The Carpenter's Chapel (8)

[Watchman]

Genesis 25

From the Book, “Subjects of Sovereignty” by Andrew Telford:
“Election is a divine act of God, whereby God, for reasons known only to himself, in the blessing of mankind, sets to one side all firsts, and chooses all seconds.”
Romans 9:11:”For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth.”
For whatever reason, God chose Jacob over Esau. However, God did not need for Jacob to devise his own means by any trickery, as we see here and in chapter 27, to fulfil His purposes. This was true in Jacob’s life and is true today. God will fulfil what He has promised about the future. We are not, as some suppose, going to make the world better and better until the Lord just returns and takes over this perfect world that we have made. No, things are going to get worse; for this world and Jacob too, as we shall see.

 

[Watchman]

Genesis 26

A lot could be said here: it is disappointing that Isaac repeats the error of saying, “She is my sister,” the big difference is that this was a “whole,” not a “half” lie.
But what I did not want to pass up talking about was what we have here at the very end of this passage. Next to coming to Christ and having Him as Lord and Savior, the most important choice for ourselves and our loved ones is the choice for our life-long mates. Here in the last verse, speaking of Esau’s wives it is said: “Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.” (Gen 26:35 KJV) God is very clear about His will in such matters; he said through His apostle: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2Corinthians 6:14 KJV) Now, if there is a couple where both are unsaved and only one comes to Christ, that is a situation the saved person must deal with, that is one matter. But to the believer, I plead with you; don’t even think about taking up with one who is an unbeliever. Wait for God to show you the right one.

 

[following-Him]

Thank you Charles.

Blessings

following-Him

 

[Watchman]

Genesis 33

Jacob did not know for sure as he approached his brother just what Esau was going to do. There is no record that God came to Esau to warn him about how he should treat Jacob, like He did to Laban. Myself, I would probably have decked him, then picked him up and hugged him! Jacob must have known that: certainly God did not bring him this far only for me to be killed by his brother. To his credit, Esau did what he did. This may have been one reason why God would later instruct the Israelites not to attack Edom, because he was their brother. This also tells me that God honors forgiveness. We have done a lot more against God than Jacob did to Esau folks. And just as God has forgiven us, he expects us to be like Esau to all those that we deal with here.

 

[Watchman]

Genesis 39

The young nation of Israel was headed for disaster: a drought was coming to the land a few years hence, but God has a chosen vessel in Joseph that he has determined would be used to help avert this disaster. We see Joseph as his brother’s overseer; but God could not save His people by Joseph being an overseer. Then we see Joseph as the steward in an Egyptian official’s house; but God could not save his people by Joseph being in that place. No, it was not until Joseph hit bottom and was in prison that God would use an encounter with a baker and a cup bearer to initiate his plan to save His people.
Our Lord made numerous appearances in the Old Testament before His incarnation, but, because “without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins,” our Lord could not save us then. Then He “was made flesh” there in Bethlehem; but a baby lying in a manger could do nothing for us. No, it was not until He was a grown man and could willingly die for us that He could make the permanent sacrifice for our sins.

 

[following-Him]

Amen and thank you Charles.

Blessings

following-Him

 

[Gwyneth]

Just caught up with posts for a few days, I have been staying with my daughter whose husband has been rushed to hospital twice in a week........... 4 children - one with ear infection (8 yrs ) one with throat infection (5 yrs) a teenage daughter and an autistic child .............God has given me the atrength to be with them and support them, praise His name. Thank you for your faithfulness in posting these notes.God bless you.
Gwyneth

 

[Watchman]

Sorry about all of your troubles.
Just wanted to stop in and say Merry Christmas to one and all.
Back to posting on Monday!

 

[Jim1999]

I am not posting much, reading daily,,Thank you, and a very blessed Christmas.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[Watchman]

Genesis 40

Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgot him.
(Genesis 40:23)
One of the judgements of God, the one that I feel America is under now, is the judgement of abandonment. Scripture speaks of this in numerous places: “Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.” (Hosea 4:17) “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves:” (Romans 1:24). This is the righteous judgement of God against man for his continued rebellion.
But what we have here is one person conveniently forgetting a person who did him a great favor and act of kindness. One of the saddest verses in God’s word is Psalm 142:4 “I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.” When the Lord Jesus has entered our hearts and lives, one of the traits that should typify our lives is to love what our Lord loves, and one of the things that God loves is all other people. (Genesis 40)

 

[Watchman]

Genesis 1

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
It would seem as though I am having dejavu all over again: I might have mentioned this before. A scientist of long ago by the name of Herbert Spencer postulated that everything that exists falls into five categories. These are: Time, Force, Action, Space and Matter. Well, all He had to do was to read the first verse of the Bible to get that:
In the beginning (Time) God (Force) created (Action) the heaven (Space) and the earth (Matter.) Whenever science would seem to contradict the Word of God, it is because science is running behind and true science will catch up with the Bible in time. The old anvil has worn out a lot of hammers. How everything, including us, came to be is here described in these two chapters. All other explanations like, “You started in the goo, graduated to the zoo, and now you’re you,” and “Nothing times nobody equals everything” is blasphemes nonsense and should be rejected by the Christian.

 

[Gwyneth]

Thank you Charles. :wavey:

 

[Watchman]

Genesis 2

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:17)
One simple little prohibition, one thing that our first parents were not to do, as we see in the next chapter, they did disobey in this one thing, with disastrous results. Now the critic may say here that, if God made everything, and he placed this tree here, and He knew what would happen, it follows that God is responsible for sin. No, God is responsible for what He does only, which is true for all of us. Man would not be a free agent if he had no choices to make as far as obedience and disobedience. The computer in front of us now has a program that it will follow, and has no choice but to do what the program dictates. These things are a tool, they don’t make very good company, and they have no feelings. What God wants from this special creation of His is to have choices and to choose to honor Him and do His will.

 

[following-Him]

Amen. Thank you Charles

 

[Watchman]

Genesis 41

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. (Genesis 41:41)
To be sure, let us not kid ourselves, men and women of faith down through the years, not only in Bible times, but down to this day as well, have suffered unjustly. The only “crime” that most of them committed was to teach and preach the truth that God has given to us. Unfortunately, most of them will not have the deliverance and exaltation that Joseph has here. However, in the future, at the Judgement Seat of Christ, rest assured that He will not forget all of the sacrifice and suffering that His people have endured down here. The Lord Jesus will right all wrongs and give those that suffer for Him just rewards, as well as punish all His enemies.

 

[Watchman]

Genesis 45

What we have here is truly one of the most touching scenes in all of God’s Word, in fact, I will admit, that I cannot watch this scene in the movie “Joseph” and keep a dry eye.
This, however, pales in comparison to what will happen one day when the descendants of these same men shall have another reunion that the prophet spoke of:
“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10) Joseph, as well as Jesus was rejected by their brethren because they did not do what they wanted them to do: Joseph, to mind his own business; and Jesus to destroy the Romans as a good Messiah should. In both cases they rejected their saviors, Joseph, from a coming draught, and Jesus from the more important problem then the Romans, that is, their sins. Don’t make the same mistake as the Jews my friends.

 

[following-Him]

Thank you Charles. That is something we all need to be reminded of.

Blessings

following-Him

 

[Gwyneth]

Amen ....................

 

[Watchman]

Genesis 49

We now have the blessings that Israel gives to his sons, and it is a prophetic vision concerning their descendants. Judah once again comes to the forefront. In spite of this, it will be the third son, Levi, that becomes prominent in the near future from here, what with Moses, Aaron and his sons after him. Judah will have no real significance at all until the 16th chapter of I Samuel when God sends Samuel to the home of Jesse and has him anoint the youngest of his sons, a ruddy little shepherd boy named David. This little shepherd boy had wisdom enough to know who his shepherd was, he would write "The Lord is my shepherd..." The Lord is our shepherd too.

 

[Watchman]

Exodus 1

Okay, first thing: forget the Movie! LOL
Seriously, a lot has been said about these midwives: did they tell a lie?
I once heard a very well known preacher say that we are not required to cooperate with criminals. No doubt about it, what Pharaoh proposed (the killing of children) was criminal. Later in Joshua we will see Rahab lying to her own people in order to protect the Israeli spies. God respected the midwives, Rahab and her family was not only spared, but she is in the human lineage of our Lord. Interesting lesson here.