# 13. God Has Done This
## INTRODUCTION - God Has Done This
> Psalms 68:34 — Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds.
- **Ascribe** to attribute a cause, source, author, or quality to someone.
- honor without dishobour (angry, jealous, taking vengenance, allowing evil, etc) -- It is paramount our SALVATION and HEALTH to Judge God right!
> 1 John 1:5 — This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and **in him is no darkness at all**.
> Genesis 44:1 — And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth. 2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. 3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses. 4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? 5 Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.
> Genesis 45:7 — And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 **So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God**: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. 9 Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, **God hath made me lord of all Egypt**: come down unto me, tarry not:
- Joseph's brothers treatment of him, is clear and obvious to indentify as as WRONG, but how do we square some of the details for which Joseph "gives the glory to God" --- YOU DIDN"T SEND ME HERE, GOD DID!
- THE NARRATIVE: Jacob, over the course of time, took 4 wives, but of the Four - leah, rachel, bilhah, zilpa - Ge 29:18 And **Jacob loved Rachel**;... After being barren, it was after Rachel gave birth to Joseph that Jacob decided he could finally return to his home country (Genesis 30:25). In leaving, Rachel stole her dad's idols and lies about her health to conceal them.
## 1. POLYGAMY is always bad. (Jacob had four wives, Appreciating the patriarch Jacob)
- 1. **LEAH**: Reubon, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Isaachar, Zebulun
- 2. **RACHEL**: Joseph, Benjamin
- 3. **BILHAH**: Dan, Naptali
- 4. **ZILPA (Leah's Handmaid)**:
> Augustine of Hippo: (the patriarchs like Jacob were righteous...) 1. Duty vs. Lust 2. The Custom of the Time 3. The Allegorical Meaning (Galatians 4:21–31, Paul allegorizes Abraham's relations with Sarah and Hagar)
> Galatians 4:24 — Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. [a prolonged metaphor]
- "Moral Anachronism"
> the patriarchs like Jacob were righteous, the application of the moral law changed with the arrival of Christ.
- The "from the beginning" principle of Matthew 19 "from the beginning it was not so"
- The Shift from Quantity to Unity - The Old Law focused on physical lineage, while the New Law focuses on **spiritual fruitfulness**.
- in this Age of Grace, the only reason a man would seek multiple wives is for "the gratification of lust", which is sinful.
> Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
## 2. FAVORITISM is always bad. - Jacob had a favorite Wife, show favoritism to her 2 children.
- the marrative passages are not condonded to every deatial...
> Ro 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
- God demonstrates much grace, in moses prayer
> Ex 33:13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.
- positive case: honor to whom honor is due
- Negative: It Breeds Jealousy
> Genesis 37:2 — These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and **Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.**
> Genesis 37:3 — Now **Israel loved Joseph more than all his children**, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
> Genesis 37:5 — And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and **they hated him yet the more**.
## 3. LYING is sometimes bad. - The Framing of Benjamin
## 4. REDEMPTION - Instructing the Steward
## CONCLUSION - There is only 1 that can set Wrong Things Right
- God is Light to our Darkness:
- Ps 7:1 ¶ <> --- A diquise maybe for Saul the Benjamin ?!?
> Ps 7:3 O LORD my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands;