Gleanings from Genesis

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Greetings to you in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Once again, a pleasure to meet you through this post. Recently I was reading the book of Genesis and some things opened itself to my understanding from that wonderful book which I want to share with you. May it be a blessing!

1. The First Kings were from Edom.

So, there are two brothers, Jacob and Esau. There is constantly a struggle between them in their initial years, but before they do a single act, good or bad, God already says that He loves Jacob and hates Esau. Yet, the first kings were from Esau’s descendants. While his brother Jacob undergoes a series of misfortunes.

God does not measure success on worldly standards. Edomites had kings, the worldly person looking into the life history of 2 brothers that time would have thought that Esau is more rich and successful than his brother, surely God is with him, but that is not the case. While men look at outward appearances, God looks at heart. Surely God raised Kings and established Kingdoms, but in His own time. Let us therefore look onto God and not unto success. Similar to this, Paris Reidhead in his famous sermon talks about expedient Christianity, that the ruling philosophy of our day is Pragmatism, that is, “if it works it is true. If it succeeds it’s good. And the test of all practices, all principles, all truth, so called all teaching, is do they work? Do they work? Now – according to pragmatism, the greatest failures of the ages have been some of the men God has honoured most….. Our generation is prepared to honour successful choices. As long as a person can get things done or get the job done then our generation is prepared to say well done.”

Fearing God and restraining from evil is the only standard that God uses to measure us.

2. Possessor of Heaven and Earth.

Genesis 14:22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth.

Knowing the true source of goodness is an aspect we are called to look upon. The context of the verse was, Abraham returns after defeating kings, and Melchizedek appears, and the bible records that he was the King and a priest. He reveals an identity of God, “Possessor of heaven and earth”. Upon learning this identity of his Maker, when Abraham is offered the spoils of the war by the Kings whom he had fought for, he replies to them, with the identity of God, “I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou should say, I have made Abram rich”.

True riches never comes from man. True blessings can never come from a questionable source. The Psalmist writes, “My help comes from the Lord the maker of heaven and earth”

Let us therefore not look to any man as a source for our blessing or for help. But always unto God.

3. The Lord was with Joseph

4 times in the book of Genesis, even once in the New Testament, there is a proud emphasis by the Holy Spirit that the Lord was with Joseph. Joseph stands before the king and the king realizes that God is with him. He is thrown in to the prison and the keeper recognizes that God is with him. They know that he is special.

I understand this as a part of Joseph’s resolve to sexual purity. He asks Potiphar’s wife, “How can I commit this sin against the Lord?”

Are we sensitive towards sin, or has it become a habit? Have we been hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, or our heart breaks on the notion of sinning?

I leave these questions for you to ponder over.

Just remember this thought, when you are tempted, “Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the Glory that will be revealed in us”

May God be with you, as He was with Joseph!

Gideon Paul Rufus

God’s Love Missions Family