Dan Rowe - Sunday, 12 November 2023
The LORD is Always with You
Scripture References: Genesis 39:1-23, Psalms 43:1-5, Deuteronomy 31:6-8, Matthew 1:18-23
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CloseThe repeated phrase in this chapter is the “the LORD was with Joseph”. While never coming into the story, the LORD is central to the Joseph narrative. In both feast and famine, the LORD is with Joseph. Even Potiphar could see the LORD’s hand on Joseph. Our experience of life is often not too dissimilar to Joseph. We may not have been sold into slavery but our world is enslaved and under the yoke of sin. In the midst of living in a broken world, we might ask “where is God?” Genesis 39 reveals not a distant god but the LORD, our covenant-keeping God, who is ever present. That was Joseph’s reality and, even more so, our reality as we look to Jesus who is Immanuel, “God with us”, who has promised to be with is to the very end of the age.
Scripture References: Genesis 39:1-23, Psalms 43:1-5, Deuteronomy 31:6-8, Matthew 1:18-23
Related Topics: Genesis | More Messages from Dan Rowe | Download Audio
Jesus deals with the question of ‘Who belongs in the kingdom?’ Is it children? Is it the good? Is it the godly? And, how and what does this look like? This question of ‘belonging’ is one that is constant in our lives – where do I belong, do I belong, what does belonging look like? And Jesus is very clear: the kingdom of heaven is made up of the dependent, the reliant, the weak – just like children.
The book of Esther recounts a period where God's people are in exile, aliens in a foreign land. Sounds like our time doesn't it? Even when God seems absent, He is at work. The great reversal of power at the heart of the universe has already taken place. Jesus won victory over death on the cross and in His resurrection. Satan the great enemy of God and His people, has been defeated. We wait in the now but not yet. Waiting for the Lord Jesus to return and give His people relief and rest. But as we wait, we share the good news of the gospel, call people to faith in Jesus, faithfully endure persecution, knowing that our deliverance is assured.
We love a turning point. Whether it is a story or a football game. Hope dawning at the darkest time. Where is the great turning point in Esther? It could be our memory verse, when Esther is persuaded by Mordecai to act to save her people. It could be when the king looks with favour upon Esther and holds out the golden scepter to her. It could be when Haman is forced to lead Mordecai through the city mounted on the king’s horse and proclaims that he is the man the king delights to honour. They are major events in the story of Esther. They are turning points of a sort. But the writer of Esther points us to another event. That looks so trivial.
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