Weekly Devotional - David Guzik

Immanuel

December 8, 2024/0 Comments/in Weekly Devotional/by David Guzik

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Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings.” (Isaiah 7:14-16)

Isaiah cried out against the rulers of Judah. They treated other people poorly, but they treated the Lord even more poorly. To rebuke their lack of trust, Isaiah promised a sign. This promise became one of the most famous prophecies in the Bible: Therefore the LORD Himself will give you as sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Beyond being famous, this word from Isaiah 7 also illustrates a principle of prophecy, that prophecy may have both a near fulfillment and a far fulfillment.

The near fulfillment of this prophecy centered on Ahaz, Jerusalem, and the attack from Israel and Syria. For Ahaz, the sign concerned a time span – before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings. Simply put, God promised Ahaz a sign promising that within a few years, both Israel and Syria would be crushed. This was a sign of deliverance to Ahaz.

The far or ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy goes far beyond Ahaz, to announce the miraculous virgin conception and birth of Jesus Christ.

We know this passage speaks of Jesus because the Holy Spirit clearly said so (Matthew 1:23).

We know this passage speaks of Jesus because the prophecy is addressed not only to Ahaz, but also to David’s entire house (O house of David! see Isaiah 7:13).

We know this passage speaks of Jesus because it says the virgin shall conceive, and that conception would be a sign to David’s entire house. While the near fulfillment would refer to a young woman giving birth, the far or ultimate fulfillment clearly points to a woman miraculously conceiving and giving birth. By God’s miracle, Jesus was conceived of a virgin.

We know this passage speaks of Jesus because it says He will be known as Immanuel, meaning “God with Us.” This was true of Jesus in fact, not only as a title. Immanuel speaks of the deity of Jesus (God with us) and His identification and nearness to man (God with us).

Jesus is truly Immanuel, God with us. This is the great message of Christmas – that God the Son added humanity to His deity and walked with us. He shared the human experience to the fullest, because He was fully human. Though as far as we know Jesus was never called by the name “Immanuel,” He certainly fulfilled the meaning of the name.

With your trust in Jesus Christ, you may rest in the wonderful truth: Jesus is God with you.

Click here for David’s commentary on Isaiah 7

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The Gift of Conscience

December 1, 2024/0 Comments/in Weekly Devotional/by David Guzik

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Then they said to one another, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.” (Genesis 42:21)

Joseph’s brothers had treated him terribly. Their jealousy was understandable, because their little brother Joseph was openly favored by their father. They hated him so much that they beat him and sold him as a slave to desert wanderers headed for Egypt. After many years their conscience may have quieted, but it never died.

When problems rose as they tried to buy grain in Egypt, the brothers thought the mess happened because of the way they treated Joseph many years before. Their conscience said, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, and we are getting what we deserve.”

Was this a good thing? It probably was good. The quickness with which they associated these events with their long-before sin against Joseph probably meant that they often remembered their sin against him. After all, there was not a completely logical connection between their present problems and their previous treatment of Joseph. But a guilty conscience sees every trouble as the penalty of some prior sin.

The United States government has something called the Federal Conscience Fund, which collects money that people send in because they know they have cheated the government in some way. People have sent in money after taking army blankets for souvenirs, after cheating on postage, or cheating on their income tax. But our consciences are notoriously weak or corrupt. One man wrote the IRS and said, “I cheated on my taxes and can’t sleep at night. Here is a check for $100. If I still can’t sleep, I’ll send the rest I owe.”

Some have described the conscience as the “sundial of the soul.” Like a sundial, the conscience is reliable when there is light, but in darkness it is of no use. At night, you could shine a flashlight on a sundial and make it read any time you want it to.

The human conscience is a gift from God, but it isn’t infallible. It can be either dulled or made overly sensitive. It works best under the light of God’s word. When the light of God’s word shines on our conscience, it is reliable and trustworthy. Otherwise, our conscience can become like a trained dog: whistle once, it stands up; whistle twice, it rolls over; whistle a third time and it plays dead.

When trouble comes, do you immediately think it is the consequence for a sin you have committed? Do you live under the burden of a guilty conscience? Jesus can change that.

Hebrews 9:14 asks the right question: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

If you need a conscience-cleaning today, talk to Jesus about it. He’s a specialist in that procedure.

Click here for David’s commentary on Genesis 42

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From the Pit to the Pinnacle

November 24, 2024/0 Comments/in Weekly Devotional/by David Guzik

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Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.” (Genesis 41:38-39)

It’s been said that the successful executive is the one who can delegate all the responsibility, shift all the blame, and take all the credit. Hoping to find success, that’s the plan many people follow. But that strategy is like a house of cards. Joseph’s example shows us God’s way to achieve and handle success.

Note that timing is important to the success that God gives. Here, in Genesis 41, Joseph had just arrived at the pinnacle of his success; but it took him a long time to get there. It may have felt that Joseph had been “wasting” his time in prison the previous few years, but it wasn’t a waste at all. It all had a place in God’s timing for Joseph’s success. From his youth, Joseph had the idea God had destined him for great things. But Joseph didn’t know the fulfillment would take so long.

Psalm 31:14-15 says, But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand. Can you say this also? We might feel as though we are all ready for what we know God will do through us, yet we must rest in the LORD, and say to Him “my times are in Your hand.”

Pharaoh finally promoted Joseph. He rose from the pit all the way to the pinnacle. But Pharaoh wasn’t the one responsible for Joseph’s promotion – God was. Joseph wasn’t waiting on Pharaoh to get out of jail; he was waiting on God. The psalmist reminds us: For exaltation comes neither from the east, nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the Judge: He puts down one and exalts another (Psalm 75:6-7). The credit for Joseph’s amazing rise to power did not belong to Pharaoh, or to Joseph, and especially not to blind fate or circumstance. Joseph’s rise was the fulfillment of God’s divine plan.

Genesis 41:50-52 tells us Joseph had two sons, naming them Manasseh and Ephraim. Joseph lived in Egypt, married an Egyptian woman, and worked for the Egyptian Pharaoh – but he gave his two sons Hebrew names. This shows us that Joseph did not forget about God, even in his success. Many people, when they have been promoted the way Joseph was, feel they no longer need God. They think that God is only good for the prison, not for the palace. We should be like Joseph, who was devoted to God no matter what – good times or bad.

Here’s a good prayer for today: “God, give me a heart that will wait on You and serve You faithfully even when I am successful in the eyes of the world.”

Click here for David’s commentary on Genesis 41

Click Here for Daily Devotionals from David

Rescued By the Innocent Man

November 17, 2024/0 Comments/in Weekly Devotional/by David Guzik

Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. (Genesis 40:21-23)

Because he stood for righteousness, Joseph was put in prison. Most anyone else accused of assault by Potiphar’s wife would be immediately executed. But Potiphar knew Joseph, and he knew his wife – and instead sent Joseph to prison.

In prison, it would be easy for Joseph to be self-focused because so much wrong had been done against him. Yet, by the hidden hand of God’s grace, Joseph was concerned about others. When distressing dreams troubled two other prisoners (Pharaoh’s own butler and baker), Joseph cared enough to help them.

Joseph explained that the butler’s dream meant he would be vindicated and restored to serving Pharaoh. That was good news. Joseph also explained the dream of the baker, that he would be convicted and executed. That was bad news. Three days later, Joseph was proved right and found to be a true messenger of God.

Sadly, even though Joseph helped the butler greatly, yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. Here, Joseph was wronged again. He thought that the butler’s kindness might mean his release from prison, but it was not to be. God had another purpose.

All men God uses greatly, He first prepares greatly. Few are willing to endure the greatness of God’s preparation. God was in both the steps and stops of Joseph’s life, and this is an example of how God works in the life of a believer today.

When we read the Bible, we often see ourselves in the characters. It’s easy to read Genesis 40 and say, I am like Joseph – though I have been wronged, God can use me to reveal His word or His mysteries to others. There’s a place for that, but it’s not the best way to see ourselves in Genesis 40. Here is a better way to read Genesis 40.

More than being like Joseph, we are more like the butler and the baker. In this picture, Jesus is like Joseph to us.

– Jesus is the innocent Man who came into our prison and shared our condition.
– As He shared our condition, Jesus revealed God’s message to us.
– Like Joseph, Jesus was proven true in three days.
– Joseph shows us Jesus, whose message from God brings life or death.
– If you are looking for a message from God, look to Jesus.

There is also a blessed contrast, a difference between Joseph and Jesus: Joseph’s word only rescued the innocent prisoner, not the guilty one. The good news – the greatest news – is that the message and rescue of Jesus is also for the guilty who repent and believe on Him.

Jesus shared our condition and brought the message of life. Respond to Him with faith, gratitude, and remembrance.

Click here for David’s commentary on Genesis 40

Click Here for Daily Devotionals from David

The LORD Was With Him

November 10, 2024/0 Comments/in Weekly Devotional/by David Guzik

The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand. (Genesis 39:2-3)

When you think of all that Joseph endured before he was 25 years old, it was more than enough to last a lifetime. Rejected and abused by his own family, Joseph’s brothers sold him as a slave to a foreign people. Sold again in the slave markets of Egypt, Joseph was purchased by captain of Pharaoh’s guard and began to serve in his house.

Joseph’s ordeal was probably worse than any of us have gone through. Yet, the LORD was with Joseph. God did not abandon Joseph, even in the smallest way. Believers often complain to God that He put them in a terrible or difficult place. Yet, in general, God’s will is for His people to trust Him to bless them and make them successful (as He measures success) wherever they are.

Some people think they can’t be blessed unless they are in authority, in charge of things. Jesus lived and taught a better way – a life as a servant.

– Jesus said, If you want to be great in God’s kingdom, learn to be the servant of all. (Matthew 20:26)
– Jesus said and lived this principle: For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. (Matthew 20:28)
– There are many wonderful titles for Jesus the Messiah, but one of the most meaningful is Servant of the Lord (Matthew 12:18, Isaiah 42:1). Yes, He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and the King of Kings – yet Jesus is also a servant, the ultimate servant.

Believers can and must learn the blessing of being a servant; if it isn’t forced upon a believer, then they can choose it.

Even at this early point when it seemed Joseph had no control over circumstances – and indeed he had none – God overruled the evil or unpredictable choices of man to accomplish His eternal purpose. The LORD made Joseph a successful man.

By his trust in God, diligent work, and blessing from God, Joseph showed Potiphar that God was real, and that the LORD was with Joseph. Followers of Jesus should live out the same principle today; others should see the difference Jesus makes in the life of believers by the way they work.

It is a great blessing to say of anyone, the LORD was with him. Think of the contrast between Joseph and his brothers. The brothers were not sold as slaves and they slept in their own beds among their own families. At the same time, Joseph was a slave, but free because the LORD was with him. The brothers were free, but slaves to secrets, shame, and guilt.

In Jesus Christ, the Servant of the LORD, it is true: the LORD is with you.

Click here for David’s commentary on Genesis 39

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Getting Worse

November 3, 2024/0 Comments/in Weekly Devotional/by David Guzik

So Judah acknowledged them and said, “She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son.” And he never knew her again. (Genesis 38:26)

One of the truly remarkable things about the Bible is how honestly it presents the people of God, even heroes among them.

Noah, the great man of faith and action – drunk and in disgrace.
Abraham, the father of the faithful – hiding behind his wife and behind lies.
Isaac, the chosen son – ignoring God’s word and caring only for the material.
Jacob, the father of Israel – deceives others to his own advantage.
Moses, the great lawgiver – misrepresented God in a notable way.
David, the man after God’s heart – a murderer and adulterer.

Genesis 38 is an honest chapter, telling a story from the life of Judah, the son of Jacob and father of one of the great tribes of Israel. Judah’s sons failed to provide descendants to Tamar, the widow of Judah’s oldest son.

Judah refused to do rightly by Tamar, and he compounded that sin by unwittingly hiring her as a prostitute. As a result, Tamar became pregnant, and Judah commanded she be put to death. Tamar then shrewdly revealed the father of the child in her womb: Judah himself.

In the end, Judah confessed that Tamar had acted more righteous than he had, because he didn’t do what was proper and customary in that culture – direct his youngest son to marry Tamar and provide descendants to her who would carry on the name of Judah’s oldest, deceased son.

The unpleasant and unflattering story of Judah and Tamar demonstrates how the corruption of the Canaanites had a bad effect on the sons of Israel and their families. The longer they stayed in Canaan, the more they would become like the Canaanites.

This was a family destined for corruption and assimilation among the depraved Canaanite culture. On the track displayed in Genesis 38, in a few generations there would be no more family of “Israel” – just another family absorbed into a lager people group, and a people group that was severely compromised morally.

What would rescue Israel from the path of doom? God worked in two main ways. First, Joseph and the great injustices done against him. Second, a great famine that afflicted the whole region.

Through Joseph, God would carry out a plan to take this family from Canaan, put them in a culture that would isolate them, and allow them to grow from a large family to a significant nation over many generations. Genesis 38 is more evidence that God’s plan was necessary for Israel’s survival as God’s covenant people.

As believers, we face seasons of difficulty and crisis. Our weaknesses and failings sometimes seem to ruin everything. We often must face consequences from our sin, but despite it all – God is working out His plan. Our failures don’t surprise Him or necessarily ruin His plans for us. God is in control even when things are getting worse.

Click here for David’s commentary on Genesis 38

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Messed-Up Families

October 27, 2024/0 Comments/in Weekly Devotional/by David Guzik

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him. (Genesis 37:3-4)

The story of Joseph begins with a description of his messed-up, dysfunctional family. Jacob (Israel) was father over a troubled household, with much rivalry and competition. Jacob made it worse by having a clear favorite – Joseph, who was the son of his old age.

We all have ideas and dreams about what a perfect family should be. By anyone’s measure, Joseph’s family had a lot of problems.

As a young man, his father Jacob tried to trick his grandfather Isaac into giving him the family fortune instead of his older twin brother. The plan fell apart, and Joseph’s father Jacob had to run for his life when his twin brother vowed to murder him.

Jacob went away, more than 200 miles (320 km) on foot. He did not see his father Isaac for more than twenty years, only meeting again when Isaac was almost dead. There is no record that Jacob ever saw his mother again.

Among his mother’s relatives, Jacob’s uncle cheated him and treated him like a slave. Jacob married two of his cousins and took two more concubines (something like formally recognized mistresses).

Between them all, they had twelve sons and one daughter. There was constant rivalry and conflict among all many children and the four mothers, centering on the rivalry between the sisters Rachel and Leah.

It was one great big messed-up family; still, it brought forth Joseph, and furthered God’s great plan of the ages.

It can be helpful to remember that as a man, Jesus Himself came from difficult family circumstances. By God’s miracle, His mom became pregnant well before the wedding.

His mom and dad were quickly married, far ahead of their announced wedding date. When Jesus was just a young child, they had to escape as refugees, fleeing for their lives.

They made a home back in Nazareth, where everyone knew about the strange pregnancy and the hurried wedding. Jesus Himself never got married – regarded as unusual and maybe even scandalous for a 30-year-old rabbi.

We don’t know what happened to His adoptive father Joseph, and His mother Mary seemed a little pushy. His own brothers didn’t believe in Him and called Him crazy. Jesus said that being in God’s family was more important to Him than His biological family. Jesus put His mom into the care of one of His disciples, not one of His brothers.

God’s word to everyone is this: Your messed-up family – past, present, or future – does not mean God has forsaken you or that some cloud has come over you that will never pass. We may trust that God works in and through difficult and messed-up families. Don’t lose hope!

Click here for David’s commentary on Genesis 37

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The Rise and Fall of the Edomites

October 20, 2024/0 Comments/in Weekly Devotional/by David Guzik

And this is the genealogy of Esau the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir. (Genesis 36:9)

Genesis 36 is a chapter filled with names, recording the notable men among the descendants of Esau, the father of the Edomites, who became an important neighbor nation to Israel. Edom and the Edomites are mentioned some 130 times in the Bible.

When the Israelites came through the wilderness to the promised land in the time of Moses, the Edomites refused them passage through their land (Numbers 20:21). This was a source of great discouragement for Israel (Numbers 21:4).

Even so, God commanded special regard for the Edomites among Israel: You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother (Deuteronomy 23:7).

In the days of Saul, Edom was made subject to Israel (1 Samuel 14:47), and David established garrisons there (2 Samuel 8:14). But later, in the days of Joram, the son of Ahab, the Edomites became independent of Israel (2 Kings 8:16-22).

Several of the prophets spoke about and against Edom, including Jeremiah (Jeremiah 49:17-18), Ezekiel (Ezekiel 25:12-14). From the time Islam conquered the Middle East, the region was mostly unoccupied, except for a few Bedouins and military outposts. It has been brought to nothing, as Obadiah had prophesied. The entire book of Obadiah records an extended prophecy against Edom.

So, what happened to the Edomites? They were judged by God, as the prophets said would happen (such as Obadiah and Jeremiah). The Edomites were conquered by the Nabatean Arabs, perhaps as early as 500 b.c. Many of the surviving Edomites went to the area of southern Judea (the land on the western side of the Dead Sea) these became known as Idumeans, also mixed the with people already living in that that area.

By the end of spring, AD 68, the Romans had laid waste to Idumaea. This was effectively the end of the Edomite people, who had been in decline and mixing with neighboring peoples for a long time. As a genetic people, the descendants of Esau are lost to history. Of course, their DNA lives on in some sense, but they are so intermixed with other peoples that there is no definable genetic group of “Edomites” today.

It is a strange and sobering thought. The Edomites were a people so numerous and prominent that God devoted an entire chapter in the first Book of Moses to listing the names of their chiefs and notable men.

Yet, because of their many sins – including the sin of rejoicing and offering no help when their cousin-nation Israel was attacked – God brought upon them a severe judgment, so severe that they no longer exist as a people.

It is also significant that God has preserved the people of Israel, when they could have ended up as Edom. It shows a basic truth: How good it is to be in God’s favor (by the grace of Jesus Christ), and how terrible it is to be the target of His judgment.

Click here for David’s commentary on Genesis 36

Click Here for Daily Devotionals from David

The Hand of Skill and Strength

October 13, 2024/0 Comments/in Weekly Devotional/by David Guzik

Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor. Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; you will have this son also.” And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. (Genesis 35:16-18)

Jacob and his family were back in Canaan, and by this time had 12 children – 11 sons and one daughter. Previously, the birth of a son to Jacob was seen as a victory for the wife who bore the son, winning over her sister. Each son was a cause for rejoicing and victory in the competition with her rival.

Rachel, Jacob’s beloved wife, gave birth to their twelfth son in the land of Canaan, and the birth was difficult as she labored in childbirth. Weak and near death, she called out the name of her last son, and she called his name Ben-Oni, meaning “son of my sorrow.”

However, Jacob wouldn’t let this stand. He called him Benjamin. Jacob wisely changed the name of the child to Benjamin, which means “son of my right hand.” Perhaps he rightly sensed the special place God had for this child, or perhaps he simply prized Benjamin so greatly because he was the final link between him and Rachel, the woman he most loved.

The name “Son of My Right Hand” (Benjamin) was special because the right side was associated with greater strength and honor because most people are right-handed. “Son of My Right Hand” has the idea of “son of my strength” or “son of my honor.”

This idea is expressed in passages like Exodus 15:6: Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces.

The Lord is our strength and honor, as in Psalm 16:8: I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

Wonderfully, God’s strength and honor are for His people: My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me (Psalm 63:8). Though I walk in the midst of trouble…Your right hand will save me (Psalm 138:7).

When it came to our rescue, our salvation, our redemption, God would never do the work half-way or with only part of His strength. If His hand would rescue us, it would be His right hand, representing all God’s skill and strength. Today, you can thank God that He didn’t go half-way when it came to saving you.

Best of all, we know that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, the position of strength and honor, and believers sit there with Him: If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1).

Click here for David’s commentary on Genesis 35

Click Here for Daily Devotionals from David

A Blessing Or a Curse?

October 6, 2024/0 Comments/in Weekly Devotional/by David Guzik

Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.” (Genesis 34:30)

Genesis 34 tells of one of the most violent and shameful incidents in Genesis. Outraged that a Canaanite prince had raped their sister, Simeon and Levi used deception, treachery, and grotesque violence to massacre a whole city of Canaanites.

They did all this without their father Jacob’s permission or knowledge. When Jacob found out, he confronted Simeon and Levi, but weakly. He said, You have troubled me by making me obnoxious. In response to the terrible massacre and plundering of Shechem, Jacob seemed to only be concerned with himself and the danger of retribution against his small family (his complaint was, I am few in number). Jacob showed no concern for right and wrong, for God’s righteousness, or for the death and plunder of innocents.

Barnhouse noted that the deception of Simeon and Levi grew in the soil of Jacob’s own poor witness and compromise. They saw their father compromise and deceive other people when it suited him, so they followed his pattern. Barnhouse said that Jacob should “Talk to God about your own sin before talking to these boys about theirs.”

Simeon and Levi were correctly outraged that their sister Dinah had been abused and degraded. Yet none of that justified their evil deeds of mass murder, enslaving women and children, and theft through plunder.

When Jacob was about to die, he prophesied over his 12 sons. This is what he said about Simeon and Levi: Simeon and Levi are brothers; instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place…. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel (Genesis 49:5, 7). He saw Simeon and Levi for who they were, but he rebuked them far too late.

That prophetic word of God through Jacob proved true. God did in fact both divide the tribes of Simeon and Levi and scatter them among Israel. Yet significantly, the way this happened for each tribe was different.

The tribe of Simeon, because of their lack of faithfulness, was effectively dissolved as a tribe, and was absorbed into the tribal area of Judah.

The tribe of Levi was also scattered, but because of the faithfulness of this tribe during the rebellion of the golden calf (Exodus 32:26-28), the tribe was scattered as a blessing throughout the whole nation of Israel.

Both were scattered, but one as a blessing and the other as a curse.

When God brings His correction to our life, we can receive it either as a blessing or a curse. If you faithfully humble yourself under God’s mighty hand, His discipline can be a blessing.

Click here for David’s commentary on Genesis 34

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