January 23 - Leave them; for they are blind guides

2010

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Genesis 46:1-47:31
(1) If there is one thing that is continuous among the authors of the books of Scripture it is the accounting of the families, descendants or "seed" of Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and so forth.

I don't hear sermons on this aspect of Scripture and I'm guilty of finding these sections, these "lists", uninteresting.

Yet there is this quiet narrarator or muse ... the eye of the Holy Spirit ... tracking the promise of the Seed, the inheritance, the blessing of filling the earth and blessing many nations, as if this muse comes onto the stage after the action of Joseph (and each future act or scene) to remind God's people where "the story" against the greater backdrop of the promise, the coming Christ who will crush the serpent's head.

(2) "Tell them you tend livestock" not sheep for shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.

(3) Joseph got the Egyptians' livestock, their money, their land and then enslaved the Egyptians while providing them seed, the harvest of which they could keep 80%; 20% went to Pharaoh.

(4) 2010- "I am God, the God of your father," he said. "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close your eyes." Here continues the promise & the story first made to Abram that his descendants would be "enslaved & mistreated for 400 years". This detail is not repeated in this instance to Jacob. Later Joseph would, in faith (according to Hebrews 11:22), spoke of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.

Matthew 15:1-28
(1) "You hypocrates!. After all that, the parables and the public miracles of feeding and healing, the Pharisees try to snag Jesus on a technicality. Beware of those, I have learned, who invite you to membership or fellowship without even mentioning that they live by some book of church order or some constitution; it will magically appear when you least expect it. Try to remember to ask them if they have a "book of church order" during your membership class or interview. Its existence isn't as important as how it is wielded.

(2) "Leave them; for they are blind guides". (2010) The Pharisees invoked "the tradition of the elders" to incriminate Jesus & his disciples. Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?

I have met church sessions & consistories who have trumped Scripture to lie, bear false witness & divine hidden motives using their books of church order.

They will pile man-made rules, regulations, vows & confessions upon one another while forgetting simple scriptural principles of conducting themselves.

If you have ever found yourself bullied or had your reputation attacked (or observe other church members being so treated) I believe this passage warns you to leave before you follow such blind guides into a pit with them.

Man-made laws are powerless & fruitless for dealing with "what comes out of a man's mouth" as Christ explained immediately after his encounter with religious hypocrites.

(3) Tabletalk's July 2007 issue contains an excellent devotional on the passage of the Gentile Woman pleading with Jesus for the "crumbs from the children's table"; page 49, Monday July 30, 2007.

Psalm 19:1-14

Proverbs 4:14-19

Years Read
2010, 2013, 2025