Where's Jesus? The Building of the Ark (Genesis 6)

In Genesis 6, the sinfulness of humanity has reached a zenith. God is angry at this blatant sin and is intent on bringing judgment to bear.  While we don't think of it this way very often, God's judgment is an expression of his love for the chosen people.  It is his way of ensuring their safety and continued propagation in the world without fear of sin becoming rampant.

As I have reflected on the story, it seems that Noah is a type of Christ.  He is the one who finds favor in the eyes of God (Genesis 6:8) just as Jesus grew in favor with God and men (Luke 2:52).  Noah builds the ark, which is the means by which God saves he and his family, and Noah is the one who ensures that all the occupants are aboard the ark before judgment comes (Genesis 6:14, 20-21).  This is like Christ who erects our salvation by his holy and righteous life, imparting to us a covering which will allow us to float through God's judgment and come our unscathed on the other side.  Jesus is the righteous man and he is the one with whom God establishes and inaugurates the new covenant so that we may live.   And ultimately he is the one who does everything just as the lord commands him, for he says, "Not my will but yours be done" (Luke 22:42).

I am going to quote now from another author and his thoughts on the Noah story,

Today we call ‘pitch’ tar. The Hebrew word for ‘pitch’ is ‘kaphar’ and it is used seventy times in the Bible to mean atonement as it relates to blood sacrifice. The one exception is here in Genesis where it refers to the substance which covers the ark inside-and-out. In order to better understand the definition, my pastor likes to break-down the word ‘atonement’ into its basic components: at-one-ment, as in ‘being one with God’. By Christ’s shed blood we are in such harmony with God.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Romans 5:8-9 (See Note)

People of God, we must crawl into the ark of faith and be shut within it by God himself, who not only seeks our best, but provides the means by which salvation is possible and secure from all the wrath of God which will be poured out again at the end of time.  Praise God for the testimony of Christ in the Old Testament so that we have hope for our future and the promises contained in the New Testament.

For those wanting to explore these thoughts and others, I refer you here.

Note: http://compassiondave.wordpress.com/2009/01/22/noah’s-ark-and-jesus-christ/

Where's Jesus? Genealogy to Noah (Genesis 5)

In one of my previous posts, I wrote about my struggle with genealogies, and here I am again in Genesis 5:1-32.  This time looking at a list of names that begins with God, proceeds to Adam and concludes with Noah and his three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.  Along the way, these 32 verses catalog 11 generations and 13 individuals and nestled right in the middle at number seven is Enoch the man who

walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. (Genesis 5:24)

This really is an amazing passage for the list of names begins with God, reminding us that all of life originates in God Almighty and we know from John 1 that Jesus is the one who was intimately involved in the creation of the world.  In fact it is his world.  Let us hold fast to this truth.  Then it progresses through the normal cycle of raising children and dying, which exists in our world, but which was not part of the original creation and instead found its way into the world through our sin (Genesis 2:17).

Where's Jesus? Cain, Abel and others (Genesis 4)

Murder is bad, and fratricide is a horrific form of murder for it reveals so many ugly things about a family - disfunction, hatred, poor parenting, bad relationships, jealousy, etc.  All these are part of what leads a person to kill his or her brother.  The sheer violence recorded in the Bible is amazing, after only 3 chapters, God's Word tells us of the murder of Abel by his brother Cain and then it goes on to record the heart of one of Cain's progeny.  Where is Jesus in a story like this?


Cain and Abel represent two types of people.  There are those who worship God right and those who worship God by their own ideas of what is right.  The Word tells us,

The Reformer's Hermeneutic (Way of Interpretation)

Here is a great 3 page article on why we should read the Bible with an eye to see Jesus in all the stories of the Old Testament.

Where's Jesus? The Fall of Man (Genesis 3)

A fruit tree, bad choices, and talking serpents are what most of us remember from Genesis 3, but there is so much more to this passage than just the surface details.  These 24 verses contain wonderful references to Christ which we must never forget.  I once told a student of mine, "If you understand the first 3 chapters of Genesis and the last 3 chapters of Revelation then you will have understood the gospel, everything else is the details." I still believe that is true, let me explain:

Where's Jesus? The Creation Story (Genesis 1-2)

How many battles have been fought over the opening chapters of Genesis.  Creation, evolution, intelligent design, the nature of "days"- each of these and countless others have been battled over in culture and in the church.  I do not want to downplay these arguments, for there are many things at stake on both sides of the debates, but I would like to refocus our eyes today, by asking the same question, which I am so fond of, "Where is Jesus in the Creation narrative?"

It is my firm belief that answering such a question will clarify many of the above questions as either "important" or "irrelevant." The Scriptures begin with these words,

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

Where's Jesus? Joseph reassures his brothers (Genesis 50:15-28)

As we come to the last of Genesis, we encounter the final conversation between Joseph and his brothers now that death has taken jacob from them.  I can imagine their fear must have been high.  "Dad is dead, now what is Joseph going to do to us for selling him?" Words like this must have plagued their minds, they plague mine when I know I have wronged someone and the stop I see holding back the vengenance has been removed.  


I love Joseph's response for it echoes Jesus in so many ways, 

“But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.” (Genesis 50:19–21)

Like Joseph brothers who intended harm, the Christian in his pre-regenerate state hates Christ, mocks him, sins against him and even crucifies him and for all these things we come to the cross and cry out for mercy, and in response, God gives us not just mercy, but he saves us and provides for us and our children.  This is covenant, this is grace, this is mercy and radical forgiveness.  This is a picture of the gospel.  Now let us go and live out the example of Joseph to those who have wronged us and let us use words to draw the wonderful parallels between our actions and the actions of Christ.  To God be the glory!

[For those wondering where the Where's Jesus post will go next, I plan on returning to Genesis 1 and picking up the first 28 chapters which I skipped when I started this particular series of entries.  Tune in next week for Genesis 1 - Where's Jesus?]

Where's Jesus? Jacob's Death (Genesis 49:29-50:14)

The death of Jacob and the subsequent funeral procession recorded in Genesis 49:29-50:14 make for an interesting story.  There are three phases to the pericope.  First Jacob gives some final instructions before leaving this world (Genesis 49:29-33), second Joseph begins the mourning process which takes 40 and 70 days respectively, and third, Jacob's sons obey their father's final instructions.

We don't often look for Jesus in the midst of burials and funerals as protestants, but he is there.  Here are my thoughts:

1. Just as Jacob gave final instructions before leaving this world, so Jesus gave his church final words before leaving.  Matthew 28:18-20 records these as,  “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Similar words are recorded in Mark 16:15-18 and Acts 1:8-10.  Jesus death, resurrection and ascension were not the end, but the beginning of a journey that would take his family, the church, to the Promised Land, just as jacob's death reunited the family in Canaan for a brief period.

Where's Jesus? Jacob blesses his sons (Genesis 49:1-28)

After blessing his grandsons, Jacob moves on to blessing his sons.  He takes them in order from Reuben to Benjamin.  Along the way he recounts the sins of his first three sons and essentially excludes them from leadership in the covenant people for self-exaltation and violence, but then he comes to Judah and this is where we get a glimpse of Jesus.  He is the one Jacob prophesies,

"The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his..."(Genesis 49:10)

This is Jesus, the psalmist prophesies later about him,

"The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One...'I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill...Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.  You will rule them..." (Psalm 2:2, 6, 8-9a)

Where's Jesus? The blessing of Manasseh and Ephraim (Genesis 48)

As Jacob is dying, a remarkable thing happens, he blesses Joseph's children and considers them his own.  As we will see next week, Jacob continues this blessing to his own children and then he dies.  So,  in his days on the earth, as he stood at death's doorstep, Jacob passed on the blessing of God to others. These are sweet words,

"Your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine" (Genesis 48:5a).

This is a remarkable statement for at least two reasons:

1. Joseph's children are given a sort of primacy that they don't deserve in comparison with the other natural born sons of Jacob.
2. They are not full Israelites, at least not genetically.  If you recall, they are 1/2 Egyptian and 1/2 Hebrew (Genesis 41:45), yet they are considered full members of the family and inheritors of God's promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Where's Jesus? The Land belongs to Pharaoh and the Priests are free (Genesis 47:13-31)

As we come to the last few chapters of Genesis we are beginning to see the conclusion to the Joseph stories and Jesus continues to remain a central figure in these narratives as we have seen him portrayed in the others stories as well.  For those new to this series of posts, my basic understanding is that all Scripture points to Christ and testifies to who he is and what he will do for his people.  Jesus testified about this particular way of reading the Scriptures in John 5:39 where he said, 

"You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life.  These are the Scriptures that testify about me,"

A few months ago I started asking the question, "Where is Jesus in this story?"  I had been reading in Genesis and so I just started there, half way through the book.  The question has proved very fruitful for my  devotional life and my approach to the Scriptures and I hope to continue on this path at the beginning of Genesis when I finish and then throughout other books of the Bible as well.


So today we have the story of Joseph and how he brings all the land under Pharaoh's control, except the land of the priests.  The famine has been in full swing and the people are unable to provide for themselves any longer, their money has all been used up, they have exchanged their livestock for grain as well.  Now all that remains is their land and their bodies, which they gladly exchange for food to live by.  In fact it is this verse which I would like to quote and explore more fully.

"Why should we perish before your eyes - we and our land as well?  Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh.  Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate." (Genesis 47:19)

Is this not the cry of every believer at some point in their life.  We struggle to make ends meet and we struggle to find food that will nourish our souls and finally we come to the one who has all the resources in the universe.  We come and so often we beg for what will nourish our souls, for Jesus has said, 

"my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink." (John 6:55)

 We are willing to become slaves in order to eat this food and find peace against the storms and difficulties of life.  And in fact that is the bargain that Jesus is willing to make with each and every one of us, your life in exchange for mine, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 10:39), bondage to me in exchange for release from bondage to death and the world.  


But there is another interesting group of people in this passage and that is the priests of Pharaoh.  Their land isn't confiscated because Pharaoh supplies them with all that they need in order to be free from the struggles of life.  The Word tells us, 

"they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them.  That is why they did not sell their land." (Genesis 47:22b)

Now an interesting thing happens in conversion.  When we come to God begging for life, he grants us salvation but he also changes our status to that of priests and we become beneficiaries of his goodness and not slaves without any rights.  For we are told by the apostle Peter,

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (1Peter 2:9)

In fact, Jesus calls us brothers and not slaves at all, 

"I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15)

We become the heirs of all that the master has and owns.  We become his people, full of his blessings, able to serve in gratitude instead of out of duty. We are blessed.  This is the gift we find in coming to the Lord and seeking his salvation, we find life and life abundantly.  May you be encouraged for the land belongs to God and you are free priests in the land.  

On Theological illiteracy

"Our theological currency has been debased.  Our minds have been conditioned to think of the Cross as a redemption which does less than redeem, and of Christ as a Saviour who does less than save, and of God's love as a weak affection which cannot keep anyone from hell without help, and of faith as the human help which God needs for this purpose.  As a result, we are no longer free either to believe the biblical gospel or to preach it.  We cannot believe it, because our thoughts are caught in the toils of synergism.  We are haunted by the Arminian idea that if faith and unbelief are to be responsible acts, they must be independent acts; hence we are not free to believe that we are saved entirely by divine grace through a faith which is itself God's gift and flows to us from Calvary.  Instead, we involve ourselves in a bewildering kind of double-think about salvation, telling ourselves one moment that it all depends on god and next moment that it all depends on us.  the resultant mental muddle deprives God of much of the glory that we should give Him as author and finisher of salvation, and ourselves of much of the comfort we might draw from knowing that God is for us."

John Owen has a wonderful way of presenting things clearly.  And this was written in the 1700's.
From The Death of Death, pg. 13-14.

Where's Jesus? Jacob reunited to Joseph (Genesis 46:1-47:12)

A father and son reunited after many years.  A family relocated from the dust bowl to the fertile plains.  A son able to provide abundantly for the family in terms of land and food, when previously they have been living in great need.  This sounds like the synopsis to a great novel, and it is.  It is the synopsis to the greatest story ever told in human history.  The story of God's love for humanity.  God the Father, Christ the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the Christian church all star in this story in many ways similar to the story relayed in our reading in Genesis this week.

In Genesis 46:4, God tells Jacob,

"I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again."

This promise from God to be with Jacob and never to leave him, is reiterated by the author of Hebrews as,

 "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." 

Jesus himself promised, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" (John 14:18).  Wherever we go, wether it is to the darkest hour of our trial, as the nation of Israel faced as the entered Egypt only to become its slaves later on, or in receiving the blessing of God as the nation leaves captivity entering into a land flowing with milk and honey, God is there.  He goes with his people by the presence of his Holy Spirit who lives in us.  We are not alone, just as God promised Jacob that he would not be alone.

But the next beautiful promises of Christ comes to us in the reaction of Jacob.  Jacob takes all his wealth and all his children and follows the Lord's leading.  So it is with Christ, he takes his entire church with him into the grave and out again.  He takes his entire church with him into suffering and then into glory.  he takes his entire church into his glorious reign and ensures that they are safe and sound in the fold of his garments of holiness.  The Scriptures for this would be way to numerous to show, but even a cursory reading of Romans will reveal that this is true.

Next, Joseph acts as a mediator in verse 31 between Pharaoh and the brothers.  He says,

"I will go and speak to Pharaoh..."

In his mediation he seeks the best land in Egypt for the family and he secures it, just as Christ is the sole mediator between God and man (1Timothy 2:5) and seeks our best interest.  He prays for us, he asks for the best land in the promised kingdom for each of us and he brings us into the Promised Land, making sure that we have all we need to thrive just as Joseph did for Jacob and his family.  

This is such a wonderful passage which directs us toward Jesus and his ministry.  May you always be encouraged as you see Christ in the writings that testify to him.  Amen.

Where's Jesus? Joseph reveals himself (Genesis 45)

 After all the family struggles, the revealing of past sins, and the effort expended to make a life, Joseph's brothers are shocked at the behavior of Pharaoh's second in command.  It is easy to imagine that such actions from a dignitary could be viewed as eccentric, even crazy.  But the great turning point for the family comes when Joseph recites these words,

"I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! An now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you...God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance." (Genesis 45:4-5, 7)

Where's Jesus? Joseph's beg for Benjamin's Life (Genesis 44)

The Joseph stories are fascinating looks into human relationships and the emotional responses that are born out of these interactions. But even more than that, they place before us a picture of God and Christ.  This week, Joseph's brothers return after being "framed"for theft.  They return to plead for the life of their youngest brother Benjamin.  As readers and Christians, we must ask, "Where is Jesus in a story like this?"


Most often we read the story and take offense at the way Joseph treats his brothers - framing Benjamin for a crime he didn't commit, putting the brothers through extreme emotional hardship, and breathing into them the "fear of God."  But that kind of reading assumes that justice is situational.  What I mean is this:  Many westerners believe that guilt is only attributable to specific actions. One cannot be found guilty for a crime they didn't commit, even if in their past, they were guilty of a crime which hasn't come to light yet.  We would assume that prosecuting someone and calling them guilty when in fact they are innocent of that specific crime would be a perversion of justice and so we chafe at a story like this one in the Bible.  It is unjust.  It isn't fair. 

Where's Jesus? Joseph's brothers return to Egypt (Genesis 43)

After returning to Canaan with food, Jacob and his sons enjoy their bounty until it begins to run out.  Then they are sent again to Egypt to ask for more food, they go with their youngest brother, as requested and the chapter ends with these words, "So they feasted and drank freely with him."

There are three themes which arise from today's reading.  First, the setting of the pericope:  Famine versus liberality and feasting.  Outside of the one whom the Spirit rests upon, there is no bounty in the land.  In this case, there is no bounty outside of Joseph's sphere of control; in the New Testament, there is no bountiful life outside of Christ.  Only in him can we feast and celebrate and invite our families to dine in extravagance without want.

The second theme relates to Judah's promise to care for Benjamin on the trip and to bear the consequence of failing to secure his safe return.

Where's Jesus? Joseph Brothers go to Egypt (Genesis 42)

In our story this week, Joseph is ruling Egypt under Pharaoh and the famine promised 7 years earlier has arrived. All of the Mediterranean basin is struggling under these conditions.  Even Jacob in Canaan, the one blessed by God, and his family are not immune to the conditions.  So what happens, Jacob sends his sons to Egypt in order to find sustenance.  At that time, the truth is only one man in the area has the ability to save life or condemn it and Joseph is that man.

The brothers approach him and because Joseph knows their sin he sets up a condition for helping them.  They must prove they are who they say they are:

We are all the sons of one man.  Your servants are honest men, not spies.  (Genesis 42:11) 

Then they are sent away, fretting under the conditions imposed upon them,

Where's Jesus? Joseph Interprets Pharaoh's Dreams (Genesis 41)

Both of Pharaoh's dreams are one and the same in meaning: bountiful years followed by famine.  Most often we focus on the dreams (we seem to be hopelessly enamored with the spectacular), but verse 38 contains the key for seeing Christ in the story.  In this verse Pharaoh asks,

Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God? (Genesis 41:38)

The answer is, "No." There is only one man in all Egypt like Joseph, a 30 year old man (vs. 46) who rules Egypt in such a way that the whole country is both saved from famine and taken under the King's authority.  Joseph is full of the spirit of God; he is granted wisdom and exaltation, power and authority and as we will see in coming chapters, he uses that authority beneficently and graciously towards those who wronged him.  In fact, without Joseph, there would have been no salvation for Israel (Jew) or Egypt (Gentile).

This is an extraordinary foreshadowing of a 30 year old Jewish carpenter from Galilee, of whom it is written,

Where's Jesus? Joseph the Interpreter of 2 Dreams (Genesis 40)

The cupbearer and the baker - 2 dreams, 2 interpretations.  Most often we stop here, but let me add another, to our list. Do not the cupbearer and the baker represent 2 kinds of people?  If we are to find Christ in this passage, then I believe we must see these 2 men as representing two kinds of people in the world: the condemned and the saved, the self-righteous and those who abide in the vine.

Where's Jesus? Joseph and Potiphar's wife (Genesis 39)

In Genesis 39 we continue with the Joseph narrative.  He has been sold into slavery by his brothers and reported as dead to his father and now we find that Joseph is bought by the captain of the Egyptian guard.  he is put in charge of the household and brings it quickly into top-notch control.  The one problem is his master's wife tries to tempt him to sin, to shift his focus from his work to the pleasantries of life, and although Joseph withstands the temptation, this ultimately brings about further imprisonment due to false allegations.

Does this sound familiar?  It sounds an awful lot like the opening and closing of Jesus' ministry.  In Matthew 4:1,

Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Like Joseph, Jesus is tempted by one who promises the pleasures of life.  Joseph's temptation was that of sexual intercourse, Jesus' was much more sinister, the vices of self-reliance, self-protection and self-rule permeated the devil's attempts.  But like Joseph who withstood the temptation and fled the scene, Jesus stood the temptation by relying on the Word of God (Matthew 4:4,7,10)

Then if, we jump to the end of Jesus' earthly life, we see that it is similar to Joseph's.  Joseph was condemned again on the testimony of his accusing temptress, so too was Christ condemned by the Jewish courts under false allegations and lies, for

the chief priests and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward (Matthew 26:59-60)

Truly the Scriptures do testify to Jesus as he promised,

You search the Scriptures for you think that in them you have eternal life; yet it is they that bear witness to me (John 5:39).

Let us go to him for our salvation, for we will see that just as Joseph saved his people, so Jesus saves us as well.