The Upside-Down-ness of Spiritual Agriculture
I’m a city-boy. I know that comes as no surprise to most of you. That means that I know very little about agriculture. My grandparents always had a garden and I remember helping as a little boy. I’m not sure you can call regular yardwork and gardening “agriculture” (probably not), but that’s about the extent of my dealing with the ground, the seasons and their bounty. But I do know that the process requires lots of sunlight, lots of water and rich soil. I remember that from watching my seeds grow in a clear plastic cup in grade school!
We’ve been making our way through Genesis on Sunday mornings and we’re coming through chapter 42 now, when Joseph’s brothers are sent by Jacob to purchase grain, unsuspectingly from their long-lost (or so they thought) brother, Joseph. Chapter 41 provides the narrative of Pharaoh’s dreams and verses 25-32 provide Joseph’s divinely inspired interpretation. More than just the narration of dreams and their interpretation, this section is a bold declaration of God’s sovereignty over the “gods” of Egypt.
Pharaoh himself was considered to be the incarnation of Ra, the sun god. He could neither interpret his own dreams or prevent what was coming. Pharaoh called upon his “wise men and magicians” who were most likely devotees of the god Thot, the Egyptian god of wisdom. He could neither interpret the dreams or prevent what was coming. The Egyptians attributed the flow of the Nile itself and the sustenance it provided to itself be the product of gods who could also not prevent what was coming. And notice, it is God who brings both the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine.
Chapter 42 picks up, having passed over the seven years of plenty, somewhere in the seven years of famine. I find that extremely interesting. Why pass over the seven years of plenty? Well, think for a moment about your own life. Particularly your spiritual life. More particularly, think upon the times of your greatest spiritual growth. Though we can’t say this as a rule, chances are, your times of deepest spiritual growth occurred in times of dark, famine, drought, suffering or something of the like. I know mine have.
I find it interesting that God often works in such ways in our lives that there is nothing else to do but attribute it to Him and praise Him, even for the “uncomfortable” blessings.
- Read A Path Through Suffering: Discovering the Relationship Between God’s Mercy and Our Pain by Elisabeth Elliot
- Read Suffering and the Sovereignty of God by Justin Taylor and John Piper
Posted in Christian Living
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:58 pm
I’m glad I’m not the only one who can admit that God is an Aggie - as was Adam and everybody else important. :)
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:03 am
I’m pretty sure that’s not what I exactly had in mind . . .