Year 4, Day 44: Genesis 45

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Learning Circle

• Learning Circle: The Learning Circle is a tool we use to hear from God.  It focuses to look at six stages of listening: observe, reflect, discuss, plan, account, and act.  Ultimately it helps us look at the question: What is God saying to me and what am I going to do about it?

Today we can look at the completion of Judah’s confession.  There are many other directions we could turn in this chapter: obedience of Joseph, identity of Joseph, character of Joseph, provision of the Father, or guidance of the Father.  But I believe today I’d like an opportunity to complete the discussion I began yesterday.

In Genesis 42:21 we saw the brothers come to a realization that their past events have finally caught up with them.  In Genesis 43:8-9 we can get a sense that Judah truly begins to step up his understanding and his need to repent and work towards correcting his error.  In Genesis 44:16 Judah repents before Joseph.  Today, Joseph reveals himself to Judah and together they begin to set a plan in motion.

God asked for repentance.  The brothers – Judah especially – fulfilled that request.  Through their repentance, a plan is established in which the brothers will return home and bring their father down to Egypt so that his whole household might dwell in the security that God has provided within Egypt.  It is amazing what God can do with us in life when we are willing to turn to Him, repent, listen to His voice, and then act upon His will.

<>< 

Year 4, Day 43: Genesis 44

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Learning Circle

• Learning Circle: The Learning Circle is a tool we use to hear from God.  It focuses to look at six stages of listening: observe, reflect, discuss, plan, account, and act.  Ultimately it helps us look at the question: What is God saying to me and what am I going to do about it?

The first half of the learning circle is devoted to repentance.  We must repent before we believe.  We must see our brokenness before we can appreciate healing.  We need to observe our behavior, reflect on how our behavior affects our life, discuss our behavior with others, and then come to a place where we can see what God desires of us.

Actually, we see this behavior in Judah today.  So far in Genesis we’ve seen Judah abandon God’s ways.  He’s married foreign women.  He’s sold his brother into slavery.  But when Benjamin’s life is in jeopardy, Judah hits rock bottom.  He knows that he cannot go back.  Returning to Israel without Benjamin would mean that he would have been responsible for the tragic end of both of Rachel’s sons.

Judah repents.  He observes what he has done in his life.  He reflects how his choices have negatively impacted himself and his family.  He discusses this with Joseph and completely repents.  He comes to a place in his life where instead of pursuing his own agenda he now is coming to terms with who God wants him to be.  Judah repents.

Tomorrow we’ll get to hear about the plan that comes out of Judah’s confession.  We’ll also get a chance to look at Joseph’s character.  But it all starts right here with Judah’s repentance.  It all starts because Judah is finally able to be honest with his life, reflect upon his life, and confess that he could do better at being a godly man.

<>< 

Year 4, Day 34: Genesis 35

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Learning Circle

• Learning Circle: The Learning Circle is a tool we use to hear from God.  It focuses to look at six stages of listening: observe, reflect, discuss, plan, account, and act.  Ultimately it helps us look at the question: What is God saying to me and what am I going to do about it?

We don’t particularly see Jacob walking a circle in this chapter, but we do see the effects of the circle that Jacob has been walking with respect to character.  Jacob fled to Laban, found wives, and became an even better deceiver.  But since fleeing Laban, Jacob has wrestled with God, begun to develop his character, found forgiveness with Esau, and had a good hard look at how his sons are learning his own sinfulness.  It’s no surprise that He hears from God and finally submits.

Jacob finally hears God tell him to return to his spiritual roots and go back to Bethel.  After observing the sinfulness of his sons in the prior chapter, he is ready to hear from God and to respond.  How do we know this?  After reflecting, Jacob gathers up all of the family’s false gods and buries them.  He finally embraces his new identity of Israel.  He acts upon his plan.  He returns to God and God blesses him for it.

The learning circle is all about repenting and believing in what God is saying.  Sometimes that’s a long process.  For Jacob it sure was.  But in the end we see the fruit of that process.  Jacob becomes Israel.  He steps into that change and embraces what God has wanted to do with his life.

<>< 

Year 4, Day 15: Genesis 16

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Learning Circle

• Learning Circle: The learning circle is the tool that we use to discover what God is saying to us.  It leads us through the process of repenting so that we can find what God is saying to us.  It also leads us through believing so that we can act upon what God is saying.

When I read through this example in Abraham’s life, I see a man who is in desperate need of a tool to help him listen to God.  His wife comes to him with a plan to conceive a child with another woman.  That should have tipped him off to something.  Then, when his wife and the woman that he impregnates have conflict, rather than encourage resolution he simply tells Sarah to “deal with her however she feels fit.”  Here is a man who should have been the spiritual leader, but he doesn’t even seem to desire to hear what God might have to say about the situation.  Truthfully, it seems as though the only one who listens is Hagar!

How different might this situation turned out if Abraham would have made a noticeable observation about Sarah’s suggestion.  What might have happened had he reflected upon Sarah’s plan and the possible consequences?  What might have happened had Abraham taken up Sarah’s suggestion with a spiritual mentor before acting upon it?  How might he have been able to hear God’s plan for his life rather than Sarah’s plan?

Or, even after the sin, how might it have turned out differently if he had observed the effects of the sin?  How might it have turned out differently had he reflected on what that act had upon his family?  How might it have turned out differently had he discussed his issues with someone who could have led him into repentance?

Chances are that Abraham would have been able to hear God.  He could have responded in repentance and then believed in a better future in God’s calling.  He could have set a plan and been held accountable to that plan.  He could have taken his plan and set it into action.

I believe this is the lesson to learn here.  We are sinful human beings.  God will break into our life and attempt to teach us.  We can either run from the lesson or turn to it and learn.  As we can see in the story, life is easier when we turn to God and learn the lesson.

<><