“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing;
but the glory of kings is to search out a matter. ”
(Prov 25:2, ASV)
We are in the process of explaining that the blood of Jesus is not only connected to man’s redemption, but is also specifically involved with the restoration of man’s original redemptive purpose. Not only has the blood cleansed our transgressions and iniquities, but it also deals with our sin – our being out of place within God’s blueprint for earth and man. Within this divine plan each individual has a pertinent function and purpose. Each person, whether he is born again or not, who does not function within his redemptive purpose, lives in sin. All that is not born from faith, is sin (Rom 14:23; Heb 11:6). If you do not function within your redemptive purpose, everything you do is sin – whether you read the Bible or use the bathroom. It is all considered dead good works.
From the previous teaching we saw how Joseph started functioning within his redemptive purpose, and how this directed his life. Many things that he had earlier considered coincidental now started making sense. He slowly came to the realization how God’s wondrously good plan for his life had always been hidden, and that it was now his task to start uncovering it (Matt 6:33) – also see the Scripture quoted above.
In the previous teaching we also pointed out that God had already hidden Joseph’s redemptive purpose in his name. When he started searching for his brothers he experienced the rhythm of God’s will, and even though his brothers shortly after caused him a lot of heartache this was part of his training – our highest calling is often obscured by our deepest wounds. But Joseph did not focus on the fact that his brothers had rejected him – he had started to suspect that his life would be a manifestation of how God would, through him, lead many brothers to righteousness and glory. He was therefore not fazed by the physical circumstances he found himself in, his brothers having thrown him in a well, later selling him to strangers. Instead he obediently trusted God that he was functioning within his redemptive purpose as long as he was walking in obedience. He was only interested in that which the Father showed him about his life.
Even when his brothers insulted him, calling him “the dreamer” (Gen 37:19, DRB), they were actually indirectly blessing him, because if you function within your redemptive purpose all curses turn into blessings (read Num 22 for a good illustration of this; also see Prov 26:2).
After Joseph’s brothers had, many years later, come to bow before him, and he had had them panicked about their lost brother, Ruben says to the other brothers – “Behold his blood is required.” (Remember what we had said in a previous teaching about the word behold.) The blood of an innocent animal (Gen 37:31) saved Joseph, and this symbolic preemptive sign shows that the blood had spilled for the release of his redemptive purpose. Behold – use your spiritual eyes to see what your redemptive purpose is, and that it has been made possible through the blood of Jesus. For you to walk in your redemptive purpose, “His blood is required”.
When Joseph’s father had initially heard the news of his son’s gruesome death he said “Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces!”
Joseph’s redemptive purpose had determined that he would be spiritually torn (Potiphar’s wife had also torn off a piece of his mantle – Gen 39:12). As Jesus was later physically torn, Joseph also had to endure this so that there may be unity and wholeness for many brothers to come (Heb 2:10).
- Sela: Can you relate your deepest wound with your highest calling?
- Read: Lev 26; Zech 8; Isa 66
- Memorise: Isa 66:1-2
