This is Larry Jones. You are listening to the Grace and Glory Hour with Pastor David M. Atkinson. Thank you for joining us today. We appreciate your interest and request that you pray for this ministry. Our email address is GraceGlory7 at Juno.com GraceGlory7 at Juno.com Now here is Pastor Atkinson. Our evening series is On the Life of Joseph. The title of this series is The Hand of God in the Robbery of Men. That title is from a writing by one of the Puritans. The hand of God. in spite of the robbery of men. The subtitle of this series is The Fingerprints of Providence. The Fingerprints of Providence. Turn to Genesis 42. Genesis chapter 42. Would you follow along and listen in your Bible as I read, beginning at the 17th verse of the 42nd chapter of Genesis. We'll omit one verse because I emphasized it so much a week ago. We'll omit that one and I'll make it plain when we get there. Verse 17, and Joseph put them, that is his ten half-brothers, all together into ward or confinement three days. And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do and live, for I fear God. If ye be true men, Let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison. Go ye, carry corn or grain for the famine of your houses. But bring your youngest brother unto me, so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die." And they did so. And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us, and we would not hear. Therefore is this distress come upon us. Now verse 23, And they knew not that Joseph understood them, For he spake unto them by an interpreter. And Joseph turned himself about from them, and wept. Pause. Punctuation. And returned to them again, and communed with them. And took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes. Now, turn over also to chapter 43, chapter 43. I'll begin to read it, verse 26. You'll see some similarities, you'll see a repetition, 43, 26. Now, the context here in 43, 26 is the account of the later second visit of the ten half-brothers plus the one full brother, Benjamin. The ten half-brothers are there, but this time in compliance with the demands of this strange administrator, they bring Benjamin, who of course is a full brother to Joseph, same father and same mother. This man is breaking into the second visit, verse 26 of 43. And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present, which was in their hand, into the house and bowed themselves to him to the earth. And he asked them of their welfare and said, is your father well? The old man, the old man of whom you speak, is he yet alive? Now, in my opinion, this is one of the most poignant and tender moments in the entire scriptural record. Joseph is trying to maintain his poise. He is acting polite. He is doing what the brothers would think is engaging in a courtesy. He's engaging in a pleasantry. He's asking after the family. Now, the old man, the old man of whom you speak, is he well? And inside, he's saying, Is he alive? Would someone please tell me? Is he alive? The one who gave me the beautiful coat, is he still alive? Just imagine the poignancy of that exchange. And they answered, verse 28, Thy servant, our father, is in good health. He is yet alive. Oh, imagine the emotion and the joy that flooded into the mind and the heart of Joseph when they heard those words. Yes, our father is alive. And they bowed down their heads and made obeisance. And Joseph lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin. his mother's son, and said, is this your younger brother? He already knew. Is this your younger brother of whom you speak unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. Joseph could not wait to embrace Benjamin. So now he must content himself with words, God be gracious unto thee my son, my full brother. And Joseph made haste for his bowels, his motivations, the seed of his affections did yearn upon his brother Benjamin and he sought where to weep and he entered into his chamber and wept there. Pause. And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, I sat on bread. Let's go back to a verse we'll take as a text. Chapter 42, verse 24. And Joseph turned himself about from them, and wept, and returned to them again. As I've said, in my opinion, this is one of the most tender and powerful moments in the entire scriptural record. This is a moment of pent-up emotion. It's a moment of longing and reaching out that must be controlled and disciplined by restraint and character. What a contrast. What an apparent contradiction is our text. Joseph turned himself about from them and wept. Now, he's just been speaking harshly to them. Their dominant memories are of someone who speaks roughly to them. Someone who makes himself hostile or foreign. You're spies. You've come to spy out the land. So what do we have here? Is this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Is Joseph what the Freudians would call schizophrenic? Does Joseph have multiple personalities? How can Joseph engage in such apparently contradictory behavior, and all within the space of one verse? How can he do this? How can he be controlled and firm, and the administrator who's in charge of it all, and then a few seconds later be behind the door just weeping profusely? This is no multiple personality. This is no contradiction. This is no schizophrenia. This is no double life. This is balance. There is both compassion and a commitment to truth where neither is sacrificed for the sake of the other. This is compassion. and a commitment to truth where neither is sacrificed for the sake of the other. In our study, we've not claimed that Joseph is a type of Christ. Although a good case can be made for that, but I've not felt it necessary to prove that Joseph is necessarily a type of Christ. But in this text especially, the conduct, action and behavior of Joseph is uncannily similar to the way the sovereign God works with men and women, you and me. This is just like Jesus. We'll look together at the sense in which the action of Joseph is similar to how God the Father and God the Son work in our lives. We'll look at that in just a moment. Before we get to that truth, however, I want to qualify the manner in which I'm going to be speaking. Indeed, the manner of speaking which I've employed throughout the entire series. We know, I know, that God is a spirit. Jesus said that God is a spirit. We understand that. And I'm referring to God the Father. I am referring to God the Father. And He is not human. He's not human as we are. So when I speak of the hand of God in the robbery of man, I'm speaking anthropomorphically. I am speaking anthropomorphically. I am, as the Bible sometimes does, poetically attributing to God the Father some of the parts of man's anatomy so that we can perhaps relate more easily to eternal spiritual Divine truth. I am arguing or reasoning or teaching from the known. That which we're used to. Hands. Feet. Face. I am reasoning from what we're used to, to the spiritual and the eternal. To which we're not accustomed. This is, of course, what happened in the fullest sense when God became incarnate. He took on hands, He took on feet, He took on a face, He took on a body, so that He could shed His blood for the remission of the sins of all who believe, and so that humanity could relate to Him. And so the message again this evening is anthropomorphic speaking. Have you ever had such an emotionally draining conflict or reunion with a loved one or a friend that you had to eventually leave the room? You had to leave the room and be alone. could not take the cross currents of the emotions any longer and you had to excuse yourself. You had to back off. Have you ever been there? Or perhaps you engaged intuitively in one of the natural reactions that we make when we're going to weep. Now, I want you, just simultaneously, when I bring my hand down, I want you all, just simultaneously, to imagine that you're about to weep. And I want you to go through some of the body motions that we sometimes intuitively go through when we're starting to weep. Yes, yes, yes. I saw it all over the place. All over the place. Person after person after person went like this. Absolutely. And that is the response that I saw the most of. There may have been other responses. But the hands going up to cover the eyes and cover at least part of the face is the intuitive response that I saw most just a few seconds ago. And that's what's taking place here in Chapter 42. And again, where we read in Chapter 43. And this brings us to the next truth about the hand of God. being at work, in spite of the robbery of men, here's the next truth. The hand of God sometimes, often indeed, hides the face of God. The hand of God sometimes, often indeed, hides the face of God. The hand of God does not always immediately reveal the motive or heart of God. I repeat, the hand of God, operational, providentially in our lives, the hand of God does not always immediately reveal the face or the heart of God. Only the face of God reveals the motive behind what the hand of God is doing. We must learn to look beyond God's hand for a glimpse of his veiled face if we would even begin to learn what he's up to in our lives. Let me repeat that. We must learn to look beyond the movements of the hands of God for a glimpse of his veiled face if we would even begin to learn about his motives and his ways in our lives. One of the greatest hymns ever written was written by the British man who lived with depression so incapacitating that sometimes he was suicidal and his dearest friends had to tie him into his bed. One of the greatest hymns ever written was written by William Cooper. God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea, and he rides upon the storm. You fearful saints, fresh courage take. The clouds you so much dread are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head. The clouds you so much dread are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace. Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face. Oh, I like that! Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face. Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter, and he will make it plain. Turn to Psalm 123. Psalm 123, verse 1. Let's read verses 1 and 2 in unison. Psalm 123, verses 1 and 2. And thank you for joining me as we read these two verses together. The first two words are unto thee. Let's read together. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look at the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden under the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God. Until then, He have mercy upon us. It's quite natural to look to the hand. It's natural to look to the hand. And these verses say that the servant girl looks to the hand of her mistress, the one who owns her, because it's the hand of her mistress, the one who owns her. It's the hand of the mistress who's going to give her food or give her a new robe. It's quite natural. To look to the hand. For the hand is what implements the action. I repeat, it's natural, it's earthy. To look to the hand. For the hand is what implements the action. But we need to learn to look beyond the hand. If we would discern something of the motive or reasoning of the God who loves us. In spite of the fact he permits the robberies of men to assail our lives, we need to learn to look beyond his hand. The hand is often hiding his face. The hand often obscures his motivations of love for us. 2nd Chronicles 7.14, which is the prayer for revival. And oh, how America needs to pray that prayer for revival. 2nd Chronicles 7.14. But that text tells us we're to seek God's face. We're to look beyond His hand and look for His face that reveals His heart of love for us. Even when he allows us to be disciplined or back into a tough corner. Turn to Psalm 32. Psalm 32. Let's read verse 8 together. Psalm 32, verse 8. The first two words are, I will. Let's read together, please. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye." It doesn't say, I will guide thee with my hand. It says, I will guide thee with mine eye. A wise parent insists on eye contact with the children. A wise parent insists on eye contact with the children. Pastor Lee was once out of town, and I dealt with one of our most troubled little schoolgirls from Sog Village. And we became very, very suspicious with respect to her home environment. And we talked with the mother and we pled, we pled that there would be serious and specific questions asked with respect to all the men who were living under that roof. And the thing I noticed immediately is that she would not look me in the eyes. She would not look me in the eyes. She constantly looked away. And I finally said, Now you must look at me. We must look at each other. We must see each other. If I'm going to try to help you with this sadness and this disobedience, we have got to look at each other's eyes. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way that thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye. The eye is obviously part of the face. The eye is part of the face, and sometimes the hand of God obscures the face of God. And we don't know what He's doing. And we can't see His heart, and we can't see His tears, and we can't see His love. And we can't see that he's allowing it for Romans 8, 28, all things work together for good to them that love God who are the called according to this purpose. We can't see his face because his active hand is temporarily hiding his face and his eyes and obscuring his plan and his motivation. Charles Haddon Spurgeon recounts A true story. Two Welshmen were going out to preach, and they parted at the crossroads in the way. One of the preachers said to his friend, Brother Jones, Brother Jones, may you get the light of His countenance in your preaching today. May you get the light of His countenance in your preaching today? I hope so, brother, came the answer. But if I don't get the light of his countenance, I'll speak well of him behind his back. And isn't that just like a Welshman? They make wonderful poetic preachers. I hope I'll have the light of his countenance, but if I don't, I'll try to speak well of him behind his back. In Genesis 32, 30, Jacob said, I've seen God face to face. I'm not going to go into all the theological ramifications about how much of God who saw. I know the Bible says no man has seen God at any time. I understand that. But the same Bible says that some had the privilege of at least a partial revelation, not a complete revelation. And I believe that that's the explanation. There are no contradictions in the Bible. There are no mistakes in the Bible, no contradiction. And I believe that the explanation is that nobody has ever had a complete revelation of the total glory of God, or as we would say in human terms, his whole face. But Jacob said, I've seen God face to face and my life is preserved. Hands do not weep tears. It's the eyes of the face that weep tears. And Joseph stepped out of the room. He'd been dealing with those half-brothers with a very heavy hand. And God used it to bring those brothers to conviction with respect to their guilt. And guilt is still a good word. Progressive educators don't want to hear the word guilt, but it's still a valid word. And Joseph had been used of God with his heavy hand to bring those brothers to guilt. There is no repentance and forgiveness appreciated unless we first call ourselves guilty before a holy God. Joseph had been ruling with a heavy hand, an apparently mean hand, to help to bring those half-brothers to guilt and confession. But he went outside the door and buried his face and his eyes in his hands and wept. Consider the illustration of a father disciplining his child. The hand of the father disciplines. The brow of the father frowns. The face of the father cares. And the eyes of the father weep. Let me repeat that. The hand of the father disciplines. The brow of the father frowns. The face of the father cares. And the eyes of the father In Psalm 143, 7c, the psalmist wrote, Oh, Lord, my spirit faileth, my spirit faileth, hide not thy face from me. But sometimes he does. Sometimes he does. And William Cooper and David Brainerd and others have experienced. And perhaps you've experienced those times. When you can't see God's face, it's hidden behind His hands. In 1981, and I'm closing with this, in 1981, I was going through one of the lowest points of my life in ministry. The church in Waterloo, Canada had been blessed. That church had grown. We'd seen bikers saved. I'd had the privilege of baptizing a number of Roman Catholics. But then Jane and I took infectious hepatitis. I was out of the pulpit for six weeks. I went back to the pulpit and the classroom too soon. In those days, I preached four times a week and taught every morning. It was wrong. I sinned against my body. I taught every morning in the Bible Institute from approximately 8.45 till 1 or 1.30. And I went back to all that and the counseling after only six weeks rest. I was naive and I was in error and I said, well, I'll just do the crisis counseling. How wrong that was. How could I dare to tell one member that her problem was not a crisis? Are you with me? That was a mistake. It was naive. How could I dare to tell one member that his or her problem was not a crisis, but a fellow member's problem was a crisis? That was a very short-sighted statement. And so, within two months, I was back to full schedule. And after a year of that, I would look out at the people on Sunday and hold onto the pulpit It was all fuzzy. I was just completely exhausted. It was all fuzzy. And it was like there were flashbulbs, flashbulbs going off all over the building as I tried to preach. And so I finally resigned. The deacons asked to reconsider. By the way, I'll be preaching back there on August 21st. I need you to pray for me. The church has gone through deep waters again. This is the second biggie. The church dismissed the pastor. It was not immorality, but the church dismissed the pastor. And I think they're going to call their interim. I think they'll call their interim as their new pastor. But they asked me to come back on the 21st. I'm going to go. But it was right after the resignation from that work, when I was in itinerant work to try to pay the rent and keep April in the Christian school. It was at that time. When I wrote this poem. And it's called the side behind the door. It's sad how oft we humans have a vision short and poor, for we do not see the other side, the side behind the door. We hear the scolding, see the frown, and think that God abhors, but we do not see the other side, the side behind the door. I saw my mother's well-worn rod, but usually missed her prayers. I heard Dad say, I'll spank you, but missed him say, Dad cares. To brothers, Joseph roughly spoke. He called them spies, accused them sore, but they did not see the other side, the side behind the door. The people heard grave Moses vexed, saw broken tablets on the ground. They did not hear the other side. His broken heart resound on Calvary, rugged, stormy, bleak. They saw the black earth quake, but they did not see the other side as the father's heart did break. They saw the wrath and vengeance. They heard the cry, it is finished. But they failed to see the other side, a love not once diminished. Oft times I say, my God's too hard, my path too rough and steep. I complain about the Lord's demands, but I do not hear him weep. I say, he must not understand that I can take no more. I, chafing, see the master's rod, but not behind the door. I do not see his head in hand, while scalding tears he pours. I do not see the other side, the side behind the door. So help me, Savior, when you scold. and test me o'er and o'er by faith to see the other side, the side behind the door. Often the hand of God hides the face of God, and we cannot see His face, or His heart, or His motive. I didn't write it. I wish I had. One of our women here used to sing it. I hope someone will pick up the song again. It says something like this. When you cannot see the face of God, you can trust his heart. When you cannot see the face of God, you can trust his heart. Sometimes his hand. His manual activity hides His face, but let's trust on. Behind the door, He weeps for us, because He wants the best for us. He loves us. We trust you have been encouraged or strengthened by the Word today. We would love to hear from you. You can email us at GraceGlory7 at Juno.com. That's GraceGlory7 at Juno.com. We will reply to all those who contact us. And now, until next time, may the good Lord bless and keep you.