Author: BTP

“Israel [Jacob] stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn” (Genesis 48:14).

Here we find Israel (God had given Jacob another name, Israel, which means “a prince with God”), as an old man, again conferring a blessing, but this time on his two grandsons, the sons of Joseph. Their names were Manasseh and Ephraim, and Manasseh was the oldest. Normally the older one would have gotten the bigger blessing, and ought to have had Israel’s right hand on his head. But Jacob crossed his arms, and put his right hand on Ephraim’s head. At first Joseph was not happy about this, and we read that he tried to take his father’s right hand off Ephraim’s head and place it on Manasseh’s head (see verse 17). But his father refused, and kept his right hand on Ephraim’s head. We might wonder why Jacob would do this.

When Jacob and Esau were born, they were twins, but Esau was born first. Normally he should have gotten the larger blessing, but before they were born, God had clearly said that the younger one, Jacob, would be the more prominent of the two, and that “the elder shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). If we go back another generation, we find that Ishmael was the eldest son of Abraham, yet Isaac got the larger blessing. Going back even further, we find that Japheth was Noah’s eldest son, yet God’s blessing was more pronounced in the family of Shem, who was the second son.

There is a special reason for all this. We read in 1 Corinthians 15:47 that “the first man is of the earth, earthy: the second Man is the Lord from heaven.” The first man (Adam) was a failure, for he and his wife Eve broke the one commandment that God gave them, and thus brought sin into the world. We are all naturally connected with the first man, Adam, and we all have sinful natures. But the second Man is the Lord Jesus, who succeeded where the first man failed. He perfectly did the will of God, and then at Calvary’s cross made a way for all who come to Him to be reconciled to God. That is why God often allowed the second son to be more important and more spiritual than the elder one.

If you look carefully, you can find other examples in the book of Genesis where the eldest son was not the most spiritual, but rather a younger son. It is not always the second son, and sometimes there is more than one younger brother in the same family who is more godly than the oldest brother. See if you can find some more!

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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

“And Jacob blessed Pharaoh” (Genesis 47:10).

“And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better” (Hebrews 7:7).

Jacob had not been a very good testimony for the Lord most of his life. He had cheated his brother Esau out of his blessing, and then engaged in scheming and planning to try and outwit his uncle Laban, for whom he worked for over twenty years. Then he had more than twenty years of great sorrow over what he thought was the loss of his beloved son Joseph. Now, at the end of his life, he is reunited to Joseph, and has the best years of all his life.

When he comes down to Egypt and is presented to Pharaoh by Joseph, Pharaoh asks him, “How old art thou?” (Genesis 47:8). Jacob’s answer shows that he could not look back on his life with much satisfaction, for he says, “Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been” (v. 9). No doubt Jacob was ashamed of the way he had acted, and how he had dishonored the Lord in so many ways during his pathway through this world. Also, his sons had learned how to lie and cheat from their father’s example, which must have made him very sad.

In spite of all this, we read that “Jacob blessed Pharaoh,” and in the New Testament it tells us that “the less is blessed of the better.” How could this be? Was a man like Jacob really better than Pharaoh, and thus able to bless him? Yes, Jacob was better, for in spite of all his bad behavior, he really cared for the things of the Lord, and badly wanted God’s blessing. It is true that he felt he had to get that blessing by scheming and cheating, instead of trusting the Lord to give it to him. But the Lord saw Jacob’s faith underneath all his wrong lifestyle, and because of his faith, God disciplined him, in order to bring him to repentance. The result was that Jacob had some happy years at the end of his life, for he learned from God’s dealings with him. At the end of his life he can bless the mighty king of Egypt. Pharaoh may have been a child of God, for he certainly had every chance to know the true God through Joseph. The Bible does not tell us one way or the other. But Jacob was specially chosen of God to be His testimony in this world, and he is the one who blesses Pharaoh.

Some of us are like Jacob too. Perhaps we have character traits that are not good, and then the Lord has to allow difficulties in our lives, to make us realize that those things are not pleasing to Him. We sometimes call this “discipline in God’s school.” But if we learn from what the Lord allows in our lives, we can deal with those bad tendencies in our hearts, and then shine more brightly for Him.

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“So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way” (Genesis 45:24).

We do not use the term “fall out” any more in normal conversation, but it simply means to quarrel. Joseph was warning his brothers not to quarrel on the way home from Egypt! Isn’t it sad that he felt that he had to say that to them?

More than twenty years before, those same brothers had sold Joseph into Egypt as a slave, thinking that would be the end of him. They hated him so much that they did not care if he died. But the Lord was with Joseph, and as we know, he ended up being the governor over all the land of Egypt. Because Joseph had carefully stored up wheat during the years in Egypt when the harvests were good, there was plenty of wheat there when the Lord allowed a famine to come upon the whole area. Eventually his brothers were compelled to go to Egypt and buy food. If you have maps in the back of your Bible, perhaps you can trace out this journey.

Then Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and at first they were afraid of him, thinking that he would take revenge on them for selling him as a slave. But he treated them well, and freely forgave them for what they had done to him. You would think that they would have gone home very happy, knowing that they were not going to get into trouble with Joseph. But Joseph knew them well. He knew how easily they could get to quarreling among themselves, perhaps each one blaming the other for what had happened many years before. But they were all guilty, in one way or another, except for their youngest brother Benjamin.

It is often the same with Christians. We were no better than those who hated the Lord Jesus, and who wanted to crucify Him. Had we been there at the time, we too would have wanted to get rid of Him, for our hearts are all the same naturally. But now He has freely forgiven us, washed away our sins, and given us a home in heaven. You would think that Christians would always be happy, and enjoying the love of God. Yet how easily we can find fault with one another, and get into quarrels over small things that are not that important. Of course, we must not pass over things that dishonor the Lord, but many of the difficulties among believers are really just little things that annoy us. They are not really connected with the Lord at all. What Joseph said to his brothers is a good lesson for all of us — not to quarrel on the way home to heaven! Rather, we should all be enjoying what the Lord has done for us, and having happy fellowship together.

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“Eye hath seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).

The ninth verse above is often referred to, as if God has prepared wonderful things for our enjoyment in heaven, but that we must wait until we get there in order to have them. This is partly true, for when we are up there, we will no longer have a sinful nature that keeps wanting to make us sin. Also, Satan will not be there to tempt us, nor will we have the bad influence of the world around us. We will enjoy the things of Christ more fully up there than we have ever enjoyed them down here.

However, our verses today show us that we do not have to wait until the Lord comes and takes us home, in order to enjoy those heavenly things. Rather, God has sent His Spirit down to indwell each true believer, and one of the things the Spirit of God does is to show us those wonderful things, so that we can enjoy them now. They cannot be seen with our eyes, nor heard with our ears, for they are not like natural things. They are things that only the Spirit of God can show us, but they bring real enjoyment to our hearts.

We see an illustration of this in the Old Testament, when Joseph sent his brothers back from Egypt, and told them to bring their father down to Egypt. In Genesis 45:23, we read, “To his father he (Joseph) sent after this manner; ten asses (donkeys) laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way.”

There were ten donkeys loaded up with food for their father on the long trip down to Egypt, and this would have been plenty for him. But Joseph also sent ten donkeys loaded with “the good things of Egypt.” Why did he send those? They were not needed for the trip, but were intended to give his father Jacob a sample of what he would enjoy in Egypt.

The Lord does the same for us. He gives us all we need for the journey home to heaven, but He also gives us a sample of what we will enjoy up there in heaven. The Spirit of God is able to help us to enjoy them now. Isn’t that wonderful! I hope you are enjoying the blessings of being a Christian!

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“The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit” (2 Timothy 4:22).

Two days ago we saw that as human beings, we are composed of spirit, soul and body. We also saw that our spirit is the “God-conscious” part of us. It gives us the ability to know who God is, and to have a relationship with Him. But sometimes in the Bible the word “spirit” is used simply to mean the attitude we have, and the way that we do something. For example, in Matthew 5:3 we read of those who are “poor in spirit,” and in Luke 2:40 we read of the Lord Jesus, as He grew up, that He “waxed (became) strong in spirit.” It is important to do the right thing, but the way in which we do things is very important as well. We understand this idea in everyday life. We might say about someone, “He does his work with a good spirit.”

When the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy the second time, Paul was in prison in Rome, and he knew that he would not be released. While it does not tell us in the Bible, we know from history that he was executed shortly after writing this book, probably by being beheaded. Paul also knew that things were becoming more difficult in the church, and that some were giving up the precious truth which he had committed to them. Paul had to say, “All they which are in Asia be turned away from me” (2 Timothy 1:15). They were still Christians, but they did not want the truth of God that Paul had given to them. They wanted an easier path — a little more freedom to “drift along.”

In view of all this, Paul told Timothy to be faithful to the Lord, and not to give up what he had told him. But Paul also knew that when things started to get difficult, it would be easy for Timothy to become a little hardened, and perhaps not act with grace and love towards those who were unfaithful. For this reason Paul wanted the Lord Jesus Christ to be with Timothy’s spirit; he wanted Timothy not only to do the right thing, but to do it in the right spirit. In the same way Paul exhorted the Galatians and those in the household of Philemon — “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (Galatians 6:18, Philemon v. 25).

We need this reminder too, for although we may do what is right, if we do it in a wrong way or with a wrong attitude, it spoils what we are doing. We need to remember how the Lord Jesus walked while He was in this world, and seek to act as He did. The Lord Jesus sometimes had to speak very plainly to people, but He always spoke as the One who loved them, and cared about them.

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“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).

Yesterday we saw how that our soul is that part of us which controls our desires, and makes us unique as individuals. In our verse for today, we find that it is possible for a man to have everything in this world, and yet to lose his soul. We might ask, What does it mean to lose your soul?

There have been many wealthy people in the history of this world, and today there are some who are billionaires many times over. At the time I am writing this in 2021, the richest man in the world is Jeff Bezos, who founded the Amazon Company. Apparently he is worth $177 billion, and it is hard for some of us to imagine that amount of money. Even if you spent a million dollars every day, you could not spend that amount of money in one lifetime. Yet he cannot take it with him; he can use it only in this life.

Back in 2011 another wealthy man, Steve Jobs, the co-founder of the Apple computer company, died of pancreatic cancer when he was only fifty-six years old. He was apparently worth $7 billion at the time, and while he was on his deathbed, one of his friends commented to him that he had done pretty well for himself. Steve Jobs’ answer to him shows that what the Bible says is true, for he said, “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me.”

When He was here on earth, the Lord Jesus said, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). To destroy something means to make it unusable for the purpose for which it was made. We were created for God’s pleasure (see Revelation 4:11), but if we refuse God’s offer of mercy through the Lord Jesus, we cannot give Him pleasure in our sins. Then God has no choice but to put us in hell for all eternity, and this is what it means to lose your soul. In hell neither your soul or body can give God pleasure; you are alive, but you have lost your soul.

This is an awful end for those who were created for God’s pleasure, and it does not have to be that way. If you are not saved, you can accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior today, and know that you will spend your eternity in heaven with the Lord.

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“I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

You and I are complicated persons, for the Bible tells us that we are not composed only of a body. Rather, we have three parts to our being — spirit, soul and body. We all know what our bodies are, for we live and move in this world using our bodies. However, the Word of God tells us that our body is really only a house for our spirit and soul. The Apostle Paul tells us that “if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). This verse is speaking of our bodies. If we die, and our bodies go back to dust, we know that God will raise those bodies when the Lord Jesus comes, and change them into new bodies.

Perhaps some of you have been to a funeral home and seen the body of someone you loved laid out there in a coffin. We can recognize the person, but there is no life in that body; it does not move or respond to us in any way. That is because the soul and spirit are gone, and we read in James 2:26, “The body without the spirit is dead.” The “house” (the body) is still there, but the soul and spirit that once lived inside it are gone.

But what is the difference between the soul and the spirit? The soul is that part of us that makes us unique as individuals. It is the part of us that determines our appetites for certain things, and our desires. Some of you may like nothing better than a game of soccer, while others would rather read a good book. Some young people love music; others may be far more interested in sports. Again, this is part of their soul, and makes them distinct from other people.

The spirit, however, is something that only man has; no animal has a spirit, for the spirit is the God-conscious part of us. It tells us in Genesis 1:26 that “God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” and then He gave man a spirit that could recognize who God is. Because of the spirit in him, mankind knows there is a God, and can have a relationship with God. This is a wonderful thing, and yet a serious thing too. If we know that there is a God, it is important to pay attention to His Word, and to know the true God. Sad to say, many people in this world are worshiping false gods, or idols. Their spirit tells them that they should believe in a god, but Satan has deceived them into believing in false gods, instead of the true God.

For us as Christians, the Apostle Paul expressed a wish that all three parts of us would be preserved blameless until the coming of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The Lord will help us to do this, if we ask Him.

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“It is nothing to thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on Thee, and in Thy name we go” (2 Chronicles 14:11).

Yesterday we spoke about the failure in the latter part of Asa’s life, but it is nice to remember a time when he did rely on the Lord, and won a great victory. The Lord had given Asa and the land of Judah rest for ten years at the beginning of his reign, and Asa had used the time profitably. Instead of relaxing, he had built strong cities with walls, towers, gates, and bars, to fortify the land against those who might attack. Also, he had increased the strength of his army, and trained them in methods of fighting. All this was good, and as Christians, we too need to use a time of peace in our lives to read the Word of God, and to edify (or build up) ourselves in the things of the Lord. Asa knew that enemies might well attack, and he wanted to be ready for them.

He did not have to wait very long, and when Zerah the Ethiopian came against him, it was with an army of a million men — almost twice as many as Asa had in his army. There was no reason for the Ethiopians to attack; they were coming simply to take silver and gold and other wealth away from Judah. But Asa did not rely on his army or on his fortified cities; rather he relied on the Lord. Asa knew that no matter how large or how small his army was, it was the Lord alone who could give him the victory.

When the battle was fought, the Bible records that “the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled” (2 Chronicles 14:12). The victory was so complete that “none of them was left alive” (2 Chronicles 14:13 JND). It overwhelms us to think of one million men being killed like that, but it was God’s judgment on those who came to fight against His people. Asa trusted the Lord, and the Lord gave him the victory.

It is not right for Christians today to go out and kill their enemies, but we have spiritual battles instead. The Apostle Paul tells us that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but … against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). Satan is out there, seeking to overcome us and to take away the things we have enjoyed as Christians. We too need to fortify ourselves against him, and as we have already seen in an earlier meditation, we need to put on the whole armor of God. However, we cannot trust in our own strength; rather we must trust the Lord to win the battle for us.

Afterwards the prophet Azariah encouraged Asa, telling him to “be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded” (2 Chronicles 15:7). We live in difficult times, but the Lord encourages us too, and if we live for His glory in this world, our work too will be rewarded in a coming day.

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“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 16:25).

I once read a book, evidently written by a true Christian, that was telling believers how to make right choices in their lives. His main advice was that since God has given us brains, we are to use them, and figure out what to do. Then we should check with the Word of God, and if we cannot not find anything wrong with our plan, we should go ahead with it. But we read in Jeremiah 10:23 that “the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” Yes, God has given us brains, and does intend us to use them in natural things. Also, it is a good thing to read the Word of God, for God often guides us by His Word. But when it comes to directing our steps in a spiritual way, we need to ask the Lord what to do. We should not make up our own minds, and then look into the Word of God to see if there is anything wrong with what we wish to do. This is doing things backwards; rather, we should read the Word of God first, and pray about the matter, asking the Lord to make His mind clear to us.

Sometimes a plan may seem quite right for us, and appears to fit the circumstances in which we find ourselves. This was the case with a king of Judah named Asa. He was a godly king who wanted to please the Lord, but later in his life, when a king named Baasha came against him, he took silver and gold out of the house of the Lord, and paid the Syrian king Benhadad to go and fight with Baasha. It looked like a good plan, and it seemed to work, for when Benhadad fought with Baasha, Baasha stopped building a blockade against Asa. Then Asa was able to take all Baasha’s building materials and make some fortifications for himself. You can read the story of Asa in 2 Chronicles, chapters 14-16.

But the prophet Hanani came to Asa and told him, “Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars” (2 Chronicles 16:9). Instead of trusting the Lord, Asa had followed his own plan, and while it seemed to work, yet later it caused him more trouble. The king of Syria was not really his friend, and later ended up fighting with Judah.

Sad to say, Asa did not want to listen to the prophet, and instead put him in prison for daring to criticize his plan. Because of this, the Lord allowed Asa to get some kind of serious disease in his feet, and he died two years later. This was very sad, for Asa was a good king, but when he trusted his own plans instead of asking the Lord what to do, he ended up in trouble. Let us always go to the Lord when we need to make choices in our lives. He will always lead us in the right way!

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“We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

This verse is sometimes hard for us to appreciate, yet it is clearly found in the Word of God. It is not easy to believe that even the difficult things in our lives are working together for good, and that we will profit by them eventually. Sometimes we are called to go through very trying times in our lives, and perhaps we wonder why the Lord has allowed them.

I remember that when I was a boy, an elderly Christian couple was driving along a road in the United States. I did not know them, but my parents did. A big truck carrying new cars was coming the other way on the road. The new cars must not have been secured properly, for suddenly one of them came loose and fell off the truck, right on top of the car in which the older couple were driving. The impact killed both of them instantly. We might wonder why the Lord allowed this, and what good could come out of it. But the Lord tells us that “all things work together for good” in our lives as Christians. Do we really believe this?

I have known even dear believers who became bitter and angry because of difficult things that happened in their lives, and sometimes they never got over it for the rest of their time in this world. I knew a young man who encountered some hard circumstances in his life, and he was a true Christian. Yet in commenting on what had happened, he said, “The Lord let me down.” I shuddered when I heard that remark, for the Lord loves us too much to allow something in our lives that is not for our good. If He was willing to suffer all that agony on the cross for us, in order to redeem us, will He allow things in our lives that make us suffer for no reason? It is not a good sign when we begin to distrust the Lord, and to think that He is not treating us well. We must justify God in all things, and then remember that no matter what He allows in our lives, “All things work together for good.”

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