创世记

Meditative Reflection
The Hands of God

The Romano-Jewish historian, Josephus of the 1^st century A.D. linked the Egyptian Hyksos Empire directly with the descendants of Jacob. Although it is widely discounted, it remains a fact that the Hyksos Empire was ruled by “foreigners” as the name Hyksos suggests, and most historians believe they were either of Canaanite or Semitic origin, and their reign roughly coincided with the biblical time of Jacob and Joseph.

Of course, we firmly believe that God is the God of history which has always been firmly controlled by His hands. The Egyptian famine was clearly a time used by God in His eternal plan to usher into the saving event of the entire Chosen family of Abraham’s descendants in order to preserve them for the continuation of the Covenant He made with Abraham. Even more amazing is His use of this saving event to bring about the even greater saving event of Exodus which foreshadowed the saving event of all humankind through Jesus Christ on the cross. As the Bible often reminds us, God’s plan of salvation has been established before the creation of the world (Eph. 1:4 & 1 Pet. 1:20).

However, God also often creates an environment most suitable for the completion of His plan. The choice of a time when Greek civilization united the then modern world with their language and the Romans built a massive system of modern highways. Such was the time the Lord Jesus finished His work of salvation and commissioned His disciples to spread the gospel which was certainly aided tremendously by the unity of language and road system of the time.

Therefore, if the historians are correct that the entrance into Egypt by Jacob’s family through the unprecedented elevation of a Hebrew to the court of Egypt coincided with the Hyksos Empire, it would make lots of sense in that this Pharaoh himself had a non-Egyptian origin and thus was able to entrust his land in the hands of someone with also a non-Egyptian origin.

Such an understanding will by no means diminish the mighty hand of God, but help us understand our times better in discerning the opportunities created by God Himself to usher in His continuous saving work, times of abundance and times of severe adversity included.

Meditative Reflection
The Raising of the Humble

In the choosing of David over all his siblings as the king of Israel, the words of God to Samuel reveal the very heart of God: “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Sam. 16:7).

In the case of David, he was looked upon as a mere shepherd boy who would not qualify to fight in battle, let alone be able to face the mighty Goliath. He was despised because of his age (being the youngest, and “only a boy”), his inexperience (as a mere shepherd) and probably his size (definitely not as tall as King Saul). But God had used him not only to slay Goliath, but had raised him as King over Israel. As Psalm 113:7 testifies: God “raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap”.

Of course, David was not an exception; it is always God’s way which is so different from the human way. The choosing of Joseph was just another example of God looking at things differently than man. God chose a pampered dreamer; the younger in Jacob’s family, a slave whose only future was being a prisoner with better treatment than the rest — but nonetheless, a prisoner in a foreign land. If David considered his elevation to power incredible — an elevation from the dust and ash heap, I have no idea what analogies could Joseph come up with to describe his change of fortune—a resurrection from the bottomless pit and black hole?

Indeed, If God is for us… (Rom. 8:31)

Meditative Reflection
A Channel of Blessing

If I were to be blessed by any one of the Patriarchs, I would rather be blessed by Abraham. If he chose to bless me, I would believe that it would not be just a gesture, but something of a spiritual reality, simply because of who he was.

Yes, Jacob even blessed Pharaoh, but I somehow suspect that it might be nothing more than a polite, cultural greeting. As the last part of his life unfolds, it is marked by his bestowing blessing, one after another on his children and grandchildren (Ephraim and Manasseh). He appeared to do it with intention, with seriousness and with deep meanings.

Timing-wise, it coincided with his dying years, but more importantly, it followed his reunion with Joseph which undoubtedly caused him to look at his life and God’s previous promises in new light. In order words, he finally had come to understand more fully and accept completely the incredible role he would play in human history — his descendants, not because of him, but because Abraham and Isaac, have been chosen to not only be a great people, the building of a great nation, but a people through whom the entire world would be blessed. This complete transformation of his mind is reflected in the beginning of the series of blessings he would pronounce on his children.

In blessing Joseph (or rather his two sons), Jacob preceded his blessing with addressing God as

i. the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked

ii. the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

iii. the Angel who has delivered me from all harm.

Well, in honesty, he could not claim that he walked before the Lord, but his fathers certainly did. But just the same, he recognized that his faithlessness has not affected God’s faithfulness — God has guided, provided and delivered him from all harm all his life. Therefore, as he blessed his children, he knew that as unworthy as he was, he was chosen as the channel of God’s blessing, and that whatever he would pronounce, it would not be of him, but of God who would bring all things to fruition according to His wonderful plan and amazing grace.

Meditative Reflection
Synagogue Sermons

In preparing for the weekly devotion based on the book of Genesis, I have been blessed by the reading of quite a few excellent commentaries and articles written not just by people with excellent scholarship, but people with a godly mindset. One of the repeated emphases which I have been reminded of throughout my reading is the centrality of Christ in the entire book of Genesis. Christ is not only present in the history of mankind and of the patriarchs, but the entire history recorded in Genesis points to the great plan of salvation through Him.

He was not only there when the earth was created; He created the heavens and the earth. The clothing of Adam and Eve pointed to His sacrifice on the cross for us, the descendants of the guilty pair. The ark is a type of salvation. The seed of the Abrahamic Covenant clearly points to Him, the son of Abraham (Matt. 1:1). And as the story of the patriarch unfolded, many of the characters, including Jacob and Joseph, were “types” of Christ, conduits of salvation. I have been blessed by such reminders, so that I am not just reading it as good spiritual reading with immediate application to my everyday life, but am constantly drawn to the reminder that in all the follies of man, God has provided the answer through His Son, Jesus Christ. The rich blessings that are now part of our reality come from and continue to be sustained by none other than Christ.

Therefore, it is such a shame that many Christians these days pray without invoking the powerful name of Jesus, and worse, many preachers preach without making Christ the center of their message. The former is called synagogue prayer, while the latter, synagogue sermon.

Meditative Reflection
The Chosen People

In the reading of the blessings pronounced upon the sons of Jacob, one gets a distinct sense that these sons of Jacob did not really live in the light of who they were, the Chosen People of God.

Only in the blessing of Joseph was the name of God mentioned. Even in the blessing of Judah, who would be the chosen seed to continue with the Abrahamic Covenant, the only hint of God is in 49:10, “until he comes to whom it belongs.” Even such a reading is subject to various readings, one of which might be translated as, “until Shiloh (a reference to the Messiah) comes.” In other words, these future “days to come” of the sons of Jacob can be used to describe any race or nation: the outrageous adulterous act of Reuben, the exceedingly violent trait of Simeon and Levi, the prowess of Judah, the seafaring of Zebulun, the bone-headedness of Issachar…the ruthlessness of Benjamin as a ravenous wolf. And as it turned out, the history of these Chosen People manifested itself just as Jacob had prophesied — a history that reflected little of their royal priesthood that could point the rest of the world to the knowledge of their God. Their distinctiveness from the rest of the world would merely be one of external observance of the Law, without which, there were no other differences to speak of.

The New Testament reminds us that we Christians are the Chosen People, the Holy Nation and the Royal Priesthood — the real Israel. We should do well to reflect on the failure of the old Israel, and ask ourselves if we live a life that is markedly different from the world, not in the mere observance of religious rituals, but in living out a distinct sense of destiny — a Chosen People whose lives are marked by an obedient love for our Lord, Christ Jesus.

Meditative Reflection
A Different Eternal Perspective

One of the world’s wonders has always been the pyramids of Egypt. These pyramids were no doubt architectural feats given how advanced they were in building technology some 4,000 years ago. But these pyramids were also mystical in that they carried mummified bodies of the nobles, especially those of the Pharaohs. The Egyptians took great care in embalming the corpses, taking a good 30-40 days, in order to ensure their passage into their afterlife journey. Not unlike the Chinese, they also stored many things that they believed might be needed for use by their kings in the afterlife.

However, Joseph ordered Jacob to be embalmed for a very different reason. It was to preserve the body long enough for the journey back to Canaan, as he had promised his father. The Israelites, of course, held great respect for the body of the deceased. They would make sure that the deceased would rest peacefully in their graves until their resurrection. Christians follow the same belief and Calvin has gone into great length to argue against Christian cremation, so that our burial might serve as a visible sign of our belief in the Lord’s coming and our resurrection.

While I agree with Calvin’s argument against cremation, the most important thing though is the belief in resurrection. But such a belief is not so much lived out in how we bury our dead, but in how we conduct our lives while we are alive. If we do believe in resurrection, we have to live a life with an eternal perspective that overlooks the gain or loss of anything temporal. If we only express our belief in resurrection at our burial, then it is perhaps, nothing more than a last-resort wishful thinking.

Meditative Reflection
Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah

As we come to the end of the Book of Genesis, the descendants of Jacob were united as one family, not realizing that they would spend the next 430 years in this foreign land, not knowing that when they returned to the Promised Land, they would return as a great nation. We too, necessarily face an uncertain future, not knowing how long a pilgrimage will we have, not knowing what our future will be like. But like the Israelites, we can rest assure that God will be our guide, because the God who led them into and out of Egypt, is the same God who is the same, yesterday, today and forever. Let’s pause and reflect on the lyrics of this wonderful hymn, which was made a bit more known to the non-believing world through its use in the wedding of Prince William in 2011.

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, [or Guide me, O Thou great Redeemer…]
Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but Thou art mighty;
Hold me with Thy powerful hand.
Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven,
Feed me till I want no more;
Feed me till I want no more.

Open now the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing stream doth flow;
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through.
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
Be Thou still my Strength and Shield;
Be Thou still my Strength and Shield.

Lord, I trust Thy mighty power,
Wondrous are Thy works of old;
Thou deliver’st Thine from thralldom,
Who for naught themselves had sold:
Thou didst conquer, Thou didst conquer,
Sin, and Satan and the grave,
Sin, and Satan and the grave.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of deaths, and hell’s destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to Thee;
I will ever give to Thee.

Musing on my habitation,
Musing on my heav’nly home,
Fills my soul with holy longings:
Come, my Jesus, quickly come;
Vanity is all I see;
Lord, I long to be with Thee!
Lord, I long to be with Thee!

William Williams (1745)