Verse of the day: Genesis
46:28-29 Then he
sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came to the
land of Goshen. 29 So Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to Goshen to
meet his father Israel; and he presented himself to him, and fell on his neck
and wept on his neck a good while.
What
a beautiful demonstration of respect we see here on the part of both Israel,
and Joseph, as they prepare to meet each other for the first time, after so
many years of being apart. Israel sends Judah ahead as a gesture of respect for
Joseph’s position, even though he is his father. He demonstrates a respect for
Joseph’s position, which is proper for us to do as born again believers, and
representatives of Jesus Christ here on earth. There are many verses that
command us to submit to, and honor those in authority over us (1 Peter 2:13-17;
Romans 13; Hebrews 13:17; Titus 3:1-2). In respect to paying taxes, which is a
form of submission to what the government dictates, Jesus Himself said in
Matthew 22:21, “Render
therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that
are God’s.” When we submit and give honor to those in authority, we do
it to God’s honor as His children. On the other side of this scene, we see
Joseph, who has such great authority, humble himself, and go out to meet his
father, and presented himself to him. The word “presented” used here is a word
indicated to show oneself in respect to the person you are going before.
Joseph, in being a man of integrity, is honoring his father, which is a command
that has no statute of limitations as far as God is concerned. It is the one
command that has no parameters given in which God allows us to violate it.
Exodus 20:12, Leviticus 19:3, Matthew 15:4, and other verses clearly command us
to honor our father and mother. Ephesians 6:2 reminds us that this is the first
command with a promise, that it may go well with us, and we may be long lived
on earth. This command does not make exception because we may not agree with
what our parents have done, or how they have lived. We are called to honor our
parents, not because of who they are, but because of who God is, and because the
command comes from Him. After so many years of not seeing one another, no one
would blame Israel or Joseph if they simply rushed in to embrace each other and
celebrate their reunion. However, God has shown us a wonderful example of
something that has been lost from generation to generation; and something that
we see far too little of today…mutual respect for one another, especially for
those in authority, and for parents in general. It is a sad thing to see people
who claim to love the Lord, and love His Word, rebel against authority, and
disrespect father or mother simply because of differing opinions or because the
father or mother was not a “perfect” parent. Many of us who have failed to
honor a parent have grown up to make our own mistakes, and bad choices, as
parents; making us realize how wrong we were to judge our parents for their
decisions and actions. The bottom line for us, as Christians, is that there is
no valid excuse for us, outside of being asked to violate God’s commands, to
disobey those in authority over us, or dishonor, and disrespect, our father or
mother. To dishonor any of them is do dishonor the One who gave us the command.
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