I remember watching a movie twelve years ago (back in the summer of '94) about a man sitting on a bench at a bus stop. What was interesting was that he would proceed to tell everyone (complete strangers all) who sat at the opposite end of that bench a portion of his life's story. He would speak of his various brushes with history, painting a very honest picture of the decades within the latter half of the twentieth century. The movie I am talking about is called "Forrest Gump", the story of a man telling his life's story in retrospect. Thus most of the picture is viewed as a series of flashbacks. But this is not the entire scope of the movie. We get to also see Forrest's life moving forward from the bus stop and culminating at the point where he watches his son Forrest, Jr going off to school. We as the audience are left with the sense that things have come full circle for Forrest, and us as well, since we in a sense take the journey with Forrest and share in his life.
Let's shift gears now with this question: Have we ever thought in this light about people in the Bible as we read their stories in God's Word? Do we share in their journeys, standing with them where they stand, at certain definable points in their lives? Do we see God's Word not as being long ago and far away in some holy Neverland, nice to read about, enjoyable to ponder, but having absolutely no bearing on or relevance to our lives? That's one thing that's really wonderful about the Bible. There is really this stripping of the fanciful, this painting of an honest picture, comparable to what I've alluded to in "Forrest Gump", yet in a much more poignant sense. What I'm trying to communicate here is that the people about which we read in God's Word are very real, flesh and blood, rational, irrational, feeling, thinking, speaking, fallible human beings, not too different from you and I. It's all there in the Bible if we have the gumption (no pun intended) to perceive it in that light.
There is a man in the Bible whose life is related in some detail, painting an accurate, if more often than not, rather unglamorous and unflattering, picture of him. He is born the younger of two brothers. His older brother is first in line to receive the greater portion of the inheritance, but he is cheated out of it twice by his younger brother. The man in question is named Jacob, the son of Isaac and the grandson of Abraham. To escape possible death at the hands of his older brother he leaves his family, knowing that he may never see his parents in this life again, and goes to live with his uncle Laban.
While he is there he falls in love with his cousin Rachel. Jacob makes a deal with his uncle that he will work for him for seven years in order to marry Rachel. Laban agrees and for Jacob the next seven years pass quickly because of his love for his cousin. Tragedy strikes in Jacob's life in the form of deception, marring his marriage to Rachel from the very start. Jacob discovers that he has in fact married Leah, Rachel's older sister. When Jacob approaches his uncle about this, Laban says that it is a common practice to marry off the older daughter first. Laban also tells Jacob that he can marry Rachel in one week if he agrees to work for him for another seven years. Jacob has no choice but to endure this coercion. Yet even in this land of affliction, Jacob is blessed with a large family and wealth.
Sometime later he is told by the Lord to go back to the land of his fathers in Canaan. Jacob does so and on the way he meets with Esau. Despite what he thinks is going to happen, Esau does not exact revenge on him. In fact, they part in peace. After this blessing Jacob experiences a simultaneous blessing and tragedy: his last son Benjamin is born, but Rachel dies in childbirth. A short time later, Jacob sees his father Isaac before he passes away.
At this point in his life, Jacob settles in the land of Canaan and commences to pour out the greater portion of his love on his son Joseph, the eldest of his beloved Rachel's children. The other ten sons (Benjamin is not included, since he is still very young at this time) resent this, naturally. But they let their resentment go too far, which sets the stage for another devastating tragedy in Jacob's life. One day, Jacob sends Joseph to check on his brothers, who are tending the flocks. He never suspected what happened next. While Joseph is a distance away his brothers see him and plot against him, desiring to kill the young man. Reuben, the oldest brother, deters them from this course of action by telling the others to throw Joseph into a pit, intending to come back and rescue him and bring him back to Jacob. They follow his advice. However, they go several steps farther: they take the many-colored coat given to Joseph and throw him into a pit, and then they sell him into slavery to a group of Midianite traders. Joseph is taken to Egypt and passes out of his father's life before Jacob even realizes it. When Reuben returns and finds out what has happened despairs beyond hope, of course the brothers think they have the perfect solution to literally cover their tracks. They take Joseph's coat and dip it in blood and then present it to their father. To further add insult to injury, they ask Jacob if the coat is Joseph's, leaving their father to fill in the blanks. Jacob comes to the conclusion that they were hoping for: that Joseph was devoured by some wild beast. He then weeps for his son, refusing to be comforted, saying that he will die in mourning for his son. In his mind, he experiences what no parent would ever wish to go through: the death of a child. In a very real sense, a part of him dies that day, too.
Now let's fast forward about twenty years or so. Jacob is a broken man and he pours what love he has left upon Benjamin his youngest son. The brothers do not bother the young man, seeing the effect that previous meddling had affected in their father's life. At this time there is a famine in the land of Canaan, and pretty much throughout the Fertile Crescent down to Egypt. The only place with food is Egypt. Jacob knows this and so he sends his ten sons (not Benjamin) down to Egypt in order to get food. As a result of this act, Jacob will go through a darker tunnel and be reduced to the lowest point of his life. Little does he realize what awaits him at the other end of that tunnel.
The brothers go down to Egypt, but their time there is filled with trouble. The man who is in second command of all of Egypt demonstrates that he is highly suspicious of them. He accuses them of being spies come to seek out the weakest parts of the country. They plead their innocence, stating that they are ten of eleven brothers sent by their brother to buy food. The Egyptian ruler makes them prove their innocence by imprisoning Simeon and telling the others to bring their youngest sibling. If they don't bring Benjamin they would not see Simeon again nor would they be able to buy any food. The brothers figure that they are being paid back for their sin against Joseph. Little do they realize how much they do not realize what is happening. On their way back, each brother notices that their money has been placed back in their food sacks. They are more than a little frightened.
When the brothers get back, they relate to their father everything that happened to them in Egypt. Upon hearing this, Jacob's heart sinks to even lower depths than it had years before. Joseph is gone. Simeon is gone. Now, they want to take Benjamin back to Egypt with them. It is too much for Jacob to handle. He feels cornered, with his back against the wall, and everything against him. He is at the darkest, unsurest point in his life. Naturally, concerning Benjamin he says no way no how. But there is a severe famine in the land, and it is only a matter of time before the grain runs out...
Finally, the day comes when Jacob must make a decision. Either he must watch his whole family (men, women, and children) perish from starvation, or he must risk sending all eleven of his sons (Benjamin being included in that number) back to Egypt with little hope of seeing them all again. He relents, thinking that if he is bereaved, then he is bereaved. Little does he realize how close to the end of this dark, years-long tunnel he is.
The eleven brothers of course go back down to Egypt. When they are brought before the same Egyptian ruler as before they tell him about the money in their sacks, being afraid that he might see them as thieves. He assures them that all is well, that he was paid for the food. He then asks them about their father, and they tell him that he is fine (of course Jacob is anything but). He then sees Benjamin and asks them if he is the youngest brother. They say yes and then something strange happens: the Egyptian quickly leaves the room. A few moments later he returns and orders the meal to be served. Two things happen next which are equally if not more perplexing: the brothers are seated according to their age, from oldest to youngest, and Benjamin portion of food is five times more than his brothers. A short while later the brothers head home with their sacks of food, one of them being slightly heavier than the others...
The Egyptian ruler sends off in pursuit of them, accusing one of them of the theft of his silver cup. The brothers try to reiterate their innocence, but as they open their sacks it is revealed that the cup was hidden in Benjamin's sack. The other ten brothers beg that the punishment be placed upon them, but the Egyptian ruler insists that Benjamin alone be punished for the deed. Judah himself relates how it would kill their father to lose Benjamin and that he himself would take the boy's place rather then see his father come to such an awful end.
The Egyptian ruler then orders for everyone but the brothers to leave his presence. Then the final strange thing happens: the ruler weeps loudly before them. He tells them that he is none other than - Joseph! Think about it: Jacob's fortunes are beginning to change before he even realizes it. He has emerged from the tunnel. But there's still more of this story to come. Joseph tells his brothers that God took the evil that they did against him and turned it into good: that God sent him there to save their lives. He told them that the famine was going to last for five more years and that they needed to move their father, their family, and their belongings to Egypt. Joseph tells them that he would provide for them while they lived in Egypt.
Imagine the happiness that they must have been feeling as they rode back into Canaan, especially when they saw their father. They told him that Joseph was alive and that he ruled Egypt. Jacob couldn't believe it at first. But when he saw the gifts sent back by Joseph, he knew that it was true. His beloved Joseph was alive. He was contented with that thought. He would see his son before he died.
We finally come to part of the story where Jacob is on the eve of seeing his son. It's kind of like the scene in "Forrest Gump" when the audience is brought to the present day where Forrest is sitting at the bus stop telling his story. There's that present tense kind of feeling that's there, knowing that just right around the corner your life is poised for change in a dramatically possible way. This is exactly what's happening to Jacob, and it is at this point that God speaks to Jacob in visions that night. He tells Jacob that He will protect the patriarch and his family, that He will make them a great nation, that He will bring them out of Egypt, and on a more personal note, that Joseph himself would shut Jacob's eyes when he died. As the traveling continues, Jacob sees Joseph coming towards him. Imagine the anticipation which he must have felt. Finally they embrace. What reunion that must have been. Jacob now feels that he could die in peace, now that he has seen that Joseph is still alive.
But this is not quite the end of the story. Years later, when Jacob was on his death-bed, Joseph comes before him with his two sons, Jacob's grandsons. Jacob says something here very powerful yet with such simplicity. It is a moving statement, and for me, being a father, fills me with a hopeful longing for my sons. The aged patriarch looks at his son (this beloved child of his whom he thought he'd lost forever), and says these words, "I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your children as well." (Gen. 48:11).
Can you see, throughout the tragic, tumultuous, and joyful events in this man's life, how the hand of God moved so powerfully and with such assurance, that God's will came about even though it was unknown as to how it would happen at the time. The hand of God moves through all things, all lives, and all times, slowly but surely bringing about His holy will.
This is just one example from the Bible of someone whose life was affected by the Lord. Throughout God's word we see the hand of God guiding, preventing, allowing, moving through the lives of all. The wonderful thing about the will of God is that it does not exist only within the confines of His Word. What I mean is this: God's Will does not cease to be when we put down His Word. The Hand of God moves through our lives as well, make no mistake in doubting this. God is not just the God of the Bible, but the God of our lives as well. His will is being fulfilled today whether we realize it or not, being brought to fruition whether we believe it or not. The burden that is upon us is, what are we going to do about all this? Do we stand against God's holy will in full rejection or do we accept it, submit to it, and grow from it? It is my fervent hope that your choice is the latter. This demands a great change in your life, in that you submit yourself wholly to God's holy will. This is how you do it: you need to believe that God's word is true. Next, a life change needs to be made that affords you to do a 180 degree turn, this is called repentance, the turning away from sin. After this, you need to make the greatest confession of your life, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. What follows is a necessary thing that needs to be accomplished: water baptism for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). It important to remember that a life in submission to God does not end right after baptism, but is one that goes forth from that day and into the future.
