Romans 8:28,29 at work in History
Gen 40:14,16,23; 41:1,9, the account of Joseph’s UNFAIR IMPRISONMENT on a fabricated charge of indecent assault on the Captain of the Guard, Potiphar’s, scheming, licentious wife (Gen 39:19,20), being PROTRACTED for TWO YEARS by the forgetfulness of Pharaoh’s chief butler (Gen 40:23; 41:1), is one of the finest illustrations of Rom 8:28, the promise of God which provides the invaluable comfort of knowing that “ALL things WORK TOGETHER for GOOD to them that LOVE God; to them who are the CALLED according to HIS purpose.”
Romans 8:28 should never be separated from verse 29, because the promise in verse 28 is the outcome for those who gratefully co-operate with the purging, purifying, sanctifying work of the Spirit through trials which are necessary to conform us to the Image of the Messiah, as God’s VOLUNTEERING of righteous Job to satan (different from Peter in Lk 22) illustrates.
Job was “kept by the power of God through faith” to be an overcomer, more than a conqueror, to come forth as gold with greater revelation of Deity than ever before (1 Peter 1:2-9).
“Seeing” YHVH (Job 42:5) is perhaps our greatest need (Jn 6:40; 1 Jn 3:6).
Because “His commandmenT (the comprehensive commandmenT for sanctification given by His Father which we “see” Y’shua Himself keeping throughout the storms of His life, to remain undefiled – Matt 12:50; Jn 17:17,19; Heb 5:8,9) is life everlasting” (Jn 12:45-50) and, to be sure we grasp that axiom, eternal life is FURTHER defined as knowing the Godhead by knowing Y’shua-Jesus (Jn 17:3) by ABIDING (continuing with & remaining) in Him as the Vine, by “having and keeping” the commandmenT to keep the commandmentS, to both know and love Him (Jn 12:45-50; 14:21,23,24; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 2 Jn vs 5&6), we conclude that “seeing” Him Who IS eternal life (Jn 6:40; 1 Jn 1:1-3), means we are to VISUALIZE His faithfulness to His Father’s precepts which PORTRAY Him as the Living Torah which He taught as “the Way of Holiness” (Ps 119:1,45; Is 35:8; Matt 5:19; Lk 20:21; Acts 24:14; Rom 3:31; 1 Cor 7:19; 11:1,2), AND then we are to imitate His flawless Sonship, keeping covenant with Him in heaven (Jer 33:25; Matt 6:9,10) by circumspectly (accurately) “walking ‘in’ Him” (Col 2:6; Eph 4:23,24; 5:1,10,15-17) “after the Spirit” (i.e. lawfully – Rom 7:22,25 – 8:4; 2 Tim 2:5), just “as He walked,” in order to “sin no more,” to make our love perfect, our souls purified by obedience, to be “as He is” (Lk 6:40; 1 Jn 3:6,24; 4:17; 1 Peter 1:2,13-17,22; 1 Jn 2:4,6).
Job expresses this “SEEING Him Who is invisible” (as Moses did later – Heb 11:26,27; 1 Cor 10:1-4) as “ACQUAINTING oneself with Him by receiving the Way (the precepts of righteous living) from His Mouth and laying up His Words in thine heart” (Job 22:21,22; Ps 94:12,13; Jn 5:24; 8:51,52), to be able to “approve things that are more excellent (through correction of doctrine and training in righteousness),” to be “sincere and without offence, till the Day of the Messiah,” “being filled with the fruits which are by Jesus the Messiah unto the glory and praise of God” (Jn 15:3-14; Acts 10:35; Rom 2:13,18,26; 3:31; 8:4-14; Phil 1:9-11; 2 Tim 3:14-17).
Even modest, humble, wholehearted, meticulous, God-fearing Job needed greater knowledge and understanding of YHVH, which became the just pretext for testing Job’s INTEGRITY (Job 1:8,9; 2:3; 42:5,6).
Neither Job in Job 2:10 nor his well-wishing relatives and acquaintances in Job 42:7,11 sinned (erred in spirit) by attributing the great trial Job was APPOINTED to endure, to YHVH’s planning and permission.
Paradoxically, it was all deemed necessary to vindicate the reputation of YHVH’s Character (attributes of the Divine Nature) as “very pitiful and of tender mercy,” which should greatly comfort us in our trials (James 5:10,11)
It is the glory of the righteous to “suffer for righteousness” for Messiah’s and His body of believers’ sake, to produce irrefutable testimony of God’s love, power and faithfulness, to “be made evident everywhere” (2 Cor 2:14), as Job’s has been in answer to a prayer (Job 19:23). Satan’s malevolent Jn 10:10 mandate is curbed in all of this, by the deliverances which are commanded for the sons of YHVH (Job 2:6; Ps 44:4; 71:3; Rom 5:3-5; 8:17,18; 2 Cor 1&12; Eph 3:13; Phil 1:28-30; Col 1:24; 1 Peter 1:5-7; 4:1-3,12-18; 5:6-12)
I Jn 3:2&3 impress upon us the necessity for purity.
Our cleansing and purification by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of faith, our faith-confession which was our testimony of salvation, when we repented and were baptized for the remission OF sins, to be saved FROM our sins (Mk 16:16; Jn 15:3; Rom 10:8-14), must be MAINTAINED by continuing in the covenant to overcome “the POWER of sin” by ongoing repentance and obedience to the Spirit, IN HIS POWER, as He leads us into all truth to enlarge our understanding of the covenant and its all-important requirements for holiness (Lk 17:10, Jn 15:3; Acts 5:31,32; Ron 3:20,31; Eph 5:26,27; Heb 12:14,28; 13:20,21; 1 Jn 1-3).
We see this principle of “continuance” (Is 64:5; Rom 2:6-13; Col 1:22,23) at work in the lives of Job (Job 22:21,22) and Joseph (Ps 105:19), both men of Godly wisdom and integrity who we are citing here to illustrate YHVH’s long term blessing on those who take being conformed to the image of God, seriously.
2 Cor 3:18 pictures the transparency of a sincere, devoted relationship with Deity; and the miracle of transmutation and transfiguration of HUMAN NATURE (for which we were chosen for salvation) “from one degree of glory to another” through sanctification by the Spirit and belief of the truth (2 Thess 2:13,14), into a REPLICA of the “Divine Nature” in which, like the Light of the world Himself, “there is no darkness” (Rom 8:29; Eph 4:23,24; Col 3:9,10; 1 Jn 1:5-7; 2 Peter 1:1-11).
As we “see” Him in the ABSOLUTE PURITY of His life and witness (Jn 6:40; 12:45), “We all with unveiled faces (unprejudiced, teachable and with no impediments to revelation knowledge) beholding as in a mirror the Glory of the LORD, are (challenged to be like Him and by submitting to refinement as true sons, are) changed into the SAME Glory” (Heb 12; 1 Jn 3:2,3,4,7,10).
PURITY (satan’s chief object of attack and subversion) is the essence of Holiness and therefore, of the Glory of YHVH (Ps 12:6; Zech 13:9; Mal 3:3; 2 Cor 7:1; 2 Tim 2:19-21; Titus 2:14; Heb 9:14; 10:22; James 4:8).
Visionary Joseph, born to be a type of Messiah, as deliverer of his father Jacob’s house from death by famine (Gen 37:4-8; 41:54-57; 42:1-6), more than met that definition of a predestined called-out servant of the Most High (Gen 37:3-11).
The mystery of Divine election by grace is confirmed in Acts 2:47; 13:48, Rom 9:10-21 & Eph 1:11.
Joseph’s struggles are a fine example of the truths,
1) that in the Kingdom, loving God has obedience as a requirement (1 Jn 5:3); and
2) that provided, as seed of faithful Abraham, we “keep ourselves in His love” by upholding our integrity in the ways of “the Way of the LORD, “holding fast the profession of our faith without wavering” (Gen 18:18,19; 26:5; Heb 10:23), our “purpose-in-predestination” is safe in His Hands (Eph 1:11).
“Faithful is He Who called you, and (provided we submit to comprehensive sanctification) He also WILL DO IT” (1 Thess 5:23,24).
The promise in Rom 8:28 depends strongly on demonstration of obedience to offer sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving by accepting His garment of praise, to counteract a spirit of heaviness, to be elated, ebullient, cheerful and and above all, THANKFUL both IN and FOR all circumstances – not in spite of, but FOR the unique, customized, Spirit-supervised trials whereby YHVH enlarges our knowledge and understanding of Him while He creates irrefutable testimony of His love and faithfulness towards us and His all-surpassing power in us (2 Cor 12:5,8-11; Eph 1:19-21; 3:20; 5:20; 1 Thess 5:16-18; Heb 13:15)
The three passages (Eph 5:20; 1 Thess 5:16-18; Heb 13:15) teach us that…
“…for THIS (loving Him through obedience to give thanks at all times and for everything) is THE WILL OF GOD CONCERNING YOU”
All things certainly did work together for good for Joseph (beginning with favourable treatment in prison – Gen 39:21-23), despite the chief butler ‘forgetting him.’
So great is the intricacy, meticulousness and compassion of the God of the Hebrews’ micro-management of the Universe as God of history AND of ‘pre-written history’ (prophecy), under His omniscient, omnipresent Sovereignty, that even the chief butler’s dereliction of Joseph when he could have hastened his exaltation, couldn’t cause any disruption to the precision prophecy to Abraham in Gen 15:13-16, about Israel’s future.
Time SERVED Joseph notwithstanding what appeared to be inauspicious digressions from the eternal plan, because true prophecy cannot skip a heartbeat on its trajectory to vesting its harvest, provided we “hold faith” in its promise (Is 55:8-11).
It is the main actor (as Joseph was) in a prophecy who largely determines its outcome.
Ironically, it is partly DUE to the butler’s forgetfulness, that YHVH was able to say to Moses about the Great Sabbath (Rav Shabbat) of the first Passover night (“this is THAT night of the LORD…”) and of the following day (“even the SELFSAME day”), that “THIS (Aviv/Nisan 15) IS THAT” (Ex 12:40-42) Hebrew lunar calendar day which was scheduled before Creation as the precise date to fulfil the 400 year old Abrahamic prophecy by which the House of Jacob would be CONSTITUTED AS A NATION at Sinai, by their release and deliverance from cruel bondage to Pharaoh through faith in Israel’s “God of gods” and His sprinkled Passover sacrifice (Ex 12:27); and which therefore, was the day on which Joseph’s bones would be carried out of Egypt! (Heb 11:22).
What seems to us to be potentially destructive human error and caprice, is ‘baked into’ the prophetic architecture of Divine planning insofar as God knows the end from the beginning and cannot be mocked.
Israel’s unique birthing out of another nation by phenomenal acts of God (Egypt’s faith in idols destroyed by YHVH’s victories over His own plagues – Ex 7-11; 11:12), as an incomparable testimony to the world, of the authenticity of Israeli nationhood and legitimacy of its statehood (Ex 15:3-17; Deut 4:32-40; 6:20-23; 7:6-15; Ps 78:12), to eventually make their God, the One and only God (Deut 4:39), universally acknowledged as God of heaven and earth (Ps 72:8-18; Zech 14:4,9), is due to the grace which abounds through our practice of covenant principles, for the “everlasting covenant” to have the last word, irrespective of what we perceive as human missteps (Heb 13:20,21).
Joseph “possessed his soul” (mastered his mind, will and emotions) and maintained an admirable sanguine outlook, being uncomplaining about the principles of the Word (Torah) that had of necessity to be applied for God to test his loyalty to truth and righteousness through all the twists and turns of ‘fate,’ for him to discover that the safety net of prophecy and the providential faithfulness of His God had assured a perfect, glorious outcome (Ps 105:19-22).
The birth of the Messiah depended on it.
Our vision, our promise from Joseph’s God, is no less trustworthy, because He does not change.
