The First Move

Read: Genesis 45

Before I begin, Genesis 45 seems to be about repentance and reconciliation. In the past, Judah sold Joseph to slave traders with impunity, but now he confesses his mistake and offers to sacrifice himself so that Benjamin can return to Jacob. It is a touching story, but it must be read with Genesis 44 in mind. Nonetheless, we are drawing near to the end of Genesis, and it’s important to realize something that’s going on.

In the movie The Return of the King, Gandalf the White and Peregrin Took were at the balcony of their guest house in Minas Tirith. Gandalf was frustrated at the Steward’s lack of care for the city as Sauron was gearing up for war. Sauron has his pieces in order, and Gandalf, to the best of his ability, has his. He famously remarked, “The board is set, the pieces are moving, the War of our Time has come at last.” As we draw near to the end of Genesis, we need to understand that the board is set for the next great episode of God’s story. The pieces will soon be moved. What is the board being set for?

Joseph is now the regent of all Egypt and has revealed his identity to his brothers, who were afraid that Joseph would retaliate and send them to be executed. Then Joseph told them not to be afraid and not distressed for their sin of selling Joseph to slavery, “for God sent me before you to preserve life… God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.” (vs. 5 and 7) Pharaoh’s exuberant hospitality and encouragement led Jacob, who was overjoyed at the prospect of seeing his former favorite son, to move the family to Egypt. Thus, the pieces are coming together for Exodus.

As we live in a world that is quickly shifting, it sometimes feels disorienting. The last famous musical artist I knew when I was in high school was the Backstreet Boys and Ricky Martin. Some of you have no idea who Ricky Martin is. “Heart of Worship” was a relatively new song. Now it’s almost a hymn. Technology is moving at breakneck speed. Only a mere 10 years (10!) ago, the fastest speed you can access the internet with was 56K. Some of you don’t know what that means (cable is now at a few MB’s a second). Despite this disorientation, we know God is always in control, that his chess boards and his strategies are all never beyond him. What Satan, what this world can throw at him will never destabilize God. And that is an amazing assurance. Perhaps you feel like this world is just relentless and that you’re always a step behind. You still don’t know how to calculate Riemann sums. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness seems to be explaining your predicament pretty well. ATP phosphorylation seems to be draining the ATPs out of you. And, worst of all, all that will give your GPA a beating.

But God is never lost. God is always master of the situation. I took a midterm for Old Testament three weeks ago. You know it was bad when an annual tradition has evolved where second-year seminarians hold a breakfast and write encouraging notes on the white board to keep us from becoming frazzled. But what helped entirely was when our professor came in. “I know many of you probably have prayed 1,001 times before this exam, but one more prayer, can’t hurt, right? Let’s pray.” Her first sentence was this: “Holy God, may we understand why we are here [at seminary] and that regardless of how this exam goes, we still belong to you.” Dr. Sakenfeld can pray such a prayer, because she knows well – she’s an Old Testament scholar after all – that God is always in control. His pieces are always in order.