Acts 12
This chapter begins with Herod deciding that he wanted in on persecuting christians. The James mentioned in Acts 12:2 who was murdered by King Herod was James, the son of Zebedee and one of the twelve apostles. He is also known as James the Greater to distinguish him from James, the brother of John and another apostle, who is referred to as James the Less. James the Greater was one of the original disciples of Jesus and a prominent leader in the early Christian church.
During Passover week he has Peter arrested and jailed with an extra guards and plans to have him lynched after passover (Lynching is a form of extrajudicial punishment that involves the killing of a person by a mob, often carried out in a public setting.)
“All the time that Peter was under heavy guard in the jailhouse, the church prayed for him most strenuously.”
Acts 12:5 MSG
An angel shows up in the jail and releases Peter, walking him straight out the front gate, past the guards and leaves him in the street!
He goes to his friends house and knocks on the door, where a young girl recognizes who it is and runs back to tell everyone. They don't believe her and leave him standing outside. They finally go check for themselves and are very excited to see Peter alive and free.
Herod wakes up, discovers Peter is missing and has all the guards killed and decides he needs a vacation.
Herod finds himself in a position where he is taking on a lot of praise and being called "the voice of God"
“That was the last straw. God had had enough of Herod’s arrogance and sent an angel to strike him down. Herod had given God no credit for anything. Down he went. Rotten to the core, a maggoty old man if there ever was one, he died.”
Acts 12:23 MSG
All the meanwhile the church continues to grow!
Genesis 41
Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, has two dreams that are causing him great distress. In both dreams, he sees seven skinny cows being eaten by seven healthy cows, and seven withered ears of grain being swallowed by seven healthy ears of grain. Pharaoh's cupbearer, who had been imprisoned with Joseph, remembers Joseph's ability to interpret dreams and suggests that he be brought before Pharaoh to interpret the dreams.
Joseph correctly interprets the dreams as a prophecy of seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh is impressed with Joseph's interpretation and wisdom and appoints him as his second-in-command, giving him authority over the entire land of Egypt to prepare for the coming famine.
““So, Pharaoh needs to look for a wise and experienced man and put him in charge of the country. Then Pharaoh needs to appoint managers throughout the country of Egypt to organize it during the years of plenty. Their job will be to collect all the food produced in the good years ahead and stockpile the grain under Pharaoh’s authority, storing it in the towns for food. This grain will be held back to be used later during the seven years of famine that are coming on Egypt. This way the country won’t be devastated by the famine.” This seemed like a good idea to Pharaoh and his officials. Then Pharaoh said to his officials, “Isn’t this the man we need? Are we going to find anyone else who has God’s spirit in him like this?””
Genesis 41:33-38 MSG
Well played Joseph. All this time he had to wait. I have no doubts that the entire time he was in Egypt he never once forgot his dreams when he was a kid. Especially now that he is interpreting other's dreams for them! I have a feeling it happened more in the Jail during those 2 years.
Now at 30 years of age. Joseph is in charge of Egypt and spent the next 7 years building wealth and storing grain for Egypt.
The chapter ends with all the surrounding regions and "the whole world" coming to Joseph to buy grain.
Genesis 42
So this chapter is packed with awesomeness. The famine is so bad, Jacob sends his sons to egypt to buy food. They don't recognize their brother . . . But he remembers them. . . They bow down before him. . . Remember Joseph's dreams???
He decides that he wants to test them and accuses them of being spies and the brothers spill the beans about their life story to try and convince Joseph of their genuinity. Not knowing that Joseph can understand them they start bantering amongst each other that God is paying them back for what they did to Joseph.
They are jailed for three nights - (see a pattern here)
Joseph demands that one of them remain in Egypt while the rest take the food back home and bring back Benjamin. Joseph releases them and send them back home with their money they had used to buy the food. They are now terrified about what has happened and head back to report to Jacob all that had happened.
Now remember how Ruben was the one who did not want to hurt Joseph? We read here about how Ruben is now taking accountability for the actions of the 10 of them.
“Reuben spoke up: “I’ll put my two sons in your hands as hostages. If I don’t bring Benjamin back, you can kill them. Trust me with Benjamin; I’ll bring him back.””
Genesis 42:37 MSG
I love this story, and we have more to discover as we keep reading. Joseph could have had them put to death on the spot just with his word because of his position in Egypt. But he doesn't, Part of him had to have wanted to get revenge but another part of him is dwelling on the dreams he had as a child and seeing God's plan unfold right before him. He may also see an opportunity to see his Father and brother Benjamin again.
It would be awesome to get to hear the narrative running through his mind when they showed up bowing down before him. . . Vengeance, love, redemption, reconciliation and forgiveness.
Psalms 40
The psalm begins with David expressing his trust in God and his longing for deliverance. He acknowledges that God has been faithful to him in the past and has saved him from many dangers.
David then expresses his gratitude to God for answering his prayers and rescuing him from trouble. He states that he has proclaimed God's salvation to others and encourages them to trust in God as well.
In the latter part of the psalm, David reflects on his own sinfulness and his need for God's forgiveness. He acknowledges that he has fallen short of God's standards and asks for God's mercy.
The psalm concludes with David expressing his confidence in God's continued care for him and his trust in God's goodness and love.
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