Bridegroom of Blood-It Ain't Pretty - Exodus 4:1-5:21; Psalm 22:19-31; Proverbs 5:15-21

God had just told Moses to return to Egypt and deliver the Israelites. And God was going with Moses. But not all was well.

 

At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him. – Exodus 4:24

 

When God had made his covenant with Abraham, part of the covenant was that all the males in his household were to be circumcised. It was an important part of the covenant, too—so important that uncircumcised males were to be cut off from the rest of the covenant people.

 

We can assume that Moses was circumcised because he was three months old—well beyond the eight-days-after-birth time limit for circumcisions—before his mother put him in the Nile River. But he had not circumcised his child.

 

There’s some question as to whether the text says that God was going to kill Moses or his son. It seems to point to Moses, but his son was the uncircumcised one. However, I tend to stick with Moses, God’s appointed deliverer of the Hebrews, as the one God intended to kill. His son Gershom couldn’t help being uncircumcised. He was just a child, and I hope never to hear that any eight year old attempted his own surgery.

 

But Moses should have known better. His failure to circumcise his son showed a lack of respect for his people’s covenant with God. Perhaps he had been talked out of circumcising his son by his non-Israelite wife Zipporah, but this is one thing he should not have allowed himself to be talked out of. Moses stood responsible… and he had failed.

 

Zipporah apparently knew exactly why God was threatening Moses’ life. She circumcised their son and lay his foreskin on her husband’s feet with the bitter words, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” I’m guessing no mother wants to circumcise her own son, and Zipporah apparently found it revolting.

 

Being a part of God’s covenant people has never been attractive by earthly standards. From the start, it was bloody and nasty. And it has continued to be disgusting to this day. Think about it. We trust in a God who became a man and eventually suffered a terrible beating, a crown of painful thorns, and a horrible execution on a cross. Even his death was confirmed in a nasty way, with a spear thrust into his side so that fluids poured out of his body. Only those who believe that He rose again and offers a hope beyond suffering and death, a hope of glory and life, would want to commit themselves into His hands.

 

Father, help me to learn from Moses’ mistake. Help me never to be ashamed of the bloody side of following You. Remind me never to avoid it to keep others comfortable. Our covenant has been sealed by the shedding of blood, and apart from it I have no hope, no security, no life. Thank You for the blood that ties us together.

 

God's Love for One is God's Love for All-Exodus 2:11-3:22; Psalm 22:1-18; Proverbs 5:1-6

During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them. – Exodus 2:23-25

 

It stunk to be a Hebrew. Slavery. Oppression. Who could deliver them? Why would anyone go to the trouble?

 

God heard their groaning. But what moved Him to act? “He remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.”

 

God’s compassion is for us. But sometimes it’s not because of us. Sometimes it’s because of someone else He has a relationship with, and for their sake, God loves us. That’s how it was with the Israelites. God made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He loved them enough to make a covenant to bless their children. The children benefitted even though their fathers had died.

 

Believers realize how true this is more than anyone else:

 

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8

 

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. – Ephesians 1:3-10

 

God has had mercy on us because of someone else: Jesus Christ. We were sinners. We deserved no compassion. But God has loved Jesus forever, and as He saw us in Jesus Christ before the creation of the world, He chose us and planned to adopt us as His sons… All this because of His Son Jesus Christ, whom He loves.

 

God has had compassion on us because of someone else He loves. What a gracious God, to include us in that love!

 

Father, thank You for showing over and over that Your love for some is the basis for Your love for others. Thank You that Your covenant love is not exclusive. You have opened Your arms wide not only to Your Son Jesus Christ but to his family—the men of this world… even to me. Thank You for sending Jesus to call us family (Heb. 2:10-18).

 

The Words of Joseph, The Words of Christ-Genesis 50:1-Exodus 2:10; Psalm 21; Proverbs 5:1-6

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

 

Joseph’s brothers were afraid. Joseph had been kind to them. But now their father was dead. Perhaps Joseph had only been kind to them for the sake of their father. Perhaps he would torment them, enslave them, or kill them now. They were freaked out.

 

But Joseph’s kindness was genuine. He knew their sin. But he also knew God’s grace and goodness. He saw God’s hand in all that happened. He not only forgave his murderous brothers. He promised to provide for them. He chose to join God in His good intentions rather than to oppose God’s goodness for personal vengeance.

 

Jesus Christ has done this not just with ten brothers, but with billions of us. He became our brother as he joined the human race at his birth. He grew up among us, taught us, healed us, introduced us to God. But we grew jealous of Him, rejected Him, put Him on trial, beat Him, condemned Him and killed Him.

 

And then God raised Him from the dead – this Jesus whom we had killed! Jesus had and has every right to take vengeance on us all. We are rebels against our King and against His father. So like Joseph’s brothers, we should approach Jesus with fear and trembling, knowing that we deserve the worst treatment possible for the way we have rejected Him.

 

Unlike Joseph, Jesus is in the place of God. But like Joseph, Jesus says to us, his wicked brothers who seek forgiveness, “Don’t be afraid. 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.” Rather than being vengeful, our God and King Jesus Christ reassures us and speaks kindly to us. He seeks God goodness for us, His wicked brothers.

 

Father, how can I not rejoice in Your Son’s kindness and mercy? Thank You that Your intentions for us, even though we do not deserve them, are life and health and provision and salvation. Thank You that Jesus is in complete agreement with You. No one is like You in returning good for evil. Thank You for taking the inertia of my rebellion and using it to throw me into Your grace and goodness.

 

Appropriate Blessings - Genesis 48-49; Psalm 20; Proverbs 4:20-27

All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him. – Genesis 49:28

 

Appropriate? Really? I thought blessings were always… happy sounding.

 

But Israel mentioned this about Reuben:

 

Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father’s bed, onto my couch and defiled it. In his blessings, Israel mentioned how Reuben slept with his father’s concubine!

 

And about Simeon and Levi:

 

Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel. – Cursed? I thought this was a blessing!?!

 

I’m not sure how I would have liked Issachar’s blessing, either:

 

When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor. – Sure, it’s great to have good land, and work is good. But forced labor? Where did that idea come from?

 

On the other hand, Judah hears this:

 

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. – After Judah raises two wicked sons, gets his daughter-in-law pregnant by prostitution, and comes up with the idea of selling Joseph into slavery! He gets this! We only know two good things about him: he admitted that his daughter-in-law was more righteous than he was, and he did everything he could to protect Benjamin from the Egyptian governor’s wrath.

 

And Joseph is blessed with:

 

Your father’s blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than the bounty of the age-old hills. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers. – This one seems to make the most sense of all. He is called “the prince” and given abundant blessings… 2 shares among the sons of Jacob, as though he were the firstborn (see chapter 48)! Yet the ruler’s staff is still promised to Judah rather than to Joseph.

 

Then unexpectedly, Benjamin is told:

 

Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder. – Is that a good thing? On the one hand, it sounds like he wins and conquers. On the other, he sounds like a monster.

 

What makes these blessings appropriate? We can’t say with certainty for all of the blessings, but there are clues in the text about some of them.

 

Reuben, the firstborn, really had defiled his father’s bed by sleeping with his father’s concubine. Simeon and Levi murdered a whole town of unsuspecting people because they were angry that their sister had been raped. Judah may have been the one who came up with the idea to sell Joseph into slavery, but his repentance also seemed to be the greatest as he took responsibility for Benjamin. Joseph had been blessed by God, even in the midst of extremely difficult circumstances, and he had remained faithful.

 

The blessings for the future reflect the realities of the past and present in the lives of the sons we know something about.

 

Those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it. – Job 4:8

 

Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him. – Psalm 126:6

 

Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you. – Hosea 10:12

 

Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. – James 3:18

 

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. – Galatians 6:7

 

Blessings are a part of this reaping and sowing pattern. Blessings come as we stay faithful to the God who has begun blessing us. But we also serve a God who disciplines. And even his discipline is a blessing, because he treats us as sons (Hebrews 12:6). So the blessings here were appropriate, though we don’t understand them all because we don’t know much detail about all the brothers. But based on the brothers we do know about, we can see that blessings are not only related to our best wishes for people, but to people’s character and lifestyles. Blessings are tied not just to dreams, but to truth.

 

Father, bless me according to the truth. May the truth you bless me with be the truth that Jesus Christ has taken the penalty for my sins, that He is making me righteous, and that I am your adopted son in Jesus Christ. But also bless me by helping me to have the kind of character that sows seeds of righteousness and reaps sheaves of goodness. If someone were to bless me according to my lifestyle, I hope they would have really great things to say. Make me the kind of person whose blessings sound like blessings.

 

Trusting God When He Leads You "Away" from the Plan-Genesis 46-47; Psalm 19; Proverbs 4:14-19

Ø      "I am God, the God of your father," he said. "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close your eyes." – Genesis 46:3-4

Ø      When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, "If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried."

      "I will do as you say," he said.

"Swear to me," he said. Then Joseph swore to him, and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. – Genesis 47:29-31

 

God had told Abraham that his descendants would go down to Egypt and be mistreated there. But Jacob was the one who had to actually go.

 

It seemed like such a different picture from what God’s ultimate promises included. Jacob didn’t own all of Canaan yet, but at least he was living there. And now God was calling him away from the Promised Land.

 

But Jacob knew it was God calling him.

 

And God promised to bring Jacob back after reuniting him with Joseph. The promise was not over; it was not dead.

 

So Jacob went.

 

And at the end of his life, knowing the promises of God, Jacob approached his son Joseph. Joseph promised to bury him in Canaan. And Jacob worshiped God—the God who keeps His promises, even when He seems to be leading us in the wrong direction.

 

Father, I may know the final destination (since You have told me), but only You know the path. May I remember that what counts is walking faithfully with You. So long as I am with You—no matter how far out of the Way you seem to be taking me—I can rest secure. I can know that I will arrive safely home with You. Thank You for Your faithfulness!

 

Life for Life: Genesis 44-45; Psalm 18:37-50; Proverbs 4:11-13

Judah: Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father. – Genesis 44:33-34

 

Judah was, of course, the brother who convinced the others to sell Joseph as a slave. Much of what we’ve seen in his life is not to be held up as a model for all of us to follow.

 

But Judah had already seen the results of his sins. He had watched his father mourn Joseph’s alleged death for years! He had watched the Lord put two of his own children to death for their sinful ways. He had been forced to admit that his daughter-in-law, who prostituted herself to him so that she could bear his dead son a child and carry on the family name, was more righteous than he himself was!

 

Judah was a humbled man.

 

And Judah was determined not to let his choices bring pain to others any more.

 

Judah knew Benjamin was innocent. And he had made a promise to protect Benjamin, even if Benjamin hadn’t been innocent. So finally, here, Judah put his own life on the line for his half-brother. Judah thought more of his father’s pleasure than of his own, and he offered his life for his brother’s—a life, he thought, of slavery.

 

What a beautiful picture! What a wonderful pattern! No wonder Jesus came through the line of Judah! Jesus also thought more of His Father’s pleasure than of His own. Jesus also put his life on the line for his brothers’ lives.

 

Father, we need this kind of brother! Thank You for sending Jesus, who was innocent in ways that Judah could never dream of being innocent, to take the punishment of sinners like me (who deserve our punishments far more than Benjamin deserved his). Be pleased with Jesus, and through Him, be pleased with us! Enjoy us, your saved and redeemed children, and teach us to enjoy You! Teach us to celebrate this salvation! Make us constantly, gratefully, joyfully happy to have Jesus Christ as our brother!

 

Jacob and Esau-Brothers and Fathers: Genesis 35-36; Psalm 15; Proverbs 3:21-26

God called Jacob to himself, and Jacob did what all God-honoring men do: he called his family to devote themselves to God, too: Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.

 

We don’t know whether Jacob knew by now that Rachel had stolen her father’s gods. But he was at least aware that his family was not fully devoted to the Lord yet. God’s faithfulness to Jacob called Jacob to a faithful response. As the man of the home, he had to lead his wives, children and everyone else with him to follow his faithful God.

 

And at this point in history, Esau was at least not hostile toward Jacob. They buried their father together. Esau may have respected, even served, the God of Israel. He had, after all, been taught to serve the LORD by their father Isaac. He, like Jacob, was abundantly blessed.

 

But still, it was at this time that Jacob and Esau, Israel and Edom, parted ways for good; “the land where they were staying could not support them both” (Gen. 36:7). And while we do not know the fate of Esau himself, he had plotted a terrible course for his family. By intermarrying with people who rejected the God of his fathers, and by never (apparently) calling his family to be faithful to the LORD, Esau neglected their spiritual health. And his descendants joined the Canaanites as some of the worst enemies Israel faced when the nation came up out of slavery.

 

Father, these two brothers humble me. They remind me that my leadership at home matters. I have heard Your call. You have been faithful to me. Help me to pass Your call to my family. I want everyone I am responsible for to follow You wholeheartedly and with purity. May I be faithful in response to Your faithfulness—especially in my home.

 

The Best Way to Gain God's Promises-Genesis 32:13-34:31; Psalm 14; Proverbs 3:19-20

When Jacob arrived back in Canaan with his family, he was able to acquire a little bit more of the land God had promised him. It cost him 100 pieces of silver, but Jacob had land in Canaan to call his own.

 

And then another opportunity came up when Jacob’s daughter Dinah was seduced and possibly raped (the NIV says “violated,” Genesis 34:2). How could this be an opportunity? Shechem, the young man who violated Dinah’s purity, was the ruler’s son. And he decided he wanted Dinah to be his wife. He was in love with her. So he and his father approached Jacob with an offer of peace, an offer to allow Jacob’s family free access to their Canaanite soil. All they had to do was allow Shechem to marry Dinah.

 

This could have been a tempting proposition. This was, after all, the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And God is able to bless His people even through other people’s evil behavior.

 

But Jacob and his sons rejected the offer. I’m not sure they rejected the offer entirely because of faith in God to fulfill His promises without Canaanite help. And Jacob was certainly distressed with the way his sons rejected the offer – deceiving and killing every male in Shechem’s city. But still, they were not willing to barter their sister’s honor for personal gain. Immorality and compromise are not the way to gain God’s promises.

 

It seems as though it would have been better for Jacob’s sons simply to let Hamor and Shechem know that they were not willing for Dinah to be Shechem’s wife. It would have been scary because the rejection might have invited war; Shechem had already shown an inclination to take what he wanted by force. But Jacob’s family served the God who makes and keeps His promises, who protects His people. They would have been safe.

 

While they did not demonstrate that kind of faith, they showed that immorality is not the route to personal gain. Even in making that statement, their sinfulness and destructiveness went too far. But the statement was made.

 

Father, help me not to compromise when people encourage me to permit sin to continue by offering me personal gain. Help me to trust You. Help me to stand for righteousness. Help me to leave vengeance in Your hands, unlike Jacob’s sons. But remind me to pursue You and to cling to Your way of receiving good things. You are my Provider. You are my all-in-all. I can live with Your gifts; they are enough. And I can live with Your promises, looking forward to their fulfillment; they are glorious! I would gain nothing by trading Your promises for earthly comfort, wealth, or prestige.

 

Believing - and Multiple! - Wives - Genesis 28-29; Psalm 11; Proverbs 3:11-12

In these two chapters, we see Jacob head back to his uncle’s house to find a wife from among his own people. We also see Esau marry a wife (his third) from among his Uncle Ishmael’s daughters to please his parents, who are displeased that he has married Canaanites.

 

Paul later talks about not being “yoked together” with unbelievers (2 Cor. 6:14) (though if a person becomes a believer and has an unbelieving spouse who is willing to stay married, the believer should not seek divorce – 1 Cor. 7:12-17). Paul may not be talking primarily about marriage there, but it would be included. God is forming a new people, an eternal people. All who refuse to give their allegiance to God will not be part of that people.

 

The Canaanites did not believe in the LORD, but Esau married two of their women. It demonstrated that his heart was unfaithful to the LORD, because he aligned himself with the very people God had said would die for their sins. I’m not sure that marrying a third wife was the best solution, but still, you can see that Esau was trying to correct a mistake the best way he knew how.

 

Jacob, on the other hand, intended to marry only one believing wife. But his uncle tricked him, so he ended up marrying two. Struggle is evident in the faith of Leah, but she was depending on the LORD to help her through her pain—something neither of Esau’s Canaanite wives would have done.

 

The multiple wife stuff is strange, and doesn’t even seem to be desired by Jacob. But something that is demonstrated by both Jacob and Esau is that God’s people are to have permanent ties only with God’s people, if they can help it. We know from Paul that when a believer and an unbeliever are married, the believer should be faithful to the spouse. But the consensus is that God’s people will be much better off when they marry God’s people. It doesn’t solve every problem, but at least they’ll have the same God and the same destiny.

 

Father, help believers who have not yet married only to consider marrying believers. Help believers who have married believers to rejoice that You are their mutual Lord and Savior. And help believers who are married to unbelievers to remain faithful to You and to their spouses, too—and to have wisdom in following You when their spouses pull them in other directions. Protect Your people, draw other people into Your household, and bring us all Home.

 

The Blessing of God vs. the Blessing of Isaac: Genesis 26:17-27:46; Psalm 10:16-18; Proverbs 3:9-10

On a human level, this story makes me want to jump up and scream, “UNFAIR!!! LOW BLOW!!!” It seems so twisted: Rebekah directing her younger son to deceive his father? On a human level, within the human family, this seems so distorted, so dysfunctional.

 

But what was happening within the spiritual family? Back in Genesis 25:23, when Rebekah finally became pregnant after almost 20 years of barren marriage (verses 20, 26), this is what the heavenly Father said about the boys:

 

Two nations are within your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.

 

The older one was Esau. The younger one was Jacob.

 

But look at the blessings Isaac tried to give Esau: Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed. May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness—an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed. Does anyone else think that Isaac tried to give Esau the very blessing God had already promised Jacob?

 

God said, “The older will serve the younger.” But Isaac, thinking he spoke to Esau, the older, said, “Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.” It seems that there was some spiritual family dysfunction, too. It seems like Isaac and Esau tried to get around God’s promises to Jacob.

 

So who was deceptive?

 

In the end, God’s promises were the ones to stand. What Rebekah and Jacob did may have been sinful. Then again, maybe Rebekah’s motivation had to do with her memory of the promises God had given her in her pregnancy. Whether the humans acted sinfully or not, God had His righteous way. And His good, righteous, loving, wise promises were fulfilled.

 

Father, thank You that human plans and intentions can never overcome Your good purposes. You are in control, and You are wiser, stronger, more righteous, and more worthy than all of us put together. Thank You for loving us anyways, and for making sure Your good plans triumph over our attempts at control!

 

The Promise Keeps Coming. Through Isaac: Genesis 24:52-26:16; Psalm 10:1-15; Proverbs 3:7-8

Father Abraham

Had many sons

And many sons had Father Abraham

I am one of them

And so are you

So let’s just praise the Lord

 

After reading this passage in Genesis, it’s clear that Abraham did have many sons! Not just through Sarah. Not just through Hagar. But through another wife, too – Keturah. And there may have been more sons from other women, depending on whether the word concubines in verse 6 refers to Hagar and Keturah, or whether they were actually considered to be wives. So Father Abraham had many sons.

 

And he cared for them. He gave gifts to “the sons of his concubines” while he was still living, to help care for them.

 

But when he died, everything went to Isaac. Everything. Isaac was the son of the promise. The other sons were sent away from Isaac because Isaac was the heir – of Abraham’s wealth, herds, flocks, servants… and of God’s promise.

 

Father, thank You for Your promises. Thank You that the promises You gave Abraham did not end when he died. Thank You that they carried forward, that they could be inherited. Thank You that I am now an heir of Your promises. You are good. So good! Thank You for Jesus Christ!

 

Blessings from God: A Burial Plot, then a Wife - Genesis 23:1-24:51; Psalm 9:13-20; Proverbs 3:1-6

*God saw fit to let me finish up my reading of Acts very close to the same time as our church Sojourn began to read through the Old Testament together. My devotional thoughts will be drawn from somewhere in the daily readings.*

 

Even when things hit hard, God blesses His people.

 

For years Abraham had been living in Canaan, the land God has promised him. But he had never owned land yet. When his wife Sarah died, Abraham didn’t even have a place to bury her.

 

In the midst of Abraham’s sadness, God blessed him. Through Sarah’s death, God gave Abraham his first taste of owning the land! The Hittites deeded Abraham some land where he could bury his wife, though he was not one of them.

 

God had also promised Abraham a ton of descendants through Isaac. But at this point, Isaac had no wife. Legitimate descendants, at least, would be hard to come by. But Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac, and God made the trip successful!

 

Father, you are faithful. You are faithful to keep Your promises. Even the most painful experiences in our lives can be times of blessing, because You are good. May I give thanks in every circumstance, because You are always good to me. Thank You for reminding me of Your faithfulness through these stories of Your faithfulness to Abraham!

 

Welcome All. Preach the Kingdom. Teach Jesus. - Acts 28:11-31

    After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island. It was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux. We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days. From there we set sail and arrived at Rhegium. The next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached Puteoli. There we found some brothers who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome. The brothers there had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At the sight of these men Paul thanked God and was encouraged. When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.

 

    Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: "My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar--not that I had any charge to bring against my own people. For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain."

 

    They replied, "We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of the brothers who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you. But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect."

 

    They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe. They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: "The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet:

 

  " `Go to this people and say,

  "You will be ever hearing but never understanding;

    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving."

  For this people's heart has become calloused;

    they hardly hear with their ears,

    and they have closed their eyes.

  Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

    hear with their ears,

    understand with their hearts

  and turn, and I would heal them.'

 

    "Therefore I want you to know that God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!"

 

    For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

How does this amazing account of God’s early work through the apostles end? Magnificently? Gloriously? Wondrously?

 

No. And yet yes.

 

No. Paul is a prisoner. People are still rejecting the gospel.

 

But yes. Paul has enough freedom to keep doing what he’s been doing. Paul keeps offering good news to both Jews and Gentiles.

 

Even though Paul was in Rome because he felt forced to appeal to a higher authority to avoid the murderous intents of the Jews, he eagerly reached out to the Jews in Rome. He assured them that he was one of them – it was the hope of Israel that had Paul bound in chains (Acts 28:17-20).

 

Despite the shipwreck and the three months’ travel delay, the Jews in Rome had not heard about Paul. But they were curious about his beliefs because they had heard negative things about this “sect.”

 

When Paul shared the gospel from the Law and the Prophets, pointing to Jesus Christ, some Jews believed, but others would not. The Jewish rejection continued, and Paul warned them that even their rejection had been foretold. The third verse from the end of the book again says that “God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen” (Acts 28:28)!

 

The pattern continued: first Jews, then Gentiles. What pattern? The pattern of spreading the good news. The pattern of the growing kingdom of God. Did it look spectacular? No. Paul was in chains. But was it spectacular? Yes! Some Jews and even Gentiles believed in Jesus, their Christ and King!

 

The last two verses of this book set a pattern for all believers: “For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” Welcome all – Jew and Gentile. Preach the Kingdom. Teach about the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Father, as You continue Your acts today, may we stay faithful to the pattern You set for us through Your servant Paul. You kept expanding Your kingdom from Jerusalem, to Judea, to Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And You are still expanding Your kingdom. Wherever Paul was, he tried to welcome all, though many rejected him. He preached the kingdom, though many rejected the King. He taught about Jesus, though many did not believe. May I do the same, and may I, like Paul, rejoice to see a growing number of brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers who have been welcomed into the kingdom of God under the Lord Jesus Christ. May I—and all who walk with me and all who come behind me—be faithful.

 

God's Goodness to an Isolated Island People - Acts 28:1-10

    Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, "This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live." But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

 

    There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and for three days entertained us hospitably. His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. They honored us in many ways and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.

 

The island on which the ship wrecked was called Malta. Luke notes that the islanders demonstrated “unusual kindness,” and God did some amazing things among the Maltans through Paul. He protected Paul from a viper’s bite, so that Paul did not die. And then He allowed Paul to heal their host’s father.

 

Although these people initially responded to the power they saw demonstrated through Paul by deciding that Paul was a god, we know enough about Paul’s ministry to be certain that he would not have allowed them to keep thinking that. As the rest of the island’s sick people came to Paul to be cured, we can be sure that Paul was sharing with them the good news about their Healer, Jesus Christ.

 

The Maltans honored the shipwrecked survivors in many ways, it says. We can be almost certain that a church was established there on Malta during the three months (Acts 28:11) Paul was there. These generous and hospitable people furnished the supplies needed when it was time for the castaways to sail again.

 

Father, thank You for repaying this people’s generosity with generosity of Your own. Thank You for healing so many, for establishing Paul’s credibility with them, and for sending them someone like Paul. Even though You sent Paul through a storm, You made sure that these people had the opportunity to encounter Your messengers. Help us to trust that You really are in control, that You really are seeking and saving the lost, and that You really are good.