The story of Joseph is a model for the way of Christ.

Joseph reveals himself to his brothers not as a judge, but as a saviour. He says: “God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance” (Genesis 45:7).

Later, when their father Jacob had died, the brothers were afraid again. But Joseph had forgiven them. He did not want to bring up the matter again. When his brothers did, Joseph wept (Genesis 50:17). It hurt him deeply that his brothers did not trust him.

In Genesis 50:20, Joseph says: “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today”.

Even our bad choices do not prevent God from turning our lives into blessings.

Joseph never cried about himself and his situation, but only about his brothers.

It is the same with Jesus. He is totally committed to us. He weeps and struggles for us. He takes our guilt upon Himself and holds nothing against us. He is full of love. Nothing hurts him more than when we don’t trust his words and keep bringing up our mistakes.

Continue reading Messiah Ben Joseph →

When Jacob is at the end of his possibilities, God gives him a new identity. From now on, God will fight for him.

When a man stands in Jacob’s way at the ford of the Jabbok (Nahr ez-Zarqa), he probably does not know who he is dealing with (Genesis 32:25-32). Is it one of Esau’s fighters or Esau himself? He enters the fight and struggles with his unknown opponent. When he suddenly dislocates his hip, he is on the defensive. But he does not want to give up, he wants the recognition of the divine promises.

Only when Jacob is blessed do his eyes open: It is not his brother Esau, but God who has appeared to him in human form. From now on he is to be called “Israel”. This means: “El (God) is fighting”.

Jesus was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-11), who suggested that he should help himself and not wait for God to act. But Jesus refused to help himself.

When we stop fighting for ourselves but hold on to God and leave the battle to Him, we experience a new dimension in our lives. Jesus says in John 1:12: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Through Jesus we are given a new identity. As God’s children, the heavenly Father takes care of us.

Jacob goes from being a “heel-holder” (the meaning of his first name) to a “God-holder” for whom God takes care. Continue reading New identity →

Advent images in the Torah / 12

Jacob fights for his rights promised by God and loses everything. At a low point, God meets him in a dream. He sees a ladder to heaven and God promises him that he will look to his rights and that through him blessing will come for all the people (Genesis 24:12-15).

It is exciting that Jesus also speaks of a ladder to heaven in the New Testament: “You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:51).

The shepherds in the field had already seen heaven open and full of angels (Luke 2:13). Continue reading The ladder to heaven →

The king-priest Melchizedek of Salem brings the blood-stained Abraham back under God’s blessing through bread and wine. After turning his eyes back to God, Abraham expresses his enthusiasm for the blessing he has received by giving Melchizedek ten percent (Gen 14:18-20).

David writes about the Messiah in Psalm 110,1.4: “The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool. … You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Melchizedek means: “My King of justice and peace”. He is a figure for the reconciling ministry of the Messiah Jesus, who sits at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19 / Luke 22:69).

Jesus comes from the royal line of David and represents a priestly, reconciling ministry. Through bread and wine, he symbolised that we are reconciled to God through his coming and death on the cross. Jesus gives bread and wine as a sign of renewal. By accepting them as Abraham did, we place ourselves under God’s blessing. God is acting, and we express our thankfulness to him.

Abraham let himself be served. He could have been proud of the victory he had won. But he did not. He accepted the meal. He let himself be blessed. He joined in the praise of God and gave God what belong to him.

Continue reading A king-priest like Melchizedek →

In Genesis 18, YHWH visits Abraham. He is not just a human apparition, for he eats butter, milk and meat. Because Abraham and Sarah can’t have children, God announces a miracle for them. They will have a son.

Elizabeth and Zechariah had a similar experience with their son, John the Baptist. It was a miracle to have a child at their age.

Jesus’ birth was also a miracle. For only a virgin birth can be a sign from God, as predicted in Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

If God could come to Abraham as a man, he can come to us through Jesus. Immanuel means: “God with us”.

When Jesus was talking to the scribes, they asked him: Continue reading God visits Abraham →

Noah’s Ark is an exciting symbol. It is actually God’s ark, because the idea comes from God. God speaks to Noah and calls him to lead the project.

God could have had countless possibilities for a new beginning. But he does not want to turn anyone upside down against his will and chooses the exodus (relocation). Those who allow themselves to be called are given a new chance.

A few things stand out here: God wants to act through human beings. He calls Noah. He gives the plan. He sends the animals. He closes the door and gives a promise with the rainbow.

Jesus calls the disciples and wants to work through them. He shows them that the kingdom of God is a matter of the heart. Seeking people are added through the Holy Spirit. The focus remains on people who long for the presence of God. Jesus says: „Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). No one is forced into anything. The kingdom of God is a community that engages with God and is inspired by his promises.
Continue reading God is calling →

Enoch followed God all the time, and God had taken him away (Genesis 5:24).

When Enoch saw how his son Metushelach come into the world at the age of 65, he decided to live in the presence of God (Genesis 5:22). The root of his name חנך ḥnk means “inaugurated”. His name can be translated as “the inaugurated“.

Jesus was also inaugurated. “The Son can do nothing of himself except what he sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does, the Son also does“ (John 5:19).

Jesus also inaugurated his disciples: “I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father“ (John 15:15).

God wants to share his thoughts with us. He reveals himself to us through the Bible. Continue reading Living in the presence of God →

Advent images in the Torah / 6

In the story of Cain and Abel we encounter a paradox. The just man dies, the rebel survives.

Abel realises that accepting the death judgment is the key to a relationship with God. He expresses this through a sacrificial lamb, and God is present (Gen 4:4).

Jesus calls Abel a prophet (Luke 11:51). We do not hear a word out of his mouth. But with his sacrifice, Abel prophetically proclaims that God’s view on our lives makes all the difference.

Cain, on the other hand, wants to come before God with his achievements. God corrects him, because he has no open eye for God (Gen 4:7). Cain wants to serve God as he pleases. He is not willing to be corrected. Continue reading A world upside down →

God does not leave man alone in his need but gives him a divine clothing to cover his transgressions.

For this purpose, God takes a skin (Genesis 3:21). The death of an innocent animal, the first death in the Bible, reveals the catastrophe, the terrible reality of sin, of rebellion against God’s order of creation.

For the first time, man sees and experiences death. He sees the consequences of his actions.

In recognising the death sentence and accepting God’s solution, man lives.

It is an image of the divine Lamb who lays down his life to enable man to live a new life with God. Continue reading A divine clothing →

The serpent has turned the heads of men. Now the head of the rebellion is to be crushed by a man. A man is to bring about the devil’s downfall.

God says: “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

In Hebrew, the word ” bruise” in this verse is in the masculine third person singular. It must therefore be translated: “I will put enmity between your descendants and their descendants; he will crush your head”. This opens up the outlook of a Messiah who will break the power of evil.
Continue reading God’s master plan →