1.5.25 ~ Hope

Good morning!

Commercial: Shabbat morning's zoom call: I am Joseph: the life lesson statement that could sink the heart and raise the dead. How would you take it? How will you live it?

In this week‘s Torah portion, vayagash/and he drew near, we examined some details about the best family reunion ever. It's been 22 years, and even longer since the boys have had a real, meaningful, conversation with one another (Gen. 37:4). There's been a lot of pain, misunderstanding, misplaced anger, pride, cover ups and a whole lot of emptiness.

After a long period of time, waiting for his family, Joseph was able to come near to his family, when the restored leader of the family, Judah, took the necessary step. Not only did Joseph reveal himself to his brothers, after the long wait for his plans to succeed, but he was also reunited with his father who had given up hope of ever seeing his beloved son, Joseph.

Once Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, he instructed them to go back and get their father and all of their possessions and move down to Egypt where he could provide for them. Once they got back home to their father, however, Jacob did not initially believe the news about Joseph when they told him (Gen. 45:26,27).

Joseph is still alive and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt and his heart became faint, for he did not believe them. But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived (Gen. 45:26,27)

Jacob‘s heart had become so faint. He simply could not believe that Joseph could be alive after all these years. His pessimism was based on his challenging life. Jacob was 130 years old and they lived through many difficult circumstances when he moved down to Egypt and met Pharaoh. He explained...

 ...the days of the years of my so journey are 130 years few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my father‘s in the days of their so journey (Gen. 47:9)

The outlook he expressed was that his life had simply been rough...actually, what an understatement! From Jacob’s perspective he had reason to interpret his life this way.

In this matter he had fled from his brother who wanted to kill him. He had been forced to marry a woman he did not want to, and it worked far too long and for less than an honest man’s wages. His wife was barren for many years and eventually died, giving birth to her second son, and then her first son was taken from him for over two decades without any hope that he may still have been alive. What a Proverbs 13:12 reality of life!

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life."

Jacob had lost hope and he wasn’t afraid to let it be known. It seemed everything he desired in life was stripped from him.  Although, with foresight, Joseph didn’t understand why bad things happened to him anymore than Jacob. But, ultimately, with hindsight, they realized that ultimately they served a purpose: if there was truly a God who ruled the universe, and there is, Joseph had something Jacob didn’t... have he had hope. He had a dream. He knew those dreams would come true.  And that hope allowed him to do things that others just weren’t able to do.

It’s not that he was fearless, it's just that his life, knowing that God was with him, was a constant adventure of certain uncertainty when you have hope! When Jacob first heard the news that Joseph was alive. It didn’t seem possible. It’s like the mountain to move was too high, too imposing, too impossible, but then when he saw the evidence and realized it was true, his spirit revived (Matt. 17:20; 21:21).

I’m not a big movie watcher but one of the most popular movies that’s come out in the past decades is the Lord of the Rings.

Within that movie there is a character whose name is ESTEL which means hope. When Elrod, master of Riverdale commissions Aregom, he declares,

I give hope to men Aragom. I keep none for myself.

Hope is powerful! Unfortunately, many people today have lost that hope. The world is so full of so much death, cruelty and sadness and extreme corruption that it’s easy to lose hope.

As followers of Yeshua, we have a hope that is greater than what this world provides (Heb. 6:19). But, like an anchor holding tight in the raging waves of the sea, it's easy to lose sight of it. Individually and collectively, we have to find a way to recover it and share it with others. It was that single ounce of hope, through a single gesture and one phrase...Joseph is alive...that empowered Jacob enough to uproot his entire family and move to Egypt so that he could be reunited with his long lost son.

As we continue our journey into the year 2025 it begs the question: are there any areas in life where you have lost hope? We have to remember that the true king still lives and will one day return to claim his throne, and this one fact is the truth that should inspire us to hope when things seem.

Happy 1st day of the week!

Thank you for your prayerful support while I'm sharing and soaking here in Florida. I am speaking 3 times today, including one Q&A for students. Prayer appreciated.

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