tamar back to her father’s house as a childless widow.

One day when Judah went to the city of Timnah to shear sheep, Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute. Judah saw her and hired her, not knowing she was his daughter-in law. Tamar became pregnant through her father-in-law Judah and her line continued through him.

Jacob’s family was complicated. You can be sure the multiplicity of issues they faced with their children were not easy for Jacob and his wives, and caused them much grief.

So what does all this have to do with us? Let me say a few words about this in conclusion. Some time ago I was seeking the Lord for greater fruitfulness and blessing in ministry. As I prayed, I asked the Lord to reveal any secret sin. I prayed that He would deal with any spiritual apathy or misunderstandings. I asked for greater holiness and faith. I prayed for ears to hear Him and to know His leading. The focus of that prayer was that I would be more in tune with Him , more committed, more full of faith. These are admirable traits, but my belief that day was that only if I reached a certain level of maturity in these things, could God truly use me.

As I continued in that prayer, the Lord seemed to stop me. I considered what I was praying. I was praying as if God could only use me if I met certain standards of holiness and goodness. I prayed as if I had to earn fruitfulness in ministry by my good and holy life. I understood that I could not earn my salvation in this way, but somehow I believed that my fruitfulness in service for the Lord was very different and that I did have to earn or merit it by measuring up to a certain standard. In other words, my salvation was by grace but the effectiveness of my ministry was by works.

Have you ever looked at a servant of God, powerfully used and said, “He must be close to God to be used like that?” Then you hear about what was happening behind closed doors and realize that he was not as close to God as you thought.

I considered the theology I was believing in my prayer. It was a theology that assumed that being used by God is an indication of how spiritual you are and that only very spiritual people have powerful ministries. Then I considered what the Bible had to say about those who were powerfully used by God. Jacob is one of those men. He was the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, a link in a chain that would bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise to bless all the nations of the earth. We have just examined the messiness of his family life.

What is so amazing about Scripture is that it portrays human beings as they really are, with all their warts and blemishes. I am amazed at the people God uses to accomplish His purpose.

This leads me to understand that being used by God is not an indication of how holy you are?

Fruitfulness in ministry is not earned by a good life. If we believe God uses us because we are so good and holy, then the credit goes to us, and not to God. The fact of the matter is that fruitfulness and being used by God has more to do with his grace and mercy than it does with our goodness and holiness. God uses us despite our failures. The belief that I have to be good and close to God because He used me, is not what Scripture teaches.

Strive to be holy. Pursue goodness. Live a godly life. These are all requirements of Scripture, but realize that God can use whomever He desires. Don’t fall into the error of measuring your closeness to God by how He seems to be using you. Jacob was buried with honours in the grave beside Abraham and Isaac. He was the father of the tribes of Israel, but he was far from perfect. If God could only use perfect people, none of us would ever be used. The amazing truth of the Bible is that God uses whomever He sees fit, even when we have not measured up to His standard.

A Wife for Isaac

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Discerning the Leading of God

2 And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, 3 that I may make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, 4 but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” 5 The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” 6 Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. 7 The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 8 But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.” - Genesis 24:2-8 ESV

Abraham was now “well advanced in years” (Genesis 24:1). God had promised that, through the son born to his wife Sarah, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. As that son reached a marriageable age, Abraham understood the importance of finding the right wife for him. There were a couple of principles guiding Abraham’s choice of wife for Isaac. Those principles were based on what he understood about God and His revealed purpose.

First, Abraham understood that the woman he needed to find for his son had to be one who loved and served his God. He knew that Isaac’s wife could not be a pagan Canaanite who bowed the knee to idols and false gods. The mother of the nation that God promised to Abraham had to be devoted to his God.

Second, when Abram left Haran, after the death of his father Terah, he travelled to the region of Canaan. God appeared to him there and told him that He would give his offspring that land.

5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. - Genesis 12:5-7 ESV

Abraham understood by this that the promise of God would be fulfilled in the land of Canaan, and Isaac needed to live in that region with his wife. Abraham had no understanding of how Isaac and his descendants would acquire that land, but he did have a promise from God that it was set apart for them.

With these two principles in mind, Abraham called his oldest and most trusted servant and commissioned him to find a wife for his son. He told him that he was to find that wife among his own family in Mesopotamia. The woman he chose was willing to leave her homeland and come to live with Isaac in the land God had promised. Under no condition was the servant to diverge from either of these conditions. This was so important to Abraham that he made his servant swear by the “Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth” that he would be true to Abraham’s wishes (see Genesis 24:3).

Abraham did not know how God would fulfill His promise, nor did he know the woman God would choose for his son. He started his search, however, with the truth he knew about God, His purpose, and promises to him. Sometimes all we have is the Word of God and what it tells us about God and His purpose for our lives. It is here we must begin, and it is to these principles we must be faithful.

At the City Well

Having been commissioned by Abraham to find a wife for his son, Isaac, the servant sets out for Mesopotamia, where Abraham’s family lived. He loaded ten camels with provisions for the trip as well as “all sorts of choice gifts from his master” (Genesis 24:10). Arriving in the city where Abraham’s brother Nahor lived, the servant had his camels kneel down beside a well outside the city. He did this knowing that at this particular time of the day, the young girls of the city would be coming to the well to draw water.

Sometimes we don’t find the answer we are looking for because we do not put ourselves in a position where we can find that answer. If you want to catch a fish, you go to the pond. If you want to find a godly Christian husband or wife, you go where men and women of this character gather. This is what Abraham’s servant is doing. He places himself in a situation where God can reveal the answer to him.

The One You Appointed

Having stationed himself at the well, the servant then took a moment to pray:

12 And he said, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.” - Genesis 24:12-14 ESV

We need to see two details in this prayer.

First, the servant commits the decision to the Lord. How easy it is to be deceived as human beings. When Samuel was sent to anoint the next king of Israel, he looked at the outward appearance of Jesse’s sons. Listen to what the Lord told him, however.

7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” - 1 Samuel 16:7 ESV

Knowing that he needed the Lord’s guidance in finding the right wife for Isaac, Abraham’s servant asked God to grant him success by revealing the woman of His choice. Not only does Abraham’s servant place himself where God can reveal the answer to him, but he commits himself not to be fooled by his own reasoning. If you want to know the direction of God, then you need to get your own ideas and agenda out of the way. We have all met Christians who prayed for God’s leading and then went on to make their own decisions without waiting for His answer.

This brings us to the second detail we need to see in this prayer. How was the servant to know the leading of God? In this case, he asked that when the young girls came to the well, and he asked them for a drink, the girl God had chosen for Isaac would not only give him a drink but offer to water his camels as well. Consider this request for a moment.

The average camel can drink anywhere from 75-120 liters of water (20-32 gallons). Abraham’s servant had ten camels. If we allow for the minimum these ten camels could drink, this means that this girl would have to draw 750 liters or 200 gallons of water for these camels. The servant’s request was significant. Not just any girl, rushing home with water for the evening meal, would be willing to make such a commitment.

Notice what happened, however. A young woman by the name of Rebekah arrived at the well. When the servant asked for water, she responded:

18 She said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. 19 When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” - Genesis 24:18-19 ESV

Rebekah offered to draw water for the camels “until they had finished drinking.” In other words, she would provide them with all the water they required and would not stop drawing water until they were satisfied. You would have thought that this response would have been enough, but note what Abraham’s servant does:

21 The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the LORD had prospered his journey or not. - Genesis 24:21 ESV

Abraham’s servant did not see this as an answer from God until Rebekah had completed what she said she would do. He was not looking for words, but action. He silently watched until the last camel pulled its mouth out of the trough, satisfied. Only then did he accept this as the answer he had requested from God and commit himself to pursuing the matter further. Understand that this sign was not the final confirmation the servant needed. It was not intended to be such. Its purpose was to give him a direction to follow. There were important questions to answer before Rebakah could be confirmed as God’s choice of wife for Isaac. All too many people have been deceived because they never confirmed the signs they received to be assured they are from God.

Confirming the Sign

God gave Abraham’s servant the sign he asked for, but that sign needed to be confirmed in three important ways before he knew if Rebekah was the wife for Isaac.

First, the servant needed to know if she was from Abraham’s kindred. This was Abraham’s first requirement.

4 … go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” - Genesis 24:4 ESV

When the servant saw that Rebekah watered his camels, he had the confidence to take matters a step further. He approached her and asked her about her family. She informed him that she was the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor. Nahor was Abraham’s brother. Notice the servant’s response upon hearing this:

26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the LORD - Genesis 24:26 ESV

You can sense the excitement in the servant’s heart as he watches the Lord unfold His purpose. The woman’s family line was confirmed, but there were two other matters needing attention before he could be sure she was the woman God had for his master’s son.

The second confirmation was to come from Rebekah’s family. They needed to approve a marriage between their daughter and Abraham’s son. The servant asked Rebekah if her family could offer him hospitality. She assured him they had straw for his camels and plenty of room for him to stay.

Arriving at her home, the servant wasted no time informing the family of the purpose of his trip. He told them he was Abraham’s servant and had come looking for a wife for his master’s son. He went on to explain how he had asked God for a sign and what Rebekah did that confirmed that sign to him. Upon hearing this, Rebekah’s father and brother responded:

50 … “The thing has come from the LORD; we cannot speak to you bad or good. 51 Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the LORD has spoken.” - Genesis 24:50-51 ESV

They were convinced the Lord was revealing His will for Rebekah to marry Abraham’s son, Isaac. and agreed to the marriage.

The final confirmation had to come from Rebekah herself. Abraham told his servant that the future wife of Isaac needed to leave her family and move to Canaan, the land God had promised to his descendants. Calling Rebekah into their presence, her mother and father asked her if she would be willing to go with Abraham’s servant to be Isaac’s wife. Without hesitation, Rebekah consented to go. This was the final confirmation needed to fulfill all the requirements Abraham had given him. With that final confirmation in place, the servant took Rebekah and, without delay, returned to Canaan with her and presented her to Isaac. Genesis 24:67 tells us that Isaac loved Rebekah and took her as his wife.

Discerning the Leading of God

What do we learn here from Abraham and his servant about discerning the will of the Lord? Let’s break it down by way of summary.

Begin With the Purpose and Promises of God

If we are to discern the will and purpose of God, we must begin with our understanding of His purpose and promises. When God promised to bless the nations through Abraham’s line, He rejected his Egyptian slave Hagar as the mother, choosing instead his wife Sarah, who was from Abraham’s kindred. By this, Abraham understood that the purpose of God was to be accomplished through his family only and not through the pagan nations around him. He insisted, therefore, that Isaac’s wife be from his own family.

When God promised to give Abraham’s offspring the land of Canaan, Abraham knew that the fulfillment of the promise needed to take place in that land, and Isaac’s future wife needed to leave her family and live with him in that region. Abraham began with what he knew about God’s purpose and promises.

Today God’s purpose and promises are recorded for us in the pages of Holy Scripture. It is here that we must begin. God will lead us according to the principles He has revealed in those pages. He will never lead us contrary to His own Word.

Place Yourself Where God Can Show You His Purpose

Understanding the purpose and promise of God to Abraham, the servant was able then to determine that he needed to go to Mesopotamia, where Abraham’s family lived. When he arrived, he positioned himself where he knew the women of the region would come to draw water. If you want to know if God is calling you to the mission field, go where you can meet missionaries and talk to them. If you want to know the Lord Jesus, go where you can hear about him and meet people who know Him.

Leave the Decision With the Lord

It never ceases to surprise me that we say we want the Lord’s will but when we see what we want we quickly grab it without waiting to hear from God. What we want and what God wants are not always the same. We can be easily deceived. Satan will make the path to destruction look appealing. Don’t fall for his tricks. It is God’s will you are seeking to discern, so let Him make that clear to you. I have always been amazed at how the early church cast lots when they wanted to make an important decision. In my mind, this was not logical. Who says, however, that human logic is the best way to determine the will of God? Listen to Proverbs 3:5-6:

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths. - Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV

The command is clear. Do not lean on your own understanding. Acknowledge God, and He will make the path straight and clear. How He will make that path clear to you, I cannot say. He speaks in so many different ways. What is important is that we wait on Him, be sensitive to His direction and leading, and submit to what He shows us.

Confirm the Final Decision With What You Know to be the Purpose and Promise of God

When you sense God is leading you in a certain direction, take the time to confirm what you are sensing with the purpose and promises of God. Abraham’s servant asked about Rebekah’s family, sought permission from her parents, and consulted her about her willingness to leave Mesopotamia to travel with him to Canaan. If any one of these checks failed to be in tune with the purpose or promise God made to Abraham, the servant would know that Rebekah was not the wife for Isaac. If what you think God is asking you to do does not agree fully with His revealed purpose and the promises of Scripture, you can be sure that you have misunderstood what He is saying. God will not lead you contrary to His revealed will and purpose.

Act on What Has Been Revealed to You

When you have confirmed what you believe to be the will of God, act on it. Abraham’s servant wasted no time when he had confirmed the purpose of God. He eagerly departed, without delay, and brought Rebekah back to Isaac. God reveals His purpose, but it is for us to act on what He has revealed. To know the will of God and not to act on it is to sin against God.

Genesis 19-20 - Protection for the Unworthy

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 04:00:01 GMT

The Grace of God in Failure

6 Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, 7 and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 8 Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” 9 But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. 10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. 11 And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door. - Genesis 19:6-11 ESV

The passage quoted above is one of several stories in Genesis nineteen and twenty revealing the failure of human nature and the protection of God upon those who failed. Let’s take a moment to consider what they teach us.

I Have Two Daughters

The first story is about Lot, Abram’s nephew, who chose to live in the evil city of Sodom. It is uncertain what brought Lot to this decision, but it was here that he raised his family. The nature of Sodom’s sin was such that it stirred God to do something about it. He determined to judge its inhabitants by destroying them with sulfur and fire from heaven (see Genesis 19:24). As a result of Abram’s pleas for mercy in Genesis 18, however, God sent two angels to warn Lot and his family about the coming judgment.

Lot met the angels when he was sitting at the city gate. He offered them the hospitality of his home for the night. When they told him they planned to stay in the town square, Lot, knowing the nature of the men of the city, insisted that they stay with him instead. The angels agreed and went with Lot to his home.

As the evening wore on, Genesis 19:4 tells us that “the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house.” They demanded Lot hand over the two men who had come to his house. “Bring them out to us, that we may know them,” they demanded. While we are not explicitly told what these men wanted, we have some clues in the passage about their possible intention.

First, notice Lot’s response to their demand in Genesis 19:6:

6 Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him - Genesis 19:6 ESV

Lot went out to speak with the men and closed the door after him. He did not want that door of the house to be open. He closed it because he knew there was a risk of danger for his guests.

Second, consider Lot’s words to the men who surrounded his house in verse 7:

7 and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. - Genesis 19:7 ESV

We understand from this that the intention of these men of Sodom was very wicked.

Third, observe the alternative Lot offers them in verse 8:

8 Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” - Genesis 19:8 ESV

Lot offers his two daughters to the men to do with as they pleased. He emphasises the fact that they were virgins, showing us that the intention was to allow the men of the city to abuse them sexually.

Finally, consider what Jude tells us about the city of Sodom:

7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. - Jude 7 ESV

According to Jude, Sodom “indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desires.”

All of these passages point to the fact that the men of Sodom had some immoral and perverse wickedness in mind for the men under Lot’s roof. What is striking is that Lot was willing to give his young virgin daughters to these men, knowing that they would abuse them sexually. He had no way of knowing whether his girls would be alive in the morning, but he freely offered them to protect his guests.

What kind of father would offer his young girls to a group of men to be raped and abused all night? I understand that hospitality was culturally important in those days, and visitors were to be protected while they were under your roof, but at what cost? Lot appears to be too free with his daughter’s lives. Such a thing would be an abomination to God.

Despite Lot’s ungodly freedom with his daughters, notice what took place that evening. When the men of the city “pressed hard against Lot and drew near to break the door down,” the angels reached out, brought Lot into the house, and shut the door. Genesis 19:11 goes on to say that they “struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.”

The angels of God not only protected Lot and his daughters from harm that evening, but they kept him from doing something he would have regretted for life. Not too many believers go through life without knowing this kind of protection in their lives. Who among us has not made foolish decisions or found ourselves in a compromising situation? The hand of God surrounded Lot that day and kept Him from evil. How thankful we need to be for this kind of protection when we fall prey to the weakness of our fleshly passions and reasonings.

But He Lingered

It was bad enough that Lot offered his daughters to a band of lustful men. What made the matter worse, however, was a fact we discover in Genesis 19:12-14. Lot’s daughters were engaged to be married. An engagement was a solemn promise and was taken seriously. By offering his daughters to the men of the city, Lot was not only disrespecting his daughters but also his sons-in-law. How could you respect a father-in-law who would willingly hand the daughter he promised you over to be violated by evil men in the city instead of protecting them from harm?

When the angels told Lot to get his family out of the city, for they were about to destroy it, Lot warned his sons-in-law and told them to flee the city. Observe their response in verse 14: “But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.”

Lot lived with Abram and saw how God led and spoke to him. He had experienced the presence of God and His leading as he left Ur and travelled from place to place with his godly uncle. He knew to take the warning of the angels seriously. The problem was that Lot wandered from that lifestyle in Sodom. He had not taught his children the ways of the God of Abraham. He was marrying his daughters to men who did not know the Lord or His ways. They would perish with the ungodly of the city. We have evidence here that Lot did not demonstrate the ways of the Lord to his children. He did not pass on this faith to his family. He had no spiritual authority or credibility in their lives. Now that he needed to warn them, they brushed him off as a fool and didn’t believe a word he said.

Although the angel’s warning was urgent, Lot lingered in Sodom (Genesis 19:16). Why did he linger? It appears that he was powerless to warn his family. They did not take him seriously. He lingered because the judgment of God was about to fall on them, and he couldn’t convince them to believe what he was saying. As the head of his family, he had let them drift into the evil of Sodom. He had not taken his role as spiritual leader seriously. He had not taught them the ways of the God of Abram. What he spoke to them now was foreign. They did not take him seriously.

What do the angels of God do when Lot lingered in helplessness and despair?

16 But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. - Genesis 19:16 ESV

Genesis 19:16 tells us that the angels “seized” Lot, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand and led them out of the city. As Lot’s family resists leaving the city, the angels compel them to leave. Genesis 19:16 tells us that God did this out of mercy for them. They did not willingly leave. They were compelled by the angels who seized them to spare them from the terrible judgment of God. They did not walk with God, but God’s hand was upon them, protecting them from the fiery judgment that was about to fall on their city.

Oh, No, My Lords

The angels of God seized Lot, his wife, and two daughters, and taking them by the hand, led them outside the city to protect them from the judgment of God. Once they were outside of the city limits, one of the angels gave a command to Lot:

17 And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” - Genesis 19:17 ESV

There was urgency in the command, “Escape for your life.” The urgency was such that they were not to look back or stop anywhere in the Jordan Valley until they were safely in the hills. Note the response of Lot, however, to the command of the angels:

18 And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords. 19 Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. 20 Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!” - Genesis 19:18-20 ESV

Lot tells the angels, who were trying to save his life, that he doesn’t want to go all the way to the hills. Instead, he wanted to take his family to a small town nearby. He believed that by going to this town, his life would be saved (see verse 20). There is something quite strange about this conversation. The angel, who was about to bring the judgment of God to the whole region, tells Lot where he could go to be saf,e and Lot chooses not to go there. He wants to go somewhere easier and closer, and so bargains with the angel.

Observe Lot’s reasoning: “I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die.” Lot didn’t believe that he could get to the hills in time. He believed it would be better to escape to the shelter of the little city instead. I find it shocking to see Lot debate this angel of the Lord. He is actually telling the angel that he had a better idea. He chose to trust the protection of a little city rather than take the advice of the angel of the Lord and flee to the hills. I cannot help but see arrogance in the words of Lot as he debates the conditions of his rescue with the angel of the Lord. Note, however, that the angel of the Lord grants him this favour and allows his family to go to that small city, promising not to destroy it for his sake:

21 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. - Genesis 19:21 ESV

Is it not surprising that the angel of God would be gracious to Lot once more and continue to spare him? The grace of God is evident in the life of a man so unworthy. While God granted Lot this favour, He also left him with a chilling warning. The grace and protection of God are not something to take for granted. As the fire of God fell from heaven upon the region, Lot’s wife looked back. Genesis 19:26 tells us that she became a pillar of salt. The passage does not go into detail about how that happened, but what is clear is that she died in that firestorm from heaven. God removed His protection and struck her dead.

Lot’s wife was not an innocent victim to teach Lot a lesson. Genesis 19 makes it clear that she looked back, something she was commanded not to do. She openly defied the command of God and suffered the consequences. The question we need to ask, however, is what was the nature of this looking back? To answer this, consider the words of Jesus in Luke 9 to one who wanted to follow Him but wanted to say farewell to those at home first:

61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” - Luke 9:61-62 ESV

Jesus tells us that when we set our hands to the plow, we are not to look back. The idea is that when we come to Christ, we are not to fall back into our sinful ways. We are to commit ourselves to Him and to Him alone, abandoning our life of sin and rebellion.

Numbers 11 recounts how, after the Lord delivered the people of Israel from slavery, they longingly looked back to Egypt and the life they once knew under that bondage:

4 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” - Numbers 11:4-6 ESV

This is the kind of looking back that Lot’s wife did. She longed to be back in Sodom with its rebellion and immorality. She despised the protection and grace of the Lord, and so God took her along with Sodom. Her death, however, was a reminder to Lot that the grace and protection of God was not to be despised, bartered with or taken for granted.

Lot Went Out of Zoar

The little city where Lot negotiated with the angel to go did not prove to be as secure as he anticipated. We read in Genesis 19:30:

30 Now Lot went up out of Zoar and lived in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. - Genesis 19:30 ESV

It is uncertain what it was about Zoar, “the little city,” that caused Lot to be afraid. Could it be that he saw in that city the same sin as he saw in Sodom? Was he afraid that the judgment of God would fall there as well? Lot decided to leave the city, despite the promise of the angel of God not to destroy it, and go to the hills as the angels had told him in Genesis 19:17. There he found a cave and lived in it with his two daughters.

What Lot possibly failed to understand in those days living in the cave was that sin is not bound by geography and that hiding in a cave did not remove its evil presence. Lot and his girls would prove this in what happened in that cave. Fearing that they would die childless, Lot’s two girls decided to get their father drunk and sleep with him. In this drunken state, Lot impregnated both his daughters.

God does not send fire from heaven upon Lot and his daughters for this abomination. In fact, we read in Genesis 19:37-38 that these girls gave birth to two boys, one would become the father of the Moabite nation and the other, the father of the Ammonites. By his sinful act, Lot gives birth to two nations that would become enemies of the nation God promised Abraham. The family line of Lot would continue, but it was not a godly line. They would go on to become great nations, but they did not know God or His ways. God did not stop the sin that took place in that cave. He allowed these ungodly relationships to produce enemies for His people. What He did, however, was to extend his protection of Abraham’s descendants from Lot’s ungodly line.

She is My Sister

Lot chose a path contrary to the purpose of God and paid a steep price for his decision. Genesis 13 recounts how, when he lived with Abram, Lot had “flocks, herds and tents” and the “land could not support both of them living together “ (Genesis 13:5,6). Now an old man (Genesis 19:31), he has lost everything and is living in a cave in the hills above the Jordan Valley with two pregnant daughters, fearing for their lives.

What about his uncle Abraham, the man of God, through whom the nations of the earth would be blessed? What kind of man was he? The story of Lot and God’s merciful protection of his life is immediately followed by an incident in the life of his uncle Abraham and Sarah, his beautiful wife.

In Genesis 17:21, God promised Abraham that He would bless him with a son through His wife Sarah within a year:

21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.” - Genesis 17:21 ESV

Three chapters later, in Genesis 20, we find Abraham and Sarah in the land of the Philistines. As they traveled there, Abraham, understanding that “there was no fear of God in that place” (Genesis 20:11) chose to deceive King Abimelech into thinking that Sarah was his sister and not his wife. He did this because he feared that if they knew she was his wife, they would kill him and take her from him. If they believed she was his sister, however, they would treat him well for her sake.

When they arrived in Gerar, believing their lie, King Abimilech took Sarah for his harem. We have to understand the seriousness of this event in the context of God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah. Not only did Sarah find herself in a situation where she could become an adulteress, but how would the promise of God be fulfilled if Sarah were in Abimilech’s harem? The unwise decision to lie, placed Abraham and Sarah in a compromising situation and threatened the purpose of God for them as a couple.

How did God respond to their lack of trust and foolishness? He protected Sarah and her relationship with Abraham by keeping Abimelech from touching her (Genesis 20:6), and threatened to kill the king if he did not return Sarah to her rightful husband (Genesis 20:7). Abraham and Sarah, the father and mother of the nation of Israel, failed God. They risked the promise of God to bless them with a child. They risked unfaithfulness in their marriage. They demonstrated that they had not come to a place of full confidence and obedience to the Lord. The Lord bursts through that failure to protect what He had promised them as a couple and, in the very next chapter, as God had promised, Sarah conceived a child through her husband Abraham and gave birth to her first child at the age of ninety years.

We serve a God of incredible patience and grace. We will never fully know the extent of His protection and favour in our lives. How often has He protected us from our foolish ways and decisions? How many times have His angels, unknown to us, protected our lives from danger? How often, in our rebellion and pride, has God held back His judgment? Not one of us will go through life without experiencing this gracious favour of God, despite our foolish and fleshly ways. Jesus reminds us of this when He said:

44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. - Matthew 5:44-45 ESV

While Genesis 19-20 speaks powerfully of the protection and grace of God in failure, there are two key details we cannot miss here.

First, in the middle of this demonstration of the protection and favour of God on Lot’s family is the story of his wife’s tragic death. It reminds us that we dare not take this graciousness of God for granted. Jesus, Himself, speaking in His day, had these words to say to His disciples:

32 Remember Lot’s wife. - Luke 17:32 ESV

The gracious favour of God is a blessing beyond measure. Where would we be today were it not for this wonderful attribute of God? It is not something, however, that we can take for granted. He is under no obligation to us. Lot’s wife paid the ultimate price for despising the grace of God. Jesus challenges us to remember her and her tragic end.

Second, while we see the amazing grace and protection of God in the life of Lot’s family, we also need to see the state of a life lived in rebellion and disobedience. Little by little, Lot lost everything he had. He went from living in the richness of his uncle’s tents to the cold dampness of a cave in the hills above the Jordan Valley in his final years. He lost the respect of his community members, sons-in-law, and even his daughters. He lived in his cave in fear of the Lord’s judgment. Lot experienced the grace of God in his rebellion but lost everything in the process. Knowing the grace of God does not mean we get whatever we want in life. On the contrary, it means we are temporarily spared from what we deserve and given another chance. May we recognize those second chances and allow them to transform us into His image.

A Sacrifice At Moriah

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 04:00:00 GMT

A Picture of Calvary

1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” - Genesis 22:1-2 ESV

This is one of the most perplexing passages of Scripture. It is here that the Lord God appears to Abraham and asks him to offer his only son as a burnt offering on a mountain in Moriah. Consider this command of God to Abraham in light of the Old Testament law as recorded in Deuteronomy 18:

10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. - Deuteronomy 18:10-12 ESV

The law of the Old Testament was clear about this practice. It was an “abomination to the Lord.” No Israelite was to “burn his son or daughter as an offering.” Yet here in Genesis 22 we see the Lord asking Abraham to do just that. This leads us to assume, therefore, that there must be a specific reason for this command of God. Let’s consider a few details in this story in an attempt to discover that reason.

A Son of Promise

Consider first that Isaac was no ordinary child. He was miraculously born to a one-hundred year old father and a ninety-year old mother. God promised this son to Abram and told him that through this young boy, people from every nation on the earth would be blessed. He would become the father of the chosen people of God, the nation of Israel.

The New Testament recounts the story of another promised son, miraculously born of a virgin, who was promised for years by the prophets of Israel to be a blessing to every nation. In fact, the true fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham would be seen through this prophesied child of promise, the Lord Jesus Christ. Both Isaac and Jesus were sons promised by God.

An Only Son

Notice a second detail in Genesis 22:2:

2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love

The wording of this verse is peculiar. If Abraham only had this one son, God could have simply said, “Take your son.” There was no need to specify which son he meant as Isaac was the only one living with him at that time. The addition of the phrase, “your only son Isaac,” is added for emphasis. It is repeated again in both verses twelve and sixteen. It was important to God that people who read this account see this point. God was asking Abraham to offer his “only Son” to Him.

The phrase, “only son” is quite familiar to New Testament readers. In John 3:16 we read:

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16 ESV

The Lord Jesus, was also the only Son of God, offered up as a sacrifice for our sin. The second similarity cannot go unnoticed.

A Mountain in the Land of Moriah

Notice that the Lord called Abraham to sacrifice his son on a mountain in Moriah:

“go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” - Genesis 22:2 ESV

We read about Moriah three times in the Scripture. The first occurrence is here where God calls Abraham to offer his son on an altar.

The second time we read about Moriah is when David sins against God by taking a census in 1 Chronicles 21. This resulted in God sending a plague that would wipe out 70,000 people. In 1 Chronicles 21:18 we read:

18 Now the angel of the LORD had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. - 1 Chronicles 21:18 ESV

David listened to the words of Gad the prophet and purchased a piece of land from Ornan the Jebusite, and built an altar there to the Lord to appease the anger of God for His sin:

26 And David built there an altar to the LORD and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the LORD, and the LORD answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. 27 Then the LORD commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. - 1 Chronicles 21:24,26-27 ESV

Seeing this offering, the Lord withdrew His judgement from the city of Jerusalem. David’s offering on that piece of land saved many lives that day. What does this have to do with Moriah? The answer comes in 2 Chronicles 3:1-2:

1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. - 2 Chronicles 3:1 ESV

The land David bought from Ornan the Jebusite to build an altar to save his people from God’s judgement was on a mountain in Moriah. This very location would now become the location of Solomon’s temple where regular sacrifices would be made to David’s God.

It was also in this region, not far from the temple, where Jesus would become the sacrifice for sin. In the very region where Abraham took his son and laid him on an altar, the Lord God would offer His Son for our sin.

A Burden of Wood

Abraham, obedient to the Lord, prepared for the three-day journey to Moriah. Very likely that preparation involved packing food for the journey and wood for the sacrifice. Note what happened when they arrived at their destination.

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. - Genesis 22:6 ESV

There in Moriah, Abraham took fire, and a knife to kill the offering he would lay on that altar. As for the wood required for that offering, Genesis 22:6 tells us that he laid it on Isaac, his son and Isaac carried it to the location of the sacrifice.

Once again there is something very familiar with this picture. We see an only son being required to carry the wood upon which he would be sacrificed. John 19:16-17 tells us that Jesus left Jerusalem toward the Place of the Skull, “bearing His own cross”:

16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. - John 19:16-17 ESV

Like Isaac, Jesus carried the wood upon which they would lay Him to be sacrificed.

A Son Laid Out On an Altar

When they arrived at the place of sacrifice, Abraham built an altar to the Lord God and, taking His son, bound him and laid him on top of the wood.

9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

Note that it was the father who laid his son on that altar. The sacrifice would not have happened without Abraham’s willingness to obey the Lord God. Consider the words of the prophet Isaiah speaking about the coming Messiah who would lay down His life for the sins of His people. Observe the intention and will of the Father in this prophesy:

10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. - Isaiah 53:10 ESV

Isaiah tells us that it was the will of the Lord to crush His son and make Him an offering for our guilt. While the Son willingly surrendered his life, the Father had His sacrifice to make as well. It would not have been easy for Abraham to bind his son and place him on that wood but he was willing to do it if this was the purpose of God. Abraham’s willing sacrifice is a picture of what the Father would do in the sacrifice of His Only Son.

A Substitution

Observe that when Abraham bound his son on the altar, he lifted up his knife to slay him as a sacrifice to the Lord. While Abraham had to be ready to slay his son, God would not permit him to do it. As he stood there, knife in hand, ready to plunge it into his son’s body, the angel of the Lord called out:

11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

God would not allow Abraham to slaughter his son on that altar. As admirable as Abraham’s devotion to God was, his son was not an acceptable offering. There was only one son who could be a sacrifice for sin and that was the Son of God alone. Writing to the Romans, the apostle Paul said:

32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? - Romans 8:32 ESV

I wonder if the apostle was thinking about Isaac when he wrote those words. Isaac was spared. By sparing him, God was showing that the life of Isaac, the promised son He had chosen to be the father of the tribes of Israel was unacceptable as a sacrifice for sin. God, however, did not spare His own Son, but gave him for our sins. He alone was worthy to be the sacrifice for sin.

God then provided a substitute for Isaac. There behind him at that very moment was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. Abraham offered that ram in Isaac’s place.

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. - Genesis 22:13 ESV

When Abraham saw what took place that day, Genesis 22:14 tells us that he called that place, “The Lord will provide.” When people heard what happened, they began to use the saying: "On the mountain, the Lord will provide,” in reference to Isaac’s experience that day. Those words were prophetic, because years later, the Lord God would do just that in that very region, He would provide His Son on the mountain as a substitute for our penalty.

The Father’s Anticipation

There is one more point I would like to make here. Note the words of Abraham as he took his son up the mountain to make his sacrifice.

4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”

The words of Abraham are perplexing. God had asked him to take his only son up the mountain and to “offer him there as a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:2). How could Abraham honestly say to his young servant, “I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you,” if he was going to offer Isaac as a burnt offering as God commanded? The answer to that question comes in the book of Hebrews where we read:

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. - Hebrews 11:17-19 ESV

We read here that Abraham was looking to the promise of God that through this son he would receive a family that would bless the entire world. He trusted God’s promise and though his faith in that promise was being tested at the time, believed that even if he had to slaughter his son on that altar, God could raise him from the dead to fulfill His promise. In fact, the writer to the Hebrews tells us that Isaac was “figuratively speaking” risen from the dead.

The apostle Paul repeats this same thought when he says about Abraham:

17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” - Romans 4:17-18 ESV

Abraham believed in a God who “gives life to the dead.” He trusted in the promise of God, against all hope, that he would become the “father of many nations.” Abraham anticipated that His son would live to be the fulfillment of God’s promise and if necessary, God would raise him from the dead to fulfill that promise.

What was the expectation of the Father God when His son went to the cross? I am convinced it grieved Him to see His Son suffer and die. God, however, knew that it was not possible for His righteous Son to be held by death.

24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. - Acts 2:24 ESV

The Father knew Jesus would rise triumphant over sin and the grave. He too anticipated overwhelming victory over death. Isaac illustrated the resurrection of our Lord Jesus and ultimately the victory we will have through Him. Way back in the days of Abraham, before the birth of the Jewish nation, God had a plan through His Son for all the nations of this earth. Through Isaac, the nation of Israel would come into being. They would give birth to the Saviour. Through His sacrifice and resurrection, illustrated here in Isaac, blessing, salvation and overwhelming victory over sin and death would become a reality for all who would trust in Him.

Abraham Laughed

Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:55:09 GMT

Laughing at the Impossible

17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” - Genesis 17:17 ESV

11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” 13 The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ - Genesis 18:11-13 ESV

To understand what is happening in the above verses, we need to go back several chapters in the book of Genesis. It begins after the death of Abram’s father, Terah. God appeared to Abram, called him to leave Haran, and made a great promise to Him.

1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. - Genesis 12:1-4 ESV

When Abram was seventy-five years old, God promised that his descendants would become a great nation and they would bless all the “families of the earth.” Showing him the land of Canaan, God told him that He would give it to his offspring (see Genesis 12:5-7). God did not go into detail about how He would accomplish these purposes. All Abram knew was that God had set a land aside for his future family and that they would be a blessing to the world.

Notice how God repeats His promise when Abram and Lot are separated. In Genesis 13:14-17, we read:

14 The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” - Genesis 13:14-17 ESV

It may have been possible for Abram to think that God’s promise would be accomplished through his nephew, seeing that Sarah was unable to conceive. God removed Lot from his household, however, making it clear that His plan to make Abram’s offspring “as the dust of the earth” would not be through him.

The word of the Lord comes again to Abram in Genesis 15. Here God told him that He would be his shield, and his reward would be very great. This was the third time we know that God appeared to Abram prophesying a great blessing. This time, however, Abram questioned God. Years were passing and he had not seen any sign of that promise being fulfilled. He reminded God that he was childless and that the only heir to his wealth was his servant Eliezar (see Genesis 15:3). Listen to what the Lord God told Abram that day:

4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” - Genesis 15:4 ESV

God told Abram that he would have a son and that this son would be the heir and fulfillment of His promise. God went further than this, however, and, taking Abram outside, had him look up into the night sky and said:

5 … “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” - Genesis 15:4-5 ESV

Through his own son, Abram’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars of the sky. That evening, Abram believed God:

6 And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. - Genesis 15:6 ESV

By the time we get to Genesis 17, however, twenty-four years have passed. Abram has not seen a hint of God’s promise being fulfilled. He was ninety-nine years old now, and the Lord appeared to him once again. That day God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, which means “father of a multitude,” and renewed His promise to make him “exceedingly fruitful.” He told him that kings and nations would come from his descendants (see Genesis 17:4-6).

God also changed Sarai’s name to Sarah and told Abraham that He would give him a son through her:

15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” - Genesis 17:15-16 ESV

Note Abram’s response when God told him that it was through Sarai that He would fulfill His promise:

When Abraham heard that he would have a son through his ninety-year-old wife, he laughed. The reason for this laugh is recorded for us in the words, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

Some time later, Abram was relaxing at the door of his tent by the oaks of Mamre when three men appeared before him. Greeting them, he invited them to his tent as guests. He told Sarah to make some cakes, slaughtered a calf, and ordered his servant to prepare it. As they ate, the men told Abraham that by this time next year, Sarah would have a son. Sarah was at the door of the tent and heard this prophetic word. Note her response:

Sarah’s response to this word from the Lord is the same as Abraham’s. She too laughed at what she heard.

Let’s consider this response to the word of the Lord. What caused this laughter and what does it tell us about Abraham and Sarah?

The Hebrew word used for laugh is צָחַק (ṣāḥaq) and speaks of mocking or scorn. It is the response of someone who cannot believe what is said because it makes no sense. This leads us to the first reason Abraham and Sarah laughed –what God said defied human logic.The

We see this in the response of both Abraham and Sarah when they heard the news of the promised child. Abraham said:

“Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” - Genesis 17:17 ESV

Sarah responded:

“After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” - Genesis 18:12 ESV

Abraham and Sarah knew they were old. Sarah was well past the age where she could conceive and safely give birth to a child. From a biological perspective, what the men told them that day was impossible. They laughed at the impossibility of the promise given.

Second, Abraham and Sarah’s laughter was connected to their expectations. Deep down, Abraham knew that God was the God of the impossible, but listen to his response when God told him he would have a child in Genesis 17:

18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. - Genesis 17:18-19 ESV

Abraham’s response was to look to his son Ishmael, whom he had through Sarah’s Egyptian servant Hagar. Sarah had been barren and unable to have children. Abram had given up all hope of ever having a child through her. Abram believed God could make him a great nation, but he had his idea of how that was going to take place, and, in his mind, it wasn’t going to be through Sarah.

From Sarah’s perspective, after God told Abram that He would make him a great nation, she had her expectations as well. We read in Genesis 16:

1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. - Genesis 16:1-2 ESV

Sarah didn’t expect God to give her a child, so she gave Abraham her Egyptian servant Hagar, expecting that God’s promise would be fulfilled through her. Both Abraham and Sarah expected that the promise would be fulfilled through Ishmael. They laughed because what God told them about it being fulfilled through Sarah and a son born to her took them by surprise, and was not what they expected.

Finally, understand that God waited until it was humanly impossible for Abraham and Sarah to have a child for a reason. He was not interested in human effort and natural ability. The birth of the nation of Israel was a miracle. God wanted to show the world that this was no ordinary nation, but one He had chosen for the blessing of the whole earth. The means God chose to create this nation defied logic. It was biologically and scientifically impossible. When Abraham and Sarah held baby Isaac in their arms, there was no doubt about the miracle that had taken place and who was responsible. They laughed at God’s purpose because the means by which He accomplished it was very strange to them.

Let’s consider one more passage before we conclude with the application. As God promised, the child of promise was born to Abraham and Sarah. Consider what Genesis 21:5-7 tells us about the birth and the reaction of Sarah in particular:

5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” - Genesis 21:5-7 ESV

The author affirms that Abraham was one hundred years old when Isaac was born. Note, however, how Sarah speaks of how God had made her and everyone who heard what had happened to laugh. The laughter here, however, is not a laughter of unbelief and mockery, but one of absolute joy, amazement, and surprise at the wonder that had taken place. It defied logic, was not what they expected, and the means God chose to bring this about was nothing short of a miracle.

I suppose it is human to laugh at the impossible. I am thankful, however, that God is not hindered by my lack of faith in what He can do. He often takes me by surprise. He does what I could never have imagined. He accomplishes the impossible despite my failures and misunderstandings. Like many of us, Abraham’s logic and expectations stood in the way of God’s means. Not too many of us have not found ourselves in that situation as well. What I am grateful for, however, is that while we are often tempted to laugh at the impossible, God takes us by surprise, pushes through our frail humanness, and gives us something truly wonderful to laugh at.

The Man Christ Jesus

Wed, 24 Dec 2025 14:21:21 GMT

The Eternal Manhood of Jesus Christ

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, - 1 Timothy 2:5 ESV

To understand what Paul is telling Timothy in the passage quoted above, we need to take a moment to consider his words in the greater context of Scripture. Notice how the apostle describes our Lord as “ the man Christ Jesus .” Let’s consider this phrase under several headings.

The Man Christ Jesus in Prophecy Past

Let’s begin with the first hints we find in Scripture about the Son of God taking on flesh. Consider the words of God to Satan after he tempted Adam and Eve to sin.

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. - Genesis 3:15 ESV

God told the serpent that the day was coming when the offspring of the woman would bruise his head. There is only one person who could deal such a blow to Satan –our Lord Jesus Christ. He did this through His work on the cross. To be an offspring of the woman, however, Jesus would have to be born as a human being. This is what God promised in the opening chapters of the book of Genesis. God would send His Son to be born as a human offspring of Eve to crush the head of Satan and address the curse of sin.

The prophet Isaiah describes this offspring of Eve when he wrote:

2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. - Isaiah 53:2-5 ESV

This human offspring of Eve was rejected by men and acquainted with sorrow and grief. Isaiah tells us that His physical body would be pierced for our sins and He would bring us peace with God.

It was the purpose of God, from eternity past, that His Son became a man for the purpose of addressing the problem of sin. Speaking to the crowd that had gathered in Jerusalem at Pentecost, the apostle Peter put it this way:

23 This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. - Acts 2:23 ESV

God had a “definite plan” from eternity past to send His Son to this earth in human flesh to be a sacrificial lamb.

The Birth of the Man Christ Jesus

One of the basic requirements for being human is to be born a human. What hatches from the eagle's egg will never be an elephant. The offspring of the sheep will never be a donkey.

In Matthew 1, we have the record of the angel of God speaking to Joseph about the miraculous conception of Mary. The angel points out that this child would be conceived in a human womb and born as a son.

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). - Matthew 1:22-23 ESV

Had Jesus suddenly appeared in human form, we would have cause to wonder if He was truly human. We have records of angels appearing in human form in Scripture, but they are not human. For Jesus to be truly human, He needed to be conceived in a human womb, nourished and grow in that womb, dependent on His mother, and be delivered into this world like you and me.

Note also what Luke tells us about this baby Jesus:

52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. - Luke 2:52 ESV

Like any other human child, Jesus had to learn to walk and talk, and interact with those around Him. He had to learn about the world in which He lived. He grew physically into maturity from a baby into a child and eventually a man. He also had to grow in His understanding of the Heavenly Father and His relationship and obligations to Him.

There were no shortcuts for Jesus. He came into this world as every human being does. He learned as we all had to learn. He was fully human in His birth.

The Life of the Man Christ Jesus

Like every human being, the Lord Jesus lived with physical limitations. The Pharisees of that day saw him eat with tax collectors and sinners.

11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” - Matthew 9:11 ESV

Like every human being, he restored His strength with physical food.

Matthew recounts a time when Jesus was so tired that he slept during a great storm in a boat on the sea:

23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” - Matthew 8:23-25 ESV

Jesus, as any man, needed to sleep to restore His limited human strength.

Jesus felt human emotions. After the death of Lazarus, seeing the pain on the faces of those who grieved for their friend and brother, we read in John 11:35 that Jesus wept.

35 Jesus wept. - John 11:35 ESV

According to Mark 3:5 Jesus also felt both anger and grief:

5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. - Mark 3:5 ESV

The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is fully able to identify with our weaknesses and was tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin:

14 Since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. - Hebrews 4:14-15 ESV

When they pierced Jesus' side, He bled like you and me:

34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness— his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth— that you also may believe. - John 19:34-35 ESV

The Lord Jesus lived in a human body like ours. That grew and matured. It also became tired and needed rest. He ate physical food to refuel His energy, and when He was wounded, blood flowed from those wounds. He felt all the human emotions we feel and was tempted by all the same things that tempt us.

The Death of the Man Christ Jesus

One of the most powerful proofs of the humanity of Jesus Christ is His death. We watch this taking place as the soldiers beat Him, and forced Him to carry His own cross to the Place of the Skull:

17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. - John 19:17 ESV

Jesus did not get too far, however, and Matthew tells us that the soldiers were compelled to ask Simon of Cyrene to carry it the rest of the way:

32 As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. - Matthew 27:32 ESV

The human body of Jesus Christ could only handle so much, and it no longer had the physical strength to carry the cross.

We watch Him hang on the cross, His human strength quickly fading until He finally cried out in agony, and His heart stopped. The soldiers came around to break His legs to speed up His death, but they saw that he had already died, so they thrust a spear into His internal organs, assuring beyond question that He was no longer alive.

32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness— his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth— that you also may believe. - John 19:32-35 ESV

Note what took place when Joseph of Arimethea asked for Jesus’ body to bury Him.

43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. - Mark 15:43-45 ESV

Before releasing Jesus’ body, Pilate confirmed with the centurion in charge that Jesus had died. Only when His death was confirmed beyond doubt did Pilate release it to Joseph.

There can be no doubt that the body that hung on that cross and died was very human. Jesus was not some manifestation of a human body but fully human. His body was broken, weakened and died as any body would under those conditions.

The Resurrection of the Man Christ Jesus

We have seen that Jesus died as a man. We need to understand now how He rose. Consider a conversation that took place in Luke 24 after the resurrection of Jesus. He has just appeared to the disciples. Notice their response to the presence of Jesus among them that day:

36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. - Luke 24:36-37 ESV

The disciples thought they saw a spirit in the form of a man when Jesus appeared among them. Scripture speaks of angelic beings manifesting themselves in human form. This is what the disciples thought they saw. Notice, however, how Jesus corrects this misconception:

38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” - Luke 24:38-39 ESV

It was important that Jesus show these disciples that He was not a spirit in the form of a human being but an actual human being standing before them that day. He invited them to touch Him to see that he had flesh and bones as they did. Jesus showed them His hands and feet:

40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. - Luke 24:40 ESV

What was it about His hands and feet that was so important? Was it not the hole from the nails? This showed them that it was not someone who looked like Jesus but the very man who died on the cross in flesh and bone.

Jesus took this a step further and asked the disciples for food. They gave Him some fish, and He ate it in front of them, demonstrating that he could eat human food and be refreshed and strengthened by it.

41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate before them. - Luke 24:36,41-43 ESV

A spirit would not eat human food or be strengthened by it. In this, Jesus demonstrated that He had a human body after His resurrection.

This brings us to an important question. Could Jesus not have died as a man and risen from the dead as God alone, leaving his human nature in the grave? The answer to that question is a definite “no.” It was vital that Jesus rise as a human being. What hope would we have if Jesus could not rise as a man from the grave? What confidence would we have if only His God-nature were victorious? We would be lost and without hope if Jesus did not conquer death in the flesh. That is why it was so important to Jesus that the disciples understand that He was not a spirit or a manifestation of a man but a true flesh and bone human being, as they were, but one who had just conquered sin and the grave. Because the man Christ Jesus rose from the grave, we have hope.

The Man Christ Jesus in Eternity

We have seen that Jesus rose from the dead as a man. The question we must address finally is this: Is Jesus still a man in heaven, or did he renounce his manhood when He completed His work on earth? Let’s see what the Scriptures teach about this.

First, in Acts 1, after commissioning His disciples to make disciples of all nations, He was lifted up in a cloud before their eyes into heaven and disappeared from their sight (Acts 1:9). We know that at this point, Jesus rose from the dead as a man with a body of flesh and bones. This is how He went to heaven, a man in flesh and bones.

As the disciple stood gazing up into heaven, two angels appeared to them in white robes. Listen to what they told these disciples:

10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” - Acts 1:6-11 ESV

According to these verses, Jesus will return in the same way as the disciples saw him go. He will return not only in the clouds but as a man.

If this is the interpretation of Acts 1:11, then it should follow that the apostles would give some evidence in their writings about the manhood of Jesus after His ascension to heaven. Let’s consider a few passages that demonstrate this quite clearly.

Consider first the words of the apostle John in 1 John 3:2:

2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. - 1 John 3:2 ESV

What was John’s expectation? He expected that when the Lord Jesus appeared, we would physically see Him and be like Him. Jesus would have a form that was visible to him, and he would be made like Jesus. We will have a body like His. This body would be set free from sin and its curse. We will see Him as He rose from the dead and ascended to the Father. We will see Him as the man Christ Jesus, but also so much more than a man.

This same thought is repeated by the apostle Paul when he wrote to the Philippians:

20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. - Philippians 3:20-21 ESV

Paul tells the Philippians that Jesus would transform their lowly bodies to be like His glorious body. It was clear to Paul that Jesus had a body. Admittedly, this body was different from our current sin-cursed bodies affected by sickness, disease, and death. But there in His presence, the curse of sin will be lifted, and we will be given new bodies like His resurrected and glorious body.

While it is quite clear that we will be like Jesus and have bodies like His, how do we know that Jesus still has the body of a man? Consider the words of Paul to Timothy as quoted at the beginning of this reflection:

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, - 1 Timothy 2:5 ESV

Consider two details in this verse. First, note that Paul speaks in the present tense: “There is one mediator between God and men.” The idea is that this mediator is still alive and functioning as the only mediator between the two parties. Notice second, how Paul described this mediator as the “man Christ Jesus.”

As Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, he tells us that Jesus, the mediator, who had risen from the dead and ascended to the Father, was a man. Oh, it is clear that He was also fully God, but according to Paul, Jesus had never renounced being a man.

Let me conclude with one final verse. Writing to the Colossians, Paul describes the Lord Jesus in the following terms:

9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, - Colossians 2:9 ESV

What does this tell us? It tells us that Jesus is fully God and fully man. All of the fullness of God dwells in the Lord Jesus in human form. Just as Jesus never renounced His deity to become human, so he never renounced his humanness in His divinity. He will identify with us for all eternity. What took place on the very first Christmas day when Jesus was born on this earth as a man continues on throughout eternity. We will see Him as He is. He will transform our bodies into one like His. This one, however, that we will see in the flesh, is so much more than flesh and bone. The fullness of God dwells in Him. He is in every way God, and our knees will bow to Him as our Saviour and our Lord.

Abram's Deception

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 04:00:00 GMT

The Cost of Deceit

11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” - Genesis 12:11-13 ESV

After the death of his father Terah, the Lord God appeared to Abram and told him to leave Haran and travel to a land He would show them. God promised to make Abram and his descendants into a great nation and through them to bring blessing to all the families of the earth:

Abram obeyed God and arrived in Canaan. It does not appear that he was there long before a great famine forced him and his wife Sarai to go to Egypt. Despite the fact that God had promised to make him a great nation, Abram feared for his life in that land. The source of that fear was in his beautiful wife Sarai. He anticipated that when the Egyptians saw her and knew that he was her husband, they would kill him and take her from him. As they neared the Egyptian border, Abram spoke to his wife Sarai and said:

11 … “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” - Genesis 12:11-13 ESV

Abram’s plan was to tell the Egyptians that Sarai was his sister. This way, they would treat him well for her sake and his life would be spared.

As Abram suspected, when the princes of Egypt saw Sarai they praised her beauty to Pharaoh. Sarai was taken from Abram and placed in Pharaoh’s harem. There in his harem Sarai would undergo a series of beauty treatments and preparations to become one of Pharaoh’s concubines.

Genesis 12:16 tells us that for his “sister,” Pharaoh richly rewarded Abram with sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys and camels. We can only imagine what it would have been like for Sarai in those days, separated from everything she ever knew, wondering what lay ahead for her future.

Consider what is taking place here. God told Abram that He would richly bless him and make him a great nation. How would that promise be fulfilled? Would it not be through Abram’s wife Sarai? Through his deception, Abram gives away the instrument through which that wonderful purpose of God would be accomplished. For this, he was rewarded with the riches of Egypt. Somehow I can almost see Satan smiling from ear to ear, believing that he had defeated the purpose of God for Abram, the Jewish people, and the blessing of every nation through him.

Abram’s actions did not thwart the purpose of a sovereign God. Genesis 12:17 tells us that He “afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.” We are not told how Pharaoh was able to trace those plagues back to Abram but he did. This meant that Abram was called to stand before Pharaoh, who confronted him with his deception, returned his wife and deported them both from the nation.

At this point in his life, Abram appears to be living a nomadic life with no permanent home. After leaving Haran in modern day Syria, Abram settled in Bethel (Genesis 12:8). Because of the famine in Canaan, he took Sarai, and went down to Egypt (Genesis 12:10). After being deported from Egypt he returned to Bethel (Genesis 13:2-3). As we come to Genesis 20:1 we now find him in the Philistine town of Gerar. The king of Gerar was Abimelech.

Notice what took place in Gerar.

2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. - Genesis 20:2 ESV.

Understand here that Sarah was not innocent in this matter. Genesis 20:4 tells us that she also participated in the deception by telling Abimelech that Abraham was her brother and hiding the fact that they were married.

5 Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” - Genesis 20:5 ESV

Abimelech’s intention was to add Sarah to his harem and make her one of his concubines. We are not told how long Sarah was in Abimelech’s home, but it was long enough for his household to understand that something was wrong. Genesis 20:17-18 tells us that during this time, God “ closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah.” None of the women in his household could get pregnant. To understand that this was taking place would have required a significant number of months.

After closing the wombs of the female members of Abimelech’s household, God appeared in a dream to the king and revealed the reason for this. He told Abimelech that Sarah was Abraham’s wife. He threatened to kill the king if he did not return Sarah to her husband. When Abimelech protested and reminded God that he had not touched Sarah, God told him that He had been protecting her. God preserved Sarah for Abraham and the purpose he had for them as a couple.

The truth revealed, Abimelech wasted no time calling Abraham into his presence and rebuking him for his deception. The Philistine king offered sheep, oxen male and female servants to Abraham as well as a thousand pieces of silver as compensation for taking his wife from him.

God protected Sarah these two times. Abraham became a wealthy man through his deception. If God protected Sarai and Abram was enriched, was the deception worth it? Did everything turn out for good in the end? To answer these questions we need to look more closely at the result of Abraham and Sarah’s deception.

Consider first the effect of Abram’s deception on his marriage. While the Bible does not speak about this, unfaithfulness in marriage is a serious matter. Sarai was taken by two men who wanted her to be their concubine. This was a direct result of Abram’s deliberate deception. What wife could seriously respect her husband’s relationship with her if he was willing to give her away to spare his own life, not once but twice? There had to be a price for this deception in Abram’s relationship with Sarai.

Next, consider the cost of Abram’s deception on his relationship with God. He conceived of this idea to say Sarai was his sister because he did not trust God to protect him, despite the fact that He had promised to make him a great nation. He did not honour his wife through whom that nation would come. He willingly put her in a situation where she would be guilty of adultery. He purposely deceived two kings about his relationship with Sarai. Would these things not affect his fellowship with God in those days?

Note next the effect of this deception on his family. In Genesis 12:16 we read how Pharaoh gave Abram sheep, oxen, male and female donkeys, male and female servants and camels for his “sister Sarai.” When the truth was uncovered, Pharaoh deported Abram and he returned to Bethel. There in Bethel, Abram's blessing from Pharaoh meant that his livestock and herds were so plentiful that there was no room in the land for him and Lot (see Genesis 13:6-7). Lot was forced to separate from Abram and chose to go to the fertile Jordan Valley and settled in the city of Sodom. That choice was a bad one for Lot and he lost everything he had in the fiery brimstone sent by God to destroy the city. How much of that loss was a result of Abram’s ill-gotten gain obtained from Pharaoh by deceit?

As we consider the effect of Abram’s deceit on his family we can’t help but take note of what took place with his very own son Isaac in Genesis 26. Because of a famine in Canaan, Isaac went with his wife Rebelaj to the Philistine city of Gerar where Abram had deceived king Abimelech in Genesis 20. Notice what Isaac told the men of that city when they took note of his beautiful wife:

7 When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance. - Genesis 26:7 ESV

Isaac does the same thing to his wife as Abram did to Sarai. That deceptive nature was passed down to Isaac who followed his father’s example. Could Abram be proud of the example he set for his family? Did his example cause his son to fall into the same trap?

Beyond the consequences to his marriage, relationship with God and his family was the effect his deception had on other people. Consider what took place in the palace of Pharaoh. Genesis 12:17 tells us that “ God afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife .” Notice the phrase, “ great plagues .” We are not told what those plagues were or how many people suffered as a result. Understand, however, that this was such a serious matter that Pharoah, daring not to kill Abram, deported him and his wife from his land as unwelcomed guests.

A similar thing happens when Abram deceived Abimelech. God appeared to Abimilech in a dream and said: “ Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman you have taken for she is a man’s wife ” (Genesis 20:3). The king’s life was put in jeopardy as a result of Abram’s actions. This was a crime worthy of death in many countries. We learn also from Genesis 20:17-18 that God struck the slaves and women in the whole house of Abimelech with sterility so that none of them could bear children. Only when Abimelech returned Sarai and Abram prayed for him did God heal the women of that household.

Abram profited from his deception in sheep, oxen, camels, donkeys and servants. God protected Sarai from his lies but there was a cost. The lives of two kings were put at jeopardy. Plagues and diseases afflicted the families Abram deceived. His wife was forced twice into a compromising position. We are left to wonder how much his actions impacted Lot and the loss of his wealth and family. Did his son Isaac repeat his sin because of stories he had heard about his father? His testimony before the people of two nations was tarnished and the kings of those nations distrusted him. One of those kings deported him from his country for his deception.

The question we are left to answer is this: Were the sheep and donkeys worth the price he paid for his deception in the end? You may profit from your deception, but be assured that there will always be a price to pay.

Genesis 11:4-7 - A Great Name

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 04:00:06 GMT

Making a Name for Yourself

4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” - Genesis 11:4-7 (ESV)

2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” - Genesis 12:2-3 (ESV)

The command of God to Noah and his family after the flood was two-fold. In Genesis 9:1 we read:

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. - Genesis 9:1 (ESV)

Years have passed and Noah’s descendants are certainly multiplying. In fact as Genesis 11 begins we see them also filling the earth:

2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there - Genesis 11:2 (ESV)

It appears that the two-fold command of God to Noah, to be fruitful and fill the earth was being fulfilled. But then something happened in the land of Shinar. There in that comfortable, and fertile plain, they felt the urge to settle down. It appears that they liked Shinar so much that they decided to build themselves a city and settle there for good:

According to Genesis 11:4 these settlers of Shinar determined to make a name for themselves. For that to become a reality, two things needed to be in place.

First, they would build a city like none other. There would be a tower in that city taller than any ever built.

Second, they needed to encourage people to settle in the city and keep them from filling the earth as God commanded. The city required a population base to make it large and prosperous. They believed that these two things would make them a great name and set them apart as a great people.

It appears that their leaders were quite convincing and the people rallied behind them. They successfully built their dream city with its tower. In fact, Genesis 11:5 tells us that God came down to see what they had accomplished:

5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. - Genesis 11:5 ESV

The people of that day were making a name for themselves. Notice, what the Lord said about them in Genesis 11:6:

6 And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. - Genesis 11:6 ESV

“This is only the beginning of what they will do,” God said. “Nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” The people had distinguished themselves. They had accomplished a great engineering feat and proven the genius of the human mind. They would go on to bigger and better things, accomplishing what seemed to be impossible. Their passion to make a name for themselves would have become a reality except for one thing –they failed to take into account the purpose of God.

It would be all too easy for these migrants from the east to see themselves as gods. They had demonstrated their skills and ability in the city they had constructed with its tower reaching up into heaven. This was only the beginning of what they would accomplish. They would go on to bigger and better things. Just because you can do something, however, doesn’t mean that you should. There are higher principles at work in the universe. Human ability is not the standard by which all actions must be determined. God is that standard. Human ability must be placed in submission to His purpose for He is the measure of what is right.

What has always struck me in this passage is that God was not threatened by human ability and skill. Notice what God does here:

7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth. - Genesis 11:7-9 ESV

The great wisdom and genius of humanity was confused by a simple gesture from God. In confusing their languages, the Lord dispersed them over the face of the earth. This was God’s purpose in Genesis 9:1. The great city with a tower that reached into the heavens was abandoned. It would become a testimony to the frailty of human genius and the greater purpose of God.

What is striking in this section of Genesis is what takes place in the very next chapter.

The God who dispersed those who wanted to make a name for themselves in Shinar now reaches out to Abram and tells him that He would make him a great nation and give him a great name.

Abram was a simple man. There does not seem to be any particular reason why God chose to give him a great name. Unlike the people of Shinar, he had not constructed a great tower or built a city. In the seventy-five years of his life, to our knowledge, he had not distinguished himself by any feat of human strength, skill or intelligence. God, however, had a purpose for his life and that purpose was to lift him up, bless him and make his descendants into a great nation. His great name did not come from the fact that he was better than anyone else but because of God’s purpose for him.

Abraham would become the father of the Jewish nation. That nation would in turn give birth to the Messiah who would save His people from sin through His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary and victory over sin and the grave.

The people of Shinar with all their brilliance and achievements have come and gone. Their tower has crumbled and disappeared. We hear nothing more of them. Abraham’s name remains. The father of a great nation, a simple man whose greatness did not come from himself but from the purpose of God. Remove God and you remove Abraham’s great name.

A great name comes from a great purpose and there is no greater purpose than the purpose of a great God achieved through ordinary people.

Genesis 13:3-14 - Resolving Strife

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 19:11:58 GMT

Can We Support Those Who Make Bad Decisions?

8 Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus, they separated from each other. 12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD. - Genesis 13:8-13 ESV

Our story begins in the land of Babylon. There in the city of Ur lived a man by the name of Terah. He had three sons (Abram, Nahor and Haran). His son Haran died in Ur, leaving behind a grandson by the name of Lot. We are not told why, but for some reason Terah decided to leave Ur and settle in the region of Canaan. By this time, his son Abram had married Sarai. Terah took Abram, Sarai, and his grandson Lot with him and together they set out for a new life in Canaan.

This small group of immigrants did not reach Canaan. Terah decided to settle in the region of Haran, likely in modern day Syria. The passage does not tell us why they did not continue to Canaan but Genesis 11:32 tells us that Terah would die in Haran at the age of 205. It may be that the trip was simply too much for him in his old age.

As we come to Genesis 12, we read that after Terah’s death, God appeared to Abram and told him to leave Haran and travel to a place He would show him. At the age of seventy-five, Abram left Haran, taking his wife and his brother’s son Lot and set out for the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:5). When they reached Canaan, the Lord told Abram that He would give this land to his offspring:

5 … When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So, he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. - Genesis 12:5-7 ESV

After hearing this promise, Abram continued his journey southward to the region of Bethel where he would pitch his tent (Genesis 12:8). While a famine drove him to Egypt for some time, Abram would return to Bethel where he would settle with his nephew Lot and raise sheep.

We are not sure how old Lot is by this time. Clearly, however, he has grown up. Genesis 13:5 tells us:

5 And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6 so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together – Genesis 13:5-6 ESV

Lot prospered with Abram. Now, as a grown man, he had his own flock of sheep. Verse 7 tells us that Lot also hired herdsmen to help with his sheep. It is uncertain if he was married at this time.

While Abram and Lot seemed to get along well, a problem arose between their herdsmen. This came about because of the size of their herds and the limited land available to them.

7 and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land. Genesis 13:7 ESV

Observe here that the issue appears to revolve around the fact that the Canaanites and Perizzites were dwelling in the land. Their large herd needed vast pasturelands but the Canaanites and Perizzites were living in those lands, and they would not have been keen to surrender their land so that Abram and Lot could have space for their flock. This meant that Lot’s herdsmen and Abram’s herdsmen were competing for space for their sheep and this was creating conflict between them. Some important decisions had to be made.

As they seek to resolve this conflict between their herdsmen, Abram and Lot are aware of one indisputable fact –they were kinsmen.

8 Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. - Genesis 13:8 ESV

Lot was Abram’s nephew and grew up with Abram and Terah caring for him. This is not something they were willing to throw away. We have all watched families fall apart over a disagreement that could have been easily resolved. We have seen churches divide over matters that should have been settled. I admit that this is not always possible, but family, friendships and relationships are very precious and often of greater value than any differences we may experience between us. Abram and Lot began with a commitment to guard their relationship and not let anything come between them.

Note secondly that Abram and Lot decided to put some friendly space between themselves so that they could individually fulfil the purpose of God for their lives. God had a different plan for these two men. Two sons would be born to Lot. The first would become the father of the Moabites. The descendants of the second would become the Ammonites (see Genesis 19:36-38). Abram, on the other hand, would give birth to the Israelite nation. Abram and Lot had been together for many years. They had immigrated from Ur and had shared many life experiences. Everything was now going to change. Lot would strike out on his own. Abram had to let that happen. He could not hold on to the way things had always been. Doing so would not only restrict Lot but hinder the purpose of God for Abram. As difficult as it may have been for them, Abram and Lot had to surrender to God’s ultimate purpose and accept that that purpose would not be fulfilled together.

Notice how Abram resolves this matter in verse 9:

9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left. - Genesis 13:9 ESV

Abram gives Lot his freedom. He tells him to take his flock and herdsmen and move out on his own. He gives him the freedom to choose where he wants to go. Lot seemed to be quite happy with this new freedom to strike out on his own. This was an important decision and so he chose a land that was well watered and fertile – the Jordan Valley and pitched his tent in the region of Sodom. Genesis 13:13 tells us something about the people of Sodom:

13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD. - Genesis 13:13 ESV

The Jordan Valley may have been fertile, but its inhabitants were ungodly sinners. This is where Lot would raise his family. Lot was raised in a godly family, but he seems to turn his back on that now as he strikes out on his own. His children, wife and future sons-in-law grew up not knowing the God of his uncle Abram.

By the time we come to Genesis 19 we find Lot sitting at the gate of Sodom. Often city leaders would sit at the gate and conduct business. What is interesting to note here is that Lot does not seem to have opted for country living in that fertile Jordan Valley but chose to settle in the city. We saw him sitting at the city gate in Genesis 19:1. Listen to the words of the angels of God who came to destroy the city of Sodom:

12 Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place . - Genesis 19:12 ESV

Lot’s sons-in-law and daughters were living in the city of Sodom. Verse 15 underscores this idea when the angels urged Lot to take his wife and daughters away from the city so they could destroy it:

15 As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” - Genesis 19:15 ESV

It seems then that Lot opted for city life when he moved into the region of Sodom. He lived in a city so evil, the Lord determined to destroy it. In the end, Lot lost his wife in the judgment of Sodom. His family line was perpetuated through an incestuous relationship with his two daughters when he was drunk with wine. His descendants, the Moabites and the Ammonites never claimed the God of Israel. Lot’s decision took him and his family down a very different road from that of Abram.

What is interesting to note here is the while Lot chose a different path from Abram, Abram never abandoned the kinship bond he had with him. When Sodom was attacked by a coalition of kings and Lot’s family captured in Genesis 14, Abram risked his life, took 318 men, pursued these kings, and rescued his nephew. When three angels announced to Abram in Genesis 18 that they were going to destroy Sodom, he interceded long and hard for the city, knowing that his nephew lived there.

The passage shows us that conflicts will arise even in the most loving relationships. This story shows, however, several important points we need to keep in mind.

Relationships are Important

Abram shows us that his relationship with Lot was important to him. When there was conflict between herdsmen, Abram did what he could to resolve it in a way that supported a good relationship with his nephew. When Lot chose a different path, Abram still fought for him and pleaded his case before God. Our children, friends or family may not walk as we do but they are our kinsmen, and we are called to stand with them in their times of need.

Accept God’s Sovereign Purpose

Note that Abram came to the realization that Lot and he had to put some space between them if they were going to keep a good relationship. This was not something that either of them had necessarily expected. God’s purpose for Lot was not his purpose for Abram. To hold onto what was not intended to be would only hinder both parties. When I was pastor in Mauritius, trying to decide if I was to return to the church or not, I read a phrase in a newsletter that said: “How often has the work of God been hindered by well-meaning servants who have simply stayed too long.” I came to realize that as much as I loved those people, God was taking me elsewhere. Abram and Lot needed to surrender to the sovereign purpose of God for their lives. In resolving any issue, God’s purpose must overrule my preferences.

Free Will is a Gift Given by God

Abram, recognizing the need to let Lot go, gave him the choice of where he would settle. This is a fearful thing for any parent watching their children leave home for the first time. There are times we wish we could control every aspect of the decisions those children make. Understand, however, that God has given each of us the freedom of choice. Abram watched Lot leave his home and travel to the Jordan Valley and settle in the most evil city in the region. There comes a point in time, however, when we must let people make their decisions and experience the consequences of those decisions. God gives us the freedom to choose. We must grant that same privilege to our friends and loved ones all the while trusting God to work out His purpose.

Lot’s Decision did not Diminish Abram’s Concern and Support

Lot’s decision to move to Sodom, would ultimately lead to great trouble in his life and the lives of his family members. While Abram had to give him the freedom to choose that lifestyle, it did not diminish Abram’s deep concern for him. He risked his life pursuing the coalition of kings that had captured Lot. He pleaded with the angels of God to spare the city and ultimately to spare his nephew. God heard that prayer. Lot’s decision would prove to be a bad one, but one thing was certain. Despite his foolishness, he knew the support of his uncle to the end.

Do you have loved ones in Lot’s position? May God, give you grace to stand with them and petition heaven on their behalf. May the Father in heaven hear your plea and spare their lives.

Genesis 6:5; 8:21 - The Intentions of the Heart

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 04:00:00 GMT

How God Saw the Human Heart and what He did about it

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of

his heart was only evil continually. – Genesis 6:5 ESV

And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth – Genesis 8:21 ESV

By the days of Noah the effect of sin on the earth was becoming very evident. Adam’s son Cain had killed his brother Abel in a fit of jealousy. Lamech, his descendant boasted one day:

“I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.” Genesis 4:23 ESV

Broken relationships and murder were not the only indications of sin in the world of that day. Genesis 5 traces the family line from Adam to Noah. What is striking about this genealogy is that the lifespan in that chapter is from 969 to 777 years. By the time we get to Genesis 11, however, the lifespan is reduced from 500 to 205. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all died under the age of 200. Something significant is happening here. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob could expect to live 700 years less than their first ancestors. The effect of the curse of sin on human lifespan was quite dramatic. In our day, even with all our medical interventions and scientific advances, we cannot expect to live even half as long as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Consider what God saw when he looked down on the inhabitants of the earth in Noah’s day:

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. – Genesis 6:5 ESV

God looks deep into the heart of humankind and what did He see? Genesis 6:5 tells us that He saw wickedness. When God created man in Genesis 1:27 He looked at what He had formed and called it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). The word translated “wickedness” is רַע raʼ and speaks of evil, harm, misery, trouble or wretchedness. When Adam and Eve opened their heart to the knowledge of evil, this was the result. That knowledge polluted their whole being. Though created good, the knowledge of evil corrupted their thoughts, attitudes and actions destroying their relationship with God and each other.

Notice the extent of this corruption. Genesis 6:5 tells us that “every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” The word “intention” here is יֵצֶר yēṣer and refers to the imagination or thoughts conjured up in the mind. Every thought of the human mind was only evil. There was no thought for God. Every imagination of their mind was in one way or another impacted by sin and evil. This was not just some of the times but continually. Their mind never stopped conjuring up evil schemes that had nothing to do with God or His ways.Th

The evil of that day so grieved God’s heart that He regretted making man. Notice how the writer of Genesis put it:

6 And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

The sinful thoughts and imaginations of humankind “grieved God to his heart.” The heart is the seat of emotions, feelings, passions and desires. It is where our deepest pain is stored and our greatest hurts felt. There is no greater grief than that which comes from the heart. God watched the people He had created to have fellowship with Him imagine evil continually. He saw the devastation of sin and its curse in their lives impacting every decision and action. He watched humanity drowning in a sea of evil by their own choice. They no longer heard His voice. They no longer saw Him or recognized Him. There was no passion in their heart left for God. He was a stranger to them, and an enemy to everything that they now wanted in life.

What was particularly grievous to the Lord is found in Genesis 8:21:

Notice the phrase, “the intentions of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” The word translated “youth” is נָעוּר nāʼūr which speaks of a child. The idea is that from the earliest age there is already evidence of evil in the human heart. The Psalmist David put it this way:

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.- Psalm 51:5

David confesses his adulterous affair in this Psalm by recognizing that he was a sinner from his mother’s womb. He had at the very earliest recollection a bent to sin and evil.

Speaking about the people of Israel, the prophet Isaiah said:

8 You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your ear has not been opened. For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously, and that from before birth you were called a rebel. - Isaiah 48:8

“Before birth you were called a rebel,” Isaiah told his people. We often hear people speak about the “innocence of youth,” but the Bible paints a different picture. God looked down and saw that every imagination of the thoughts of man was only evil continually from his youth, a rebel before birth, conceived as a sinner and given birth as one who needed forgiveness and cleansing. That would have been the end of the story if it were not for the mercy of God through His Son Jesus Christ. Writing to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul said:

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; – 2 Corinthians 5:17-18

While the first creation of God turned its back on Him, through His Son Jesus Christ there is now a new creation. The old nature crucified, a new is born. Past sins forgiven, we are reconciled with God and given a new heart and mind through the work of His Son and the ministry of His Spirit. We become new creatures in Jesus Christ. Do you know this transformation of God in your life today? Have you been changed and made a child of God? Cry out to Him today. Ask Him to crucify that sinful and rebellious flesh and give you a new heart.

Genesis 9:20-25 - Canaan's Curse

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 01:44:02 GMT

The Sin of Doing Nothing

Canaan’s Curse

20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” - Genesis 9:20-25 ESV

Genesis 9:20-25 is a passage that is often overlooked, but it is historically significant for Israel. The context is Noah’s flood. The waters have subsided and Noah and his family have now settled on dry land. God renewed a covenant with Noah and blessed his family, charging them to be “fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.”

This would be a new start for humanity. All of Adam and Eve’s descendants, apart from this one family, had perished in the flood. God had poured out His anger on the earth, destroying man, animal and vegetation. If Adam and Eve understood loving fellowship with God in a perfect world, Noah and his family understood the wrath of God in a sinful world. They knew the consequences of rebellion against God in a way that Adam and Eve did not.

As Noah and His family settled into this new world, the knowledge of God’s deep anger over rebellion and disobedience was a powerful theme. The question was whether the knowledge of God’s wrath would keep them from evil.

After the flood, Genesis 9:20 tells us that Noah “began to be a man of the soil.” In particular, Noah planted a vineyard and became a winemaker. Genesis 9:21 recounts a time when Noah, drank the wine he had made and became drunk.

Somehow in his drunken state, Noah “lay uncovered in his tent.” We are not told how this happened, nor is there any indication of anything immoral taking place at the time. Had Noah’s thinking been clearer, he would have covered himself with a blanket but his drunken state clouded that judgement and he ended up exposed for those entering his tent to see. The incident, though not the focus of the chapter, does subject Noah to two errors. First, he lost control of his thoughts and actions and second, he put himself in a compromising situation shaming himself as a father, husband and man of God.

While the incident was a blight on Noah’s character, it is not the focus of the passage. What is of greater significance here is the response of Noah’s sons.

Notice first the response of Ham, Noah’s youngest son, in verse 22:

22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. Verses 24 and 25 tell us that when Noah “woke from his wine” and discovered “what his youngest son had done to him,” he cursed him and made him a servant to his older brothers. Note the wording of Noah’s curse: "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” – Genesis 9:25b ESV

According to verse 22, Ham was the father of Canaan. For his actions, Noah cursed not only Ham but his descendants after him. The day would come when God would hand the land of Canaan over to the Israelites. They would slaughter the descendants of Ham and take over their land – a land they occupy to this day.

What was so evil and repulsive to Noah that he would curse his own son and every child born in his line? The answer seems to lie in the response of Shem and Japheth in verse 23:

23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. - Genesis 9:23 ESV

When Shem and Japheth heard that their father lay drunk and exposed in his tent, they took a garment and covered Noah’s shame.

What would you do if someone you loved was being exposed to harm, or public shame? Would you turn your back and leave them to suffer the indignity? That is what Ham did. Shem and Japheth loved and respected their father enough that they did not want to see him humiliated. Ham showed nothing but disrespect by leaving him exposed for all to see.

Jesus, quoting from the Old Testament, says this:

4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ - Matthew 15:4 ESV

To dishonour one’s parents was a crime worthy of death under Old Testament law. While that law had not yet been written, what Ham did that day brought a curse upon himself and his descendants for generations to come.

The flood did not change the human heart. Ham’s heart remained rebellious against the purpose of God for his family. His descendants would turn from the God of his father, settle in the land of Canaan and walk in paganism. Listen to the words of Moses to the people who were going to inherit the land of Canaan:

16 But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, 17 but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded, 18 that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the LORD your God. - Deuteronomy 20:16-18 ESV

God reserved complete destruction for the Canaanites because of their “abominable practices.” The son of Noah became the father of a nation without the knowledge of God, devoted to destruction.

Ham did not walk in his father’s faith. His children and grandchildren would grow up not knowing Noah’s God. As one generation followed another, any evidence of the faith of their ancestor Noah had completely disappeared. Will your faith be passed on to the next generation or will future generations walk in ignorance of your God? Could it be that by repeating Ham’s sin of doing nothing, whole generations will be plunged into darkness.

Redesigned Website

Sat, 15 Nov 2025 05:13:36 GMT

New Website Design

It has been my privilege to work with EyetoEye Design over the past couple of weeks, redesigning the Light To My Path Book Distribution Website. They were able to take what I had worked on over the past few years, refresh it, and make it more user-friendly. They were great people to work with.

Genesis 3:4-5 - Knowing Good And Evil

Sat, 15 Nov 2025 03:15:40 GMT

Is the knowledge if Evil a Good Thing?

4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good from evil. – Genesis 3:4-5 (ESV)

Genesis 1:31 describes the world in which Adam and Eve first lived:

31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. – Genesis 1:31a (ESV)

In this perfect world, evil was unknown. There was no sickness, death, or disease. Adam and Eve, as the sole inhabitants, delighted in the goodness of God and fellowshiped with Him. If you want to know what heaven will be like, the first place to look is here in the Garden of Eden, where Adam and his wife lived at peace with God, unhindered by sin and its curse. Adam occupied his time with the care of the ground, harvesting and delighting in the bounty of its crops. Eve was his cheerful helpmate and companion.

But there in the midst of the garden was a tree strictly forbidden to them, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For true love and obedience to exist, there must be the freedom of choice. Love cannot be forced. It must be freely given. Compelled obedience is slavery and bondage. As human beings, we have been given the freedom to rebel, disobey and choose a path different from that intended by the Creator. The obedience and love God requires is willing and sincere. It is a choice made by His creatures to love from the heart and to turn from all others to serve and love Him alone.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil provided this freedom of choice. God warned Adam and Eve, however, of the consequences of eating its fruit:

“You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die” – Genesis 3:3 (ESV)

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil offered Adam and Eve the freedom to rebel but the consequences of eating from it were fatal. To remove the tree, however, was to remove the freedom to disobey and make their own decision.

Notice what God told Adam and Eve about that tree. They were neither to eat its fruit nor touch it. We can understand why God would tell our first parents not to eat of the tree but what would be the harm in touching it? God was telling Adam and Eve something very important in this command. To touch but not eat, was to lust after the fruit in their heart. Imagine Adam standing there with that beautiful fruit in his hands wishing he could take a bite. Imagine the young man looking at pornography wishing he could experience the reality. God wanted Adam and Eve to keep themselves pure in body but also in mind. The sins of the mind and the lusting after forbidden fruit was an offense to God and a rebellion of the mind. By telling them not to touch that tree, God was protecting them from secret sins of their heart and mind.

It is here that we meet the devil for the first time. He came into the garden, disguised as a serpent and spoke to Eve. “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’” he questioned. Eve told him that they could eat from any of the trees but one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Satan, calls God’s word about that tree into question. “You will not surely die,” he said. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (verses 4-5).

Knowledge is generally considered a good thing. We send our children to school to get knowledge so they can get a good job and contribute to the good of our society. We train for years to gain the knowledge and skills necessary for our careers. Is there such a thing as harmful and destructive knowledge?

Understand here that Adam and Eve already had the knowledge of good. We saw this in Genesis 1:31 when God declared that everything He had created was “very good.” Satan, however, promoted the knowledge of evil. He led Eve to believe that she was missing out by not seeing the other side of the coin. To know this evil, Eve would have to disobey God and ignore His warning.

Is knowing evil a good thing? Speak to the drug addict who chose to experiment but soon found himself ensnared. Sit down with the woman, abused by a man who surrendered to his dark lusts. See the agony in the eyes of the soldier who has seen more than any human ever should on the battlefield. Listen to the breaking heart of the parents who have lost their child. The knowledge of evil can never be given back. What has been seen can never be unseen. What has happened can never be undone. The knowledge of evil sometimes leaves scars that will never be healed. Hell’s streets are paved with the knowledge of evil. Its citizens know nothing but evil.

Not all knowledge is good. Some trees are best left untouched and some fruit best uneaten. Not every door is meant to be opened. Some have been put in place to protect us from what is behind them. Sometimes we have to accept that there is a reason for the “Do Not Enter” sign. You don’t have to understand evil to live a life of purity. You can trust God when He closes and bolts the door shut. He knows what is best for you. Content yourself with the abundance of the other trees in the garden. Delight in them and walk in the knowledge of the good.

Ministry Reflections on our Time in Mauritius

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 15:23:10 GMT

Why I Went

I arrived at Ontario Bible College in 1978, the first of my four years in a Bachelor of Theology programme. While I had no idea of what God had in store for me after those four years, I anticipated that I would be a Presbyterian minister somewhere in Canada. This had been my ambition since I was about six years old.

At that time, Africa Evangelical Fellowship was holding a Sunday afternoon missionary meeting with a lunch to follow. I had been invited by my friend, Michel David, who was studying at the school. He was from Mauritius.

To be honest, I was not particularly interested in the prayer or missionary presentations. It was the free food that attracted me to the meetings. Missionaries came to the meetings and shared their presentations. Nothing seemed to speak to me, although some of the pictures they showed of their work were interesting.

By 1980, I was struggling with some personal issues. My position on infant baptism was being challenged, and I began to wonder whether my goal of being a Presbyterian pastor could ever become a reality. Because I had never considered missions, the idea of being a missionary never entered my mind. If I could not be a Presbyterian pastor, I did not know what I could do. I even began to wonder why I was studying theology. This was a trying time for me.

It was at this time that I attended one of these, the Africa Evangelical Fellowship missionary prayer meetings. Although I did not know it, God was going to do something in that meeting that would change the direction of my life.

Kamyl Cadinouche from Mauritius spoke about his work and showed slides. Nothing he said struck me. I can’t remember anything about the slide presentation. As he spoke, however, I felt another voice speaking to me. That very afternoon, God began to address my confusion about what He had in store for my future. It was as if, for the very first time, my eyes were opened to something other than the Presbyterian church in Canada.

That afternoon, God showed me that He had not abandoned me. He opened my mind to see that He was working all around the world. I began to realize that if God did not have something for me in my denomination, He might have something for me in another country.

Looking back at this now, it is hard to understand why I did not see this sooner. I needed my eyes opened to something bigger than myself, my ideas, and my goals.

It is hard to convey what this new understanding did for me. God did much more for me that afternoon than open my eyes to the mission field. He showed me personally that He had not abandoned me. He had a purpose for my life. While I did not understand that purpose yet, I left that prayer meeting with hope. I could see that God might have a purpose for me after all.

The experience of hearing God speak to me in this way was powerful. Over the coming days, weeks, and months, I began to seek the Lord more directly about what all this meant for me practically. God began to answer my prayers. While this is another story, He again spoke powerfully and convincingly to me about His missions calling on my life. Convinced of that call, the challenge for me then was to understand where God wanted me to serve and how to get there.

As I reflected on where the Lord wanted me to go, I could not get away from the fact that God used a Mauritian to invite me to these AEF meetings, and another Mauritian to speak on the work in Mauritius. Many other missionaries shared in those meetings, but it was not until Kamyl Cadnouche from Mauritius spoke that God opened my eyes. I found my mind and heart zeroing in on this one particular country and determined that I would pursue this to see if it was truly from God.

Having determined to seek the Lord about going to Mauritius, the next decision related to how to get there. This decision was relatively simple. There was only one mission working in Mauritius. That was the mission whose prayer meetings I had been attending — Africa Evangelical Fellowship. I would, therefore, speak to them and seek their advice and counsel about serving as a missionary in this country. They would ultimately confirm my decision about Mauritius and guide me in what further training I needed. Both Diane and I would eventually be accepted to serve under the Africa Evangelical Fellowship in a church in Rose Belle, Mauritius.

The Road To Mauritius

I was twenty years old when I received a call to missions and a particular leading to go to Mauritius. It would not be for another five years, however, that I would set foot on the island. I was going into my third year of Bible school and had two more years to complete my Bachelor of Theology. It was also at the end of that third year that Diane and I were married. We would have our first child before leaving Canada.

After Bible school, I enrolled at the University of Waterloo and completed a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies. This degree challenged me in my commitment to evangelical faith, but proved to be a vital part of my training and preparation for service.

Because we were still young and inexperienced in ministry, Africa Evangelical Fellowship recommended a one-year internship with Missionary Internship in Farmington, Michigan, U.S.A. Hespeler Baptist Church in Cambridge, Ontario, agreed to take me on as an intern for that year. We therefore served with them and traveled to Farmington for the classroom part of the programme.

Being part of the Hespeler Baptist Church was a very important part of my preparation. I had time with the elders and pastors who took a special interest in me. Times with these men of God over a two-year period were vital. To this day (more than 40 years later), I still appreciate the impact of their wisdom and counsel.

This period of time also included a year of French language study at Bethel Bible Institute in Sherbrooke, Quebec. We would need this language to be effective in our ministry in Mauritius.

Throughout those seven years of training, we also needed to raise the funds required to get us to Mauritius and provide for our ministry and personal needs for the three years we would spend in ministry there.

The final requirement of the mission before going to Mauritius was full immersion in the French language and culture. For this, we were sent to Reunion Island. The mission did not put a time frame on this. This would depend on our ability in the French language. We remained three months on Reunion Island before permission was granted for us to go to Mauritius. We arrived in Mauritius in 1985.

What We Found

It was not long after we arrived in Mauritius that we began to understand that things would not be easy. I suppose the first hint of this came when we were taken to meet a national pastor in an outreach point in Centre de Flacq. Upon seeing us, this pastor was a bit confused. In his mind, we were so young he thought we were the children of the missionary who was going to work in Rose Belle. I heard later that he was concerned about having someone so young in this church.

The work in Rose Belle began when two single English ladies came to Mauritius as teachers. They began work among the children in the region, and a number of these children came to the Lord. We met Miss Minton and Miss Groom when we arrived. As their work expanded among the children, the ladies began to have some concern for their parents and began making efforts to reach them also. This was the beginning of the Evangelical church in Rose Belle.

By the time we arrived in 1985, the Rose Belle church was experiencing division among its members. I remember speaking to a young lady who attended the church on an occasional basis. She told me that she could feel the division when she came to the church.

While I had not been there when the problem began, I could sense that members were very hurt. Some relationships were strained. It was a low point in their church history.

As I questioned people about the cause of the conflict. I understood it to stem from a clash with the leadership. A group had formed in the church with a burden to share the gospel. They would go out onto the streets, distribute tracts, and speak with people about Christ. While this was a good thing, the leadership of the church reprimanded them because they had never received church approval for the ministry. Those who were part of the group responded by telling the leadership that they did not need permission to share the gospel. The situation escalated to a point where at least one of the group members was disciplined and refused communion because he was not perceived as being submissive to church leadership. Family members were hurt, and the church was divided. Some even left the church as a result. Members were frustrated, and many issues remained unresolved. I am sure there was more to the situation than this, but that is how I understood it when I arrived.

I wish I could say the matter was easily resolved, but it wasn’t. It took 3 years to address the issues this conflict created. For a good while, the church committee met every week trying to resolve the various issues. We would meet with individuals affected by the division, trying to find some type of resolution. Some accepted our efforts, others didn’t. One individual was accused of dishonesty and agreed to apologize publicly to the church for his actions. When the day for the apology came, he spoke out against the church instead.

The constant struggle between believers began to take a toll on me. I remember working in my home office one afternoon. We lived beside two Muslim brothers who did not always get along. On this occasion, they had a disagreement and verbally expressed this by loudly yelling at each other. As I listened to these two men yelling, tears began to well up in my eyes. I had had enough of people arguing with each other, and this was more than I felt I could handle. I remember weeping as I prayed and talked to the Lord about all the division and confusion I was experiencing.

A friend of mine, serving as a missionary in France, sent me a cassette tape describing his ministry. He was involved at that time with a Billy Graham crusade in Paris. He was working with the crusade choir and told me about it. He described the wonderful things God was doing as he travelled from place to place. I remember sitting on the floor in the living room listening to that cassette tape. Suddenly, the tears began to flow. “Don is all over the place. He is seeing you work in wonderful ways,” I told the Lord. Then I went on. “I’m sitting here spinning my wheels, getting nowhere.” That is how I felt.

I was at a loss to know what to do in those days, but I sought the Lord for direction. He answered through a mental picture he gave me. In my mind’s eye, I saw a battlefield. As I looked around, I saw soldiers lying lifeless on the ground. They had clearly been through an intense battle. As I walked among these fallen warriors, my eyes fixed themselves on the hand of one in particular. As I looked, I noticed a slight twitch of the finger. I remember feeling my heart jump for joy at that slight twitch. It revealed that there was life in that soldier.

I remember sensing the Lord telling me that it was not for me to go up to these soldiers and condemn them for falling on the battlefield. Instead, I was to look for and rejoice in any signs of life he would reveal in these wounded warriors. My role was to get these wounded soldiers back on their feet and help them walk again. It was not for me to judge who was right or wrong. This became my battle plan. I don’t know how well I did this, but one incident stood out to me.

At the end of three years, Diane and I were preparing to leave on furlough. At that time, God provided a national pastor to take my place. Before I left, the church decided to have a youth camp at a centre some distance away from Rose Belle. They invited this pastor to speak. I was also present at that event.

As the national pastor spoke, the Spirit of God seemed to move in a very special way. I watched one youth after another rededicate their lives to the Lord. I was overwhelmed by what I saw before me that day. More than that, however, I began to wonder why I had never seen such a work in the three years I had been ministering among them.

The emotions I felt were so powerful, I had to leave the meeting, find a place to be alone, and seek the Lord. Finding that quiet place, I asked God why I had struggled so hard over those three years and never seen the kind of response that this pastor was seeing in one meeting.

The Lord answered that prayer right then and there. One of the church committee members saw me leave and came out to find me. Coming over to me, he said: “Wayne, I know what you are feeling, but I want you to know that if you had not been here these past three years, none of this would have been possible.”

The Lord spoke powerfully through him that day. I came to understand that we all have roles to play in the work of the kingdom. God had called me to help the people to their feet. Someone else was to take it from there.

Why We Left

As our first term with Africa Evangelical Fellowship came to an end, we knew we had some important decisions to make. For me, one of those decisions related to what the Lord had for us and our second term. We had no sense that He was calling us away from foreign missions. The question at that point, however, was whether we were to return to Mauritius. I sought the Lord about this, and my reflections all seemed to lead me to the same place.

First, the Lord had provided a national pastor at the precise moment I was returning to Canada on furlough. The position I had occupied was now filled. This pastor seemed to be well-received by the people, and I felt he was God’s man for this time. If I did return to Mauritius, it would not be to the same position.

Beyond this, the church was in a very different place now. Old hostilities had subsided, and the church was ready to move on. I asked myself the question: “Knowing what I know about this church and where I feel it needs to go, would I vote for myself to lead it in that direction? My answer to that question was, “No”. I felt the church needed someone else.

I would return to Mauritius two years later for a short visit. I was astonished to see the growth under the leadership of this national pastor. As I reflected on this, I truly believe that this kind of growth would not have taken place under my leadership. God had another purpose for me.

The final part of my reflection in those days had to do with whether I had done what God had asked me to do and completed the task assigned to me. As I thought and prayed about this, I truly believed I had.

The church sent us home with an official invitation to return, but I knew that if I was to return, I would need a new mandate from the Lord.

These reflections were confirmed to me in the words of a missionary prayer letter that came at that time. The words seemed out of place, and I wasn’t sure why they were in the letter, but I remember them still. They read:

“How often has the work of God been hindered by well-meaning servants who have simply stayed too long.”

Those words seemed directed at me. God used them to confirm that I needed to close this chapter of my ministry, leave Mauritius, and seek Him for the next.

Our time in Mauritius was a very special time in our lives. Two of our girls were born in this country. I was profoundly stretched in those days, and what I learned there had a powerful impact on my future ministry. I continue to look back fondly on my time there.

A Battle with Baptism

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 15:22:13 GMT

The following is an excerpt from my study , The Parting of the Waters, and reflects the intense struggle I had in my baptism as a believer. I have deep respect for my infant baptism friends and do not share this testimony to prove a theological point. The purpose here is to show the personal struggle I faced when asked to die to my self and my long held ideas and beliefs. Even after many years, I still remember the setting.

Some students had gathered in a room at the Bible School where I was attending. Somehow, the subject of baptism came up. The words I heard that day still haunt me: “How could any Christian believe in infant baptism?” I took those words personally and felt deeply hurt by them.

As time went on, I continued to hear people commenting to me on this subject. They would tell the joke about a book called “What the Bible Teaches about Infant Baptism,” which only had blank pages when you opened it. They would laugh and move on, leaving me frustrated and angry. While I never really expressed it to them, I felt hurt and rejected because of what I believed. I felt that I was a second-class Christian because I believed what I did.

The opportunity came for me to do a research paper on the subject for a theology class. Knowing all the arguments favouring infant baptism, I determined that I would examine each one individually to see if it brought clear evidence of the practice in the Bible. That paper was probably one of the most difficult I ever wrote. It challenged my position and what I had believed for many years.

Now I want to confess something here. It is one thing to come to a conviction about what you feel the Bible is teaching, and quite another to act on that conviction. As a result of that research paper, I believed that baptism in the New Testament was for believers. However, it would not be for years that I would have the courage to act on what I felt the Bible was teaching. There were a couple of reasons for this.

First on my mind was the fact that I had grown up with the tradition of infant baptism. I had a call from God to full-time ministry. In my mind, that call implied working as a pastor in my denomination. If I could not stand behind the denomination’s key distinctive, I had no chance of being ordained as a pastor in that denomination. This threw the plans I had for my future into chaos.

Second, infant baptism was the position of my family. I struggled deeply to go against what my family had believed for generations. How would they respond if I took a stand against their firmly held beliefs? This grieved me deeply.

Third, I must admit, my heart still harboured anger against those who ridiculed my infant baptism convictions. I was reluctant to join them and hear them rejoicing over the fact that I had finally surrendered to their position.

For years after that, I held believers’ baptism but refused to be baptized as a believer. As the years rolled by, I would often feel a gentle conviction in my heart to follow through with what I believed the New Testament taught. This seemed to come to a head on one occasion, and I felt the need to speak to the pastor of the Baptist church I was attending. I made an appointment and sat down with him in his office. I have no idea how long I talked and can’t even remember what I said that day, but I started from the beginning and explained how and why I had come to a conviction about believers’ baptism. The pastor sat quietly, listening to me without interrupting. I ended that conversation by saying, “I think I need to do something about this.”

When I finished talking, the pastor said: “Well, there is nothing that I can say. You have covered everything.” He went on to say to my absolute horror: “It just happens that on Sunday we have a baptismal service; would you like to be part of it?”

There was nothing he could have said that would have floored me more than those words. He was giving me the opportunity now to do something about my belief. I still remember my hard response: “I don’t know.”

The Lord now had my full attention. I was immediately struck by the way these two verses were connected. The first verse posed a question and the second answered it – “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

There was one more verse the Lord gave me in the library earlier that day. I looked that up as well, and it read:

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, – Mt 28:19

I cannot convey, in words, the impact this final verse had on my spirit. It was as if the very presence of God stood before me that day. It broke my heart, and, with tears in my eyes, I cried out, “Lord, here I am, I’ll go.” Understand here that there was no self-confidence in this cry. I had no idea how this would take place. All I knew was that God was speaking to me that evening, and I needed to respond.

As my heart cried out, “Here I am,” I was reminded of a verse of Scripture where another person said something similar. I wasn’t quite sure where that verse was, but determined to look it up as well. Looking down at my open Bible before me, with that intent, the very first verse I saw read as follows:

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” – Isa 6:8

Tears flowed down my cheeks that evening. The Lord stopped me in my work when my Bible was opened to the very verse He wanted me to see, and only showed it to me when my heart cried out in response to His call.

That moment was very sacred to me. Forty-some years later, I still remember it clearly.

As the years have passed, I have also seen how God has been fulfilling that call on my life in ways that amaze me. He has opened doors around the world in ways I could never have imagined. We are translating books into languages I have never heard of. I am not the one making this happen. He goes before me, opens the doors of His choosing, and provides all that is necessary. All I can do is go through the doors He opens. He does the rest.

Genesis 2:5-9 - Rain, the Man and a Tree

Sat, 08 Nov 2025 14:52:02 GMT

5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up –for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground – 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. – Genesis 2:5-9 (ESV)

Picture, if you will, what Genesis 2 tells us about the earth in those days. There was no bush in the field. No small plant had yet sprung up from the ground. Not a drop of rain had ever dampened the earth’s surface. No man had trodden its soil. The beautiful colours we attribute to our earth, the fragrance of the flowers, the lush green meadows were all absent. No gardens adorned the landscape producing their abundance. There was only barrenness. Verse 5 gives us two reasons for this.

First, the “Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land.” For the fruitfulness of the earth to become a reality, the first requirement was the rain of God. That rain needed to fall from the heavens and saturate the earth to bring life to what was dead and fruitless. God alone can bring these life-giving showers. If He does not give life, we perish. If He does not bless, we become a desert. Genesis 2:5 describes a time of barrenness without the life-giving and sustaining rain of God.

Whether in life or ministry, we need this rain of God. There is no fruit apart from His blessing. There is no lasting impact without the shower of His Spirit to refresh, empower, sustain and give life. How our world needs these showers of blessings. Whole communities shrivel up and die because they do not know this life-giving rain of God.

The second reason why there were no bushes or plants was because “there was no man to work the ground.” These words are striking. While life depends on God, God has entrusted His people with the task of “working the ground.”

Consider something about this man who was to “work the ground.” Who was he? Genesis 2:7 tells us that God “formed” him “of dust from the ground.” There is nothing more common than dust, but out of it arose the first man. Genesis 2:7 tells us that the Lord “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living creature.” What is man? He is dust with the breath of God. It is this breath that gives life and consciousness. That lifeless formation of dust lay motionless on the ground until God breathed into it. But that breath changed everything. That dusty lump became a “living being.” What a contrast between the Giver of Life and the dusty lump in whom that life dwelt.

God breathed into His dusty creation, gave him life and put him in the garden He had planted. Then God made to spring up for him, out of the ground, trees of every kind for beauty and for food (verse 9). He entrusted him with the awesome task of working the garden, enjoying its beauty and delighting in its fruit. The man would rejoice in the mercy and goodness of his Creator giving Him praise.

This is how it was intended to be. But in that garden was a tree—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (verse 9), forbidden to man. To eat of its fruit was to die. The refreshing rain of God’s blessing would be withdrawn and the world he knew would be plunged into the curse of barrenness again. The choice was his to make—the refreshing rain or the curse of sin.

Years later we see the fruit of that decision. Death, like a great uncontrollable flood, overwhelmed the earth. The intimate fellowship with God broken, disease, sickness, injustice, abuse, confusion, and brokenness like tributaries of that great flood reached out their hungry tentacles devouring one soul after another. Where is the hope in all this?

The hope is in the fresh rain of God, renewed upon our lives and communities again.

Ask rain from the LORD in the season of the spring rain, from the LORD who makes the storm clouds, and he will give them showers of rain, to everyone the vegetation in the field. – Zechariah 10:1 (ESV)

The hope is in a new Adam who, unlike the first, has conquered sin and the barrenness of the grave:

22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. – 1 Corinthians 15:22 (ESV)

The hope is in a new tree on which that new Adam died, bearing our sins:

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. – 1 Peter 2:24 (ESV)

Our hope is in a new dwelling where grows the other tree of Genesis 2—the tree of life:

2 Throughout the middle of the street of the city; also on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. – Revelation 22:2 (ESV)

There in that city the blessing will be renewed. Fellowship restored, through the work of the new Adam, we will walk those streets of gold rejoicing once again in the bounty and blessing of our Creator. His Spirit will again breathe life into our mortal bodies through the forgiveness of the Son. What was broken in Adam, can now be renewed in Christ. Will you open your heart to receive this forgiveness, life and blessing in Him?

Luke 24:13-35 - Cleopas

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 14:53:08 GMT

Knowledge of Scripture Does Not Replace Knowledge of the Saviour

Luke 24:13-35

Three days after the crucifixion of Jesus, two men were leaving Jerusalem, on a 7-mile journey to the town of Emmaus. On their mind were the events of those past days. As disciples of Jesus, they were horrified to see His arrest, speedy trial and crucifixion. They talked together as they journeyed about what they had expected Jesus to do and how confused they were now after had had been killed.

One of them, a man by the name of Cleopas, had heard a report from the ladies who went to the tomb that morning and found it empty. A couple of the apostles verified this to be the case. He wasn’t sure what that meant, however. His faith in Jesus was being tested. He had many unanswered questions. There were hints of people seeing the resurrected Jesus, but that was not his personal experience. Cleopas had hoped Jesus would redeem Israel (verse 21), but now he wasn’t sure what to think. Were the rumors of His resurrection true? Was there still hope for his nation? All these questions bounced around in his head causing confusion and doubt. He needed assurance and proof that Jesus was indeed who He said He was.

It was into this confusion that the Lord Jesus drew near. There is no recorded reason for Jesus to go to Emmaus, apart from Cleopas. But Cleopas did not recognize the person of Christ walking beside him. His state of mind is revealed when Jesus asked him about the subject of their conversation. Luke tells us that, when asked that question, Cleopas “stood still, looking sad” (verse 17). This matter of Christ’s crucifixion was a sorrowful and disappointing one for Cleopas.

The unrecognized Jesus goes right to the point, “O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken,” he rebuked. He went on to tell Cleopas how the prophets had predicted that the Messiah would be rejected and suffer at the hands of humankind before entering glory. The words Jesus spoke that day touched Cleopas and he would later testify that they seemed to burn in his heart (verse 34).

Jesus’ words encouraged Cleopas and showed Him how the events of that day were predicted by the Old Testament Scriptures, but there was still something missing. Luke 24: 16 tells us what that was when it says, “But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.” Knowledge of the Scriptures cannot replace knowledge of the Saviour. Cleopas would never be satisfied until He had seen that risen Lord.

At this point in the conversation, Jesus and the two travelers had arrived at Emmaus. Luke tells us that Jesus “acted as if He were going farther.”

Understand something here. Though Jesus had revealed the Scriptures to him and encouraged him through those Scriptures, Cleopas had yet to recognize Him as the risen Saviour. By “acting as if He were going father,” Jesus is testing Cleopas. Would he be content with head knowledge about the Saviour as taught in the Scriptures, or would he cry out for more? Note what happens here.

Luke tells us that Cleopas and his fellow traveler, urged Jesus strongly to stay with them. I like those words. If I were Cleopas that day, and heard the words of Jesus that day, I think I would find my heart crying out inside me, “Show me this Saviour. I need to see Him.” I don’t think I would be content with words and doctrines only. Such was the heart of Cleopas. Only when He was invited to stay did the Lord Jesus enter the home with them.

That time with Cleopas changed everything. As He sat at the table with them, Jesus, taking on the role of Master, broke bread, blessed it and served it to them. At that instant Cleopas’ eyes were opened to see the Lord Jesus before Him. This was a life-changing event. He was so convinced of what he saw that day that he returned took the seven mile journey to Jerusalem that evening to tell the disciples about his experience and tell them that the Lord Jesus had risen indeed (verse 33).

Doubting Cleopas was transformed by his encounter with the living and resurrected Saviour. The Saviour he now knew was much more than a doctrine and a fulfilment of prophecy, he was a living and breathing Christ. His encounter with Jesus brought life to the Scriptures he had been taught.

The question I ask is this: Do I know this Saviour of Scriptures as more than a teaching and doctrine? Have I had a life-changing encounter with Him. In this passage, Cleopas moves from doubting Christ, to an understanding that He fulfilled prophecy, to a personal knowledge of him through his encounter that day. Jesus traveled from Jerusalem to Emmaus, to ease the doubts in Cleopas’ mind, showing us how much He delights to reveal Himself to those whose heart cries out to know Him. May He open my eyes to see Him not just as a doctrine or fulfillment of prophecy but also as risen indeed.

Luke 24:10-12 - Experiencing Truth

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 15:00:40 GMT

10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened. – Lk 24:10-12 (ESV)

It was three days after the crucifixion of Jesus. This was the day He told His disciples He would rise from the dead. Despite this clear promise, a group of women showed up at the tomb to anoint a dead body. They had either forgotten or misunderstood the word He shared with them.

The spices these ladies carried would be of no use, for when they arrived, there was no body to anoint. As they stood perplexed and confused at the empty tomb, two angels appeared and reminded them of Jesus’ promise to rise on the third day. They challenged them to go back to the apostles and tell them that this promise had now been fulfilled.

Note, however, the response of the apostles to the news these women brought from the tomb: “These words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.”

We might understand this response if it were only one person who returned with a story of seeing an angel and an empty tomb. Understand, however that these events were experienced by two other witnesses. Deuteronomy 19:15 tells us that a story was confirmed on the evidence of two or three witnesses. The evidence presented to the apostles that day was acceptable in any Jewish court but they did not believe it.

These women, however, knew what they saw. They saw the empty tomb with their own eyes. They heard the words of the angels with their own ears. Their spirits remembered the words of the Lord who told them that He would rise again on the third day. Their experience and the words they heard all agreed with the teaching of the Lord Jesus. There was no reason to doubt its truth.

As the women spoke, something was stirred up in Peter’s heart. He was the one who denied the Lord and we can imagine that he felt very sorrowful about his actions. Peter, according to Luke, “rose and ran to the tomb.”

The fact that Peter “ran to the tomb,” tells us that he needed to confirm what the women had told him. There was no reason to go to the tomb if it were empty apart from confirming their story. Peter could have given intellectual assent to the words of the women but He wanted more than this. He wanted to experience what they experienced for himself.

Notice the impact of what Peter saw that day: “he went home marveling at what had happened.” Peter’s experience at that tomb changed his life. He experienced what the women experienced. He marveled at that fact that Jesus had risen. He saw first hand that death could not hold Him. That was a life changing experience.

All too many people have a believe that has never been proven to them. They say they believe in a God who provides but when they are in need they worry just like the unbeliever. They say they believe that God is in control but complain when things happen they don’t like.

The disciples heard the truth of Jesus rising on the third day. They believed what He said was true. Sadly, however, that truth did not have any impact on their lives until they experienced the empty tomb for themselves. Only then did the life changing reality of this truth of Jesus become real to them. So real infact that they wee willing to lay down their lives to defend it. Have you experienced the reality of the truth you claim or is it merely head knowledge?

Genesis 7:16 - Shut In

Sat, 25 Oct 2025 14:53:48 GMT

15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.

Noah was a man of God. He lived in a relatively new world, vast, clean, and beautiful. God blessed him with a wife and three married sons. Scripture does not tell us what kind of a home he and his wife lived in, but I am convinced they knew the blessing of the Lord. Genesis 6:8 tells us that “Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord.”

Noah, however, lived in a world that had turned from God. Genesis 6:5 tells us that the “Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

This evil was so great that God determined to “blot out man” (Genesis 6:7) removing this sin and rebellion from His sight.

Because Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord, God determined to spare him and his family. He appeared one day to Noah and told him to make an ark, gather up pairs of animals, and place them in that ark. When Noah obeyed, God then told him and his family to enter the ark themselves and we read that when they were safely inside, “the Lord shut him in” (Genesis 7:16).

Consider this for a moment. Noah and his family lived in a vast world, whose limits they had never seen. They ate from the abundance of crops that land produced. Now they were in an ark with a door the Lord Himself had shut, restraining four families to cramped quarters with all the animals you can imagine. They lost their home and would never return to it. There was no room to spread out. I can only imagine what it was like for four families to live under the same roof. But God had placed them all in that floating zoo, shut the door, and locked them there together. This would be their “home” for the next year.

What did that closed door represent to Noah and his family? It would not have been easy for them. Nobody likes to be shut in. We all like our freedom. What did that freedom look like for Noah and his family? What would an open door mean for them?

God was destroying the world they knew. The waters of heaven were pouring down upon the land, covering everything in sight. Every living creature perished under this downpour. Freedom to open that door and leave meant certain death for Noah and his family. God shut the door, not to restrict Noah or limit his freedom but to protect him from the terrible evil that was ravaging the land.

In Exodus 14:1-2 we read how God led the Israelites escaping Egypt to the sea where they would be “shut in.” Seeing this, Pharaoh saw his opportunity to capture them and bring them back to Egypt. Discovering they were shut in, and the army of Egypt was upon them, the people panicked. God has a purpose, however, in shutting them in. In Exodus 14:4 He told Moses that He shut them in so that they would see His glory. Miraculously opening the sea before them, God led His people to the other side. When the army of Egypt followed, He closed the sea walls and the pursuers perished, never to threated Israel again. God shut His people in to reveal His power and glory.

When Miriam spoke out against Moses, God became very angry with her and struck her with leprosy (see Numbers 12:1-2). This meant she was isolated and shut out of the camp of God’s people for seven days. Why did God shut her out? He did so to correct and teach her to respect the leadership He had ordained. Those days of isolation were days of reflection and growth for Miriam. God shut her in to teach her a valuable lesson.

Finally, consider the words of God to Job in Job 38:8-11:

Or who shut in the seas with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors and said, “Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waved be stayed?” – Job 38:8-11

God shuts in the sea so that it cannot cover the earth. He limits their reach, so they do not overstep their bounds. He has a purpose for every creature and every child and closes doors to places they were never intended to go.

Closed doors have a purpose in the kingdom of God. They are not intended to limit us but to help us reach our fullest potential. God shuts doors to protect us, to reveal His glory, to instruct and correct us, and to keep us on the path He has laid out for us.

Luke 23:39-43 - You Will Be With Me Today

Sat, 04 Oct 2025 15:05:50 GMT

39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” – Lk 23:39-43

In this section of his gospel, Luke describes various people and their reactions to Jesus as He hung on the cross. The common people stood by watching (verse 35), the religious leaders scoffed (verse 35), and the soldiers mocked (verse 36).

Luke now focuses on the three crosses that stood before him that day. On the first cross, the criminal hanging there beside Jesus “railed at Him” (verse 39). The Greek word used here is βλασφημέω (blasfēmeō) which means to blaspheme. This man speaks evil of our Lord and tells Him that if He was truly the Christ, He would save both Himself and them. The idea in his mind is that no true God would ever let anything evil happen to him. The words are spoken with unbelief, accusing Jesus of wrongdoing by allowing him to suffer and die on that cross.

Have you ever wondered why God allows evil things to happen? Here in this verse we watch our Lord suffer unjustly on the cross. The King of the Jews, the Son of God hangs suffering and dying while people mock and insult His name and calling. As time passes, however, it all begins to make sense. His death and resurrection release me from sin. The suffering of the Son was all part of God’s overall plan for the salvation of the world. The seed dying in the ground gives birth to new life and fruit, blessing countless souls for generations to come.

Not everyone mocked, scoffed, and blasphemed Jesus that day. On the other side of Him hung a second criminal listening to the blasphemous word of this companion. “Do you not fear God,” he said. “You are under the same sentence of condemnation.“

This second criminal saw something quite evil in the words of the first. He reminded him that he was about to face his maker with those evil and blasphemous words on his lips. Standing before God was not something to take lightly. He would not only have to answer for the evil he had done in life but also now for the words he had spoken about His Son.

The second criminal reminds his friend that they were on the cross for crimes they had committed against humanity. They deserved this punishment. In his mind, there was nothing unjust about their sentence. He accepts his death as a reasonable and fair penalty for his actions. Note, however, how he reminds his companion that Jesus had done nothing wrong. He was being unjustly crucified.

The first criminal focused on his suffering and expressed anger with Jesus for not helping him escape his just sentence. The second accepts his sentence and sets his heart now on meeting His Creator. He recognized Jesus as the innocent and righteous King of the Jews. Looking to Him that day he asked Him to remember him when He came into His kingdom. Note a few details in this statement.

First, this criminal accepted Jesus as King. The words, “remember me when you come to your kingdom,” reveal that He believed Jesus was king and had a kingdom.

Second, understand that the kingdom the criminal referred to here was not of this world. He understood that Jesus was king of a spiritual kingdom and that His death would bring Him into that kingdom.

Third, notice how the criminal asked Jesus to remember him. In asking Jesus to remember him, he is not asking Him to have a passing thought about him, but rather to understand his need, have compassion on Him, forgive Him and accept him into His kingdom. He believed in Jesus, His power to forgive and to give him eternal life in the kingdom to come. He accepts him as his Lord, Saviour and King- his only hope.

Note the response of Jesus; “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise,”

The criminal’s body would be taken down from the cross in just a few hours. It would be buried or disposed of by those tasked with this responsibility. His soul and spirit, however, would leave that body and enter paradise with Jesus that very day.

Observe that his soul and spirit would be immediately with the Lord in paradise. The word “today” indicates that this process would be instantaneous. There was no period of waiting but as the apostle Paul says:

8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. – 2Co 5:8

Next, understand that this criminal was pardoned and received that day into the kingdom of God. He never served His Saviour. He was never baptized nor did he ever testify to the work of Christ in his life. He was, however, accepted into the kingdom of God and would walk the streets of gold like those who suffered and died as martyrs. He suffered and paid the consequences for his crimes on this earth but there on the cross he opened his heart to Jesus and experienced complete forgiveness and new life.

The hand of God, working in the pain and suffering he endured, moved sovereignly in the life of this criminal, placing him in the right place and the right time, under the right circumstances so that by grace he might become His child.

Luke 22:8-9 - Where Would You Have Us Prepare it?

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 15:06:44 GMT

8 So Jesus sent Peter and John saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” 9 They said to Hiim, “Where will you have us prepare it?” Luke 22:8-9

The time was the Day of Unleavened Bread. Soon the Passover lamb would be sacrificed commemorating the time when a lamb’s blood was painted on the doorposts of the homes of Israel, sparing them from the avenging angel of the Lord who passed through the land, killing the firstborn son of every family. Jesus asked Peter and John to go ahead of Him into the city to prepare the Passover meal.

Peter and John needed to purchase the supplies necessary for the meal, find a venue and prepare a meal for at least thirteen people. All of this needed to be done within a certain amount of time.

The disciples know what the Lord is asking them to do. They had celebrated enough Passovers to know what to do. They could have rushed into the city, one looking for a venue the other for supplies hoping to get it all done on time. This is not what they did, however. Instead, they took a moment to ask Jesus where He wanted them to prepare the meal and listened to His reply.

It is one thing to know what the Lord wants us to do, it is another to know how and where. All too many of us rush off and try to do what God has called us to do in our own strength and wisdom. Note here that it is not until the disciples asked the Lord where He wanted them to prepare this meal that the Lord reveals His purpose.

When the disciples asked the Lord where He wanted them to prepare the Passover, the Lord gave them a very specific answer. He told Peter and John that when they entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water would meet them. They were to follow him and go into the house he entered. That man would lead them directly to the place Jesus wanted to celebrate the Passover.

I can pretty much guarantee that if the disciples went into the city on their own wisdom, they would not have come up with such a solution. The Lord his willing to lead us but we all too often rush off so quickly to do what He is asking us to do in our own wisdom. Could it be that the reason for so much struggle is that we have not taken the time to ask: “Where will you have us prepare it” (verse 9)?

Jesus not only tells the disciples how to find the house where they would celebrate the Passover, but He also tells them what they were to say to the master of that house. They were to tell him that the Teacher wanted to know where the guest room was where He could eat the Passover with His disciples. Observe that the disciples speak in the name of Jesus: “The Teacher says…” The name of the Teacher carried weight. It is uncertain whether the master would have released the guest room for two strangers who showed up. He was, however, certainly willing to release it to Jesus.

Jesus knew exactly what would happen when the disciples spoke in his name. The master of the house would show them a large upper room where they could prepare the Passover meal.

How easy it is for us to rush out to do what the Lord wants us to do. The problem with this, however, is that we don’t have the wisdom in ourselves to accomplish the task. No human wisdom would have caused the disciples to follow a man carrying a water jug and ask the master of that specific home for a place to celebrate the Passover. The Lord who calls us knows exactly how He wants us to do the work He has given us to do. He would share that wisdom with us if we would only take the time to ask and listen to His leading.

Small Printer Purchased for Sierra Leone

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 13:58:18 GMT

In an attempt to cut costs and be more sustainable we have purchased a simple ink tank printer to print books in Sierra Leone. This will enable us to print as needed few or as many books as we need without having to pay a printshop to do it. The books will be printed very simply but the message will continue to go out.

New Urdu Commentaries available for online reading

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 15:41:22 GMT

Three more Urdu commentaries have now been added to the online reading library. Commentaries on the Old Testament books of Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus can now be viewed at:

آن لائن ریڈنگ لائبریری میں اب مزید تین اردو تفسیریں شامل کی گئی ہیں۔ پرانے عہد نامے کی کتابوں کی پیدائش، خروج، اور احبار کی تفسیریں اب یہاں دیکھی جا سکتی ہیں:

Luke 20:27-36 - No More Marriage

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 15:10:07 GMT

Will We Be Married in Heaven?

27 There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, 28 and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died without children.

30 And the second 31 and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32 Afterward the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.” 34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36 for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. – Lk 20:27-29,31-36 (ESV)

One of the distinctives between the New Testament Pharisees and Sadducees was their understanding of the afterlife. While the Pharisees believed in a resurrection of the dead, the Sadducees did not.

On this occasion, the Sadducees came to Jesus with a question. The question related to the Law of Moses and the afterlife. Remember that the Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection, so the question was designed to trick Jesus and prove that belief in a resurrection was foolish.

The question related to the law of Moses regarding a wife whose husband died without a child to carry on his name. It stated that, in this situation, the brother of the deceased was to marry the widow and give her a son. The first son born of this union was to carry the name of the deceased brother so that his name would not be “blotted out of Israel.”

5 “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. – Deuteronomy 25:5-6

The Sadducees bring a hypothetical case to Jesus about a family of seven brothers. The first brother in the family takes a wife but dies before she can bear a child. When his older brother died, the second brother took his widow as his wife, but he also died before giving her a child.

All seven brothers, one by one, married the eldest brother’s wife but died without providing a child to carry on the family name.

After having all seven brothers as husbands, the wife herself died childless, without an heir to carry on the family name.

The Sadducees’ question is this: “In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

The Sadducees imagine a world where this one woman has seven husbands. In their mind, this was unthinkable. What kind of life would this be? What kind of chaos would an afterlife create? While the illustration is somewhat exaggerated, it does reflect how they thought.

Jesus is quite willing to answer the question. He tells them that their reasoning in this matter was from an earthly perspective. On this earth, men and women do marry and raise families. Marriage was instituted by God as a special kind of relationship on this earth.

Jesus tells the Sadducees, however, that while marriage was instituted by God for this earth, there was no marriage in heaven. In other words, the woman would have no husband in the afterlife. He explains this more fully by saying that there is no marriage in heaven because life is eternal and those who dwell there cannot die. Let’s consider this in more detail.

One of the chief reasons for marriage was to produce children. If Adam and Eve did not have children after the Fall, then there would be no more people on the earth. The existence of the human race depends on the ability God gave the husband and wife to reproduce.

Marriage also provided a stable and godly unit for these children to be protected and instructed in the ways of the Lord. This was especially important in a sinful world where they needed to be protected physically and spiritually from harm.

Consider this now from the perspective of heaven. When people do not die, there is no need for reproduction. Where there is no sin or harm, children do not need protection. Consider what Isaiah has to say about the life to come in Isaiah 11:

6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. 9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. – Isaiah 11:6-9

The picture of the child playing over the hole of the cobra is striking. It is a picture of absolute security and safety with no possibility of harm.

What Jesus is saying here is that there will be no need for marriage in heaven because the two reasons for its institution on this earth will no longer exist.

According to Jesus there will be no more marriage in heaven. This will neither be a need nor the focus or our being. We will live in the presence of our Saviour in eternal bliss and happiness. For now, however, marriage has been instituted by God between a man and and woman for the propagation of the human race and the protection of its children in a secure, healthy and godly environment. If you need to address any issues in your marriage, now is the time, for this is the only time you will have.

Luke 19:3-10 - Seeking Jesus?

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 15:10:57 GMT

3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully… 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Luke 19:3-6; 8-10 (ESV)

Luke tells us that Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus and understand who He was. Obviously, He saw how people were flocking around Him, but it appears that he did not know Him, nor had he made up his mind about His claims.

One of the obstacles Zacchaeus had to seeing Jesus was that he was a short man and could not see over the shoulders of the people who were surrounding Him as He passed through the city. Zacchaeus, however, was so determined to see Jesus that he ran ahead, climbed a sycamore tree and waited for Him to pass by just to get a glimpse of Him.

Note that when Zacchaeus’ height did not permit him to see Jesus, he determined to do something about it. Many people in his situation would have simply walked away and not followed through in their desire. There was something in Zacchaeus, however, that drove him to do whatever he could to see Jesus as He passed by, so he found a tree and climbed it.

As Jesus approached the place where Zacchaeus was waiting to catch a glimpse of Him, note what happened.

First, observe the phrase, “Jesus came to the place.” In other words, Jesus took a route that brought Him directly to where Zacchaeus was. Zacchaeus made a special effort to see Jesus, and his effort was rewarded when Jesus came directly to where he was.

Second, consider the words, “he looked up.” Not only does Jesus come to where Zacchaeus was, but He looked up to him in that tree and fixed His eyes on him. Jesus noticed Zacchaeus.

Third, note that Jesus spoke directly to Zacchaeus. This makes the encounter personal. Zacchaeus was just hoping to see Jesus but imagine his surprise when He not only noticed him but spoke directly to him.

Fourth, listen to what Jesus said to Zacchaeus: “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” We need to see two details in these words of Jesus here.

First, observe the personal nature of these words. Zacchaeus had climbed the tree just to see Jesus’ face but he got so much more. Jesus noticed him and spoke to him. He now invited the tax collector to prepare a place for Him at his house. Jesus would come into his house and dine with him. This was much more than Zacchaeus expected.

Second, consider the surprise of the crowd as Jesus followed Zacchaeus home. Zacchaeus was a despised chief tax collector and the crowd protested as Jesus went to His home. Jesus, on the other hand, accepted him and his hospitality. He did not despise him like so many people of the day. Zacchaeus found acceptance in this man Jesus.

Consider one more detail here. Look at the words, “I must stay at your house today.” There is urgency to the words of Jesus. This would be the only opportunity Zacchaeus would have to see Jesus. He and His disciples were on their way to Jerusalem where Jesus would be crucified. That day was the only day Zacchaeus would ever have to speak to Him, understand who He was and respond to His call.

When Jesus spoke to Zacchaeus and invited Himself to his house, Zacchaeus wasted no time coming down the tree and accepting the invitation. Note that he did so “joyfully.” It appears that the Spirit of God was working in Zacchaeus’ heart preparing him for that encounter with the Lord Jesus.

Note the response of Zacchaeus to the Lord Jesus that day. First, he promised Him that he would give half his goods to the poor. Second, he resolved that if he had defrauded anyone, he would restore it to them fourfold.

Understand these commitments in light of the words of verse 7. Zacchaeus was hated by the people. They saw him as a sinner. They had just protested the fact that Jesus was going to dine with him. It would have been easy for him to harbour a grudge against them but he chose instead to make everything right.

This encounter with Jesus changed Zacchaeus’ life. He was not the same man who profited from the poor and defrauded those from whom he collected taxes. His hold on his riches had loosened and now he had a whole new focus in life. That very day, Jesus declared that salvation had come to Zacchaeus’ house.

Luke concludes the story about Zacchaeus with the words: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

While Zacchaeus did all that he could to see Jesus, what Luke is telling us is that, all the while, it was Jesus who had been seeking Zacchaeus. The Spirit of God was working in his life, bringing him to that sycamore tree at the right time to meet the One who would change His life.

The question the story brings up is this: Who was really doing the seeking?

Luke 18:26-27 - Who Can Be Saved?

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 15:12:07 GMT

26 Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” – Luke 18:26-27 (ESV)

Those who heard Jesus speaking responded to His statement that it would be easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Contemplating these words, they ask: “Then who can be saved?” Consider this for a moment.

The words of Jesus were inspired by a visit from a rich ruler who asked what he could do to inherit eternal life. This man testified that he had observed the commandments of God from his youth. From the question he asked, we get the understanding that he was a religious man who believed in eternal life. He even came to Jesus wanting to hear from Him and learn from His wisdom. This ruler had many admirable qualities. The people present knew this. They also saw him walk away and Jesus declare that it was very difficult for a man such as this to enter the kingdom of heaven. This is what caused confusion and stirred up the question: “If a man such as this can’t enter the kingdom of heaven, then who can?” The conversation caused those present to wonder if salvation was possible for anyone.

Observe Jesus’ response to the question: “Then who can be saved?” Jesus tells His listeners that what is impossible with man, is possible with God.

Note first that Jesus tells His listeners that salvation is impossible with man. That is to say, it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for anyone to be saved by their own efforts. In other words, it is a physical, and spiritual impossibility. There is nothing you can do to save yourself.

While salvation is impossible through human effort, it is not impossible for God. In fact, He is the only one who can save. You can talk all you want to your loved ones and tell them about Jesus, but nothing you say will change their heart. Our words don’t have that kind of power. You can live a godly life before your neighbours but their lives will not be changed by how you live. The only one who can change a heart is God. Only He can open blind eyes. Only He can give life to a dead heart. Only He can make a sinner a child of God. He may use our words and lives to speak to sinners but the reality is that the power to change a life is not my words or actions but the Spirit of God alone. What is impossible for us, is fully possible with God. He moves and gives life. He opens eyes and ears that have long been closed. He alone is Saviour and there is none other.

A Ministry Calling

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 16:16:09 GMT

A testimony about my call to full-time ministry

I grew up in the home of a pastor who, before I was born, had prayed for a son who would devote his life to serving the Lord. This was well before my dad ever felt that same call himself. I cannot remember a time when I did not feel that call on my life. At the age of six or seven, my sisters and I would “play church.” They would be the congregation, and I would preach to them. I have no idea what I “preached” in those days, but somehow I couldn’t escape the tug of the Spirit on my life, even at that early age.

That was not the only work of God in those early years. The Spirit of God preserved me through my teen years for the work He was calling me to do. While there were temptations at that age, the passion was not there. To the best of my knowledge, I was the only Christian youth in my high school. While I was never an aggressive evangelist, my fellow students knew I was different, possibly because of the Bible I carried in my pocket or the Christian patches sewn onto my jean jacket. They respected me. I never pushed them to accept my position, and they never invited me to their parties. I was sixteen years old before I met a true Christian my age. Those high school years were times of soul searching for me, not only in terms of what God wanted me to do with my life, but also to know that I truly had a relationship with Him.

There was no question about what needed to happen after High School. I was going to Bible School. One of the most amazing things to me about this time was what God began to teach me about His provision. There were no student loans or financial provision from my parents in those days, but somehow, after four years, there was no debt either. God provided, by so many means, all that was necessary for every expense I had.

The other significant lesson the Lord taught me during those days at Bible School was that He had a specific purpose for my life and was fully able to communicate that purpose to me. Let me briefly share that story with you.

I was sitting in a remote corner of the library at Ontario Bible College, working on a paper for a course I was taking on the book of Isaiah. As I worked, some Bible verses kept popping into my head. Initially, I ignored them, but when they would not go away, I decided to look up the references and jot them down on a piece of paper. Only when I did that, and put that paper in my pocket, did I have enough peace to continue with my work.

Later that evening, in my dorm room, I continued working on my paper. There came a point, however, when I began to feel quite distracted. My mind was not on the work, but rather the verses on the piece of paper in my shirt pocket. I abandoned my study, reached into my pocket, and decided to look up those verses. Here’s what I discovere d.

The first verse was from Romans 10 and read:

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? – Ro 10:14

It was as if the Lord Himself was asking that question to me personally. I decided to look up the second verse. It was from Acts 1:

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” – Ac 1:8

There was one more verse the Lord gave me in the library earlier that day. I looked that up as well, and it read:

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, – Mt 28:19

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” – Isa 6:8

That moment was very sacred to me. Forty-some years later, I still remember it clearly.

Printing of the Lost Sheep in Sierra Leone nearing completion

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 17:47:50 GMT

Five hundred copies of the above commentary on Jesus’ Parable of the Lost Sheep are nearing completion at the print shop in Sierra Leone. They will be transported to the Ivory Coast shortly. Your prayers would be appreciated.

Urdu Exodus Commentary now completed

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 17:53:16 GMT

Five hundred Light to My Path Devotional commentaries are now completed and ready for distribution in Lahore, Pakistan. Pray that they would be a blessing to those who receive them.

Urdu Bible Commentary on the Book of Exodus nearing completion

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 17:56:21 GMT

Five hundred copies of the Light To My Path Devotional Commentary on Exodus are now being printed in Pakistan. It has been several years since we completed the New Testament commentary series. Pray that these Old Testament commentaries would be a blessing as they are distributed in this country.

850 Kenyan Pastors Receive LTMP Commentary on book of Exodus

Mon, 23 Jun 2025 18:03:57 GMT

Eight hundred and fifty copies of the Light To My Path Devotional Commentary on Exodus were recently printed in Eldoret, Kenya. The books were transported to Nairobi where they were distributed in the rural regions around the city. Pray these these pastors would be blessed by the addition of those book to their libraries.

LTMP Urdu Commentaries Available

Mon, 23 Jun 2025 18:02:13 GMT

Four Urdu commentaries have now been published through Ingram Spark:

2 Corinthians
The Acts of the Apostles
The Epistles of John and Jude
Galatians and Ephesians

All the New Testament commentaries have been translated and will soon be available.

Bible Notes on Titus 1 now available

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 18:07:12 GMT

My Bible notes on Titus 1 have now been completed and are available below:

Bible Notes on 2 Timothy completed

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 18:10:02 GMT

My Bible Notes on 2 Timothy are now completed and uploaded to the online reading library. You may access them at the link below.