Dr Paul Allen

Anthony Costello A dead Christian is of no value to the Devil. Only a Christian still alive is worth Satan’s time and efforts. This is an obvious truth, assuming the particular, physically deceased person was indeed an actual man or woman of God. Upon the physical death of the truly faithful and genuinely regenerated person, they enter Christ's presence and are forever secure from Satan’s attacks.  But for those who still live, they are in the Devil’s crosshairs and ever susceptible to his attrition. The Devil’s plan of attack is always twofold: to discourage the true believer from being effective for God’s kingdom and to use the false convert to destroy the Church from within. As to the latter aim, the Devil realizes that the best and most effective way to attack God’s Church on earth is through those who consider themselves “Christians” but who deep down know they are not (Acts 5:1-8).  Or, the Devil can work through those who are so self-deluded, they genuinely believe them...

The story of Joseph in Genesis is, in part, the story of God’s sovereign control of history. God alone knows the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10), so He alone knows where this arc of history is heading.  Even those with no faith, who talk about history having a direction, often admit this truth: we are not stuck in the pointless meanderings of a cold dead universe or the endless circles of some Eastern mystical religion. No, history has a goal, a direction, and a purpose. ROBED TO RULE As we first meet Joseph in Genesis 37, we see a young man seventeen with everything going for him. He’s the favoured child of the patriarch Jacob, son of the beloved Rachel.  Though Joseph is sometimes portrayed as an arrogant young upstart, pleased with himself and lording it over his brothers, I’m not convinced this is right. The evidence to prove this view of him usually boils down to his robe, report, and revelation. The famous robe (likely a robe of many colours, though the word is somew...

God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” So Joseph would have had every reason to believe before the fateful day he was sent out once again to check on his brothers in the fields (Gen. 37:12–13).  Thus far, his life had all been grace and glory: the favourite son of a wealthy father, a multicoloured robe marking him out from the crowd, and, to cap it all off, two dreams from heaven promising that one day his family would bow in admiration before him. God did indeed have a wonderful plan for Joseph’s life, but as with Christ, whose life Joseph so fascinatingly foreshadows, the path would be one of suffering before glory. INTO THE PIT The story of Joseph’s downfall is well known. Out in the wilderness, away from Jacob’s watchful eye, the hatred of the brothers of Joseph toward him gives birth to sin. The eldest brother, Reuben, manages to persuade the others to stop short of murder. Instead, they pounce on Joseph, strip him of his robe, and throw him into a pit. With Re...

Because Christianity is built upon certain historical events, discussions about Scripture’s historical truthfulness are constant. Regarding Genesis, such discussions revolve around several issues, including the flood and patriarchal narratives. People want to know, “Did a global flood actually happen? Did the patriarchs really exist?” Frustratingly, these discussions are complicated by the lack of explicit evidence from outside the Bible that could serve as historical verification. Was Joseph in Egypt? When it comes to the account of Joseph, the difficulties are predictable. Indeed, the biblical account contains numerous details that align with historical realities of Middle and New Kingdom Egypt, but there is nothing definitive in the historical or archaeological record that verifies Joseph or his exploits in Egypt. Yet the Joseph narrative is also somewhat unique . The genre of this narrative—with its carefully crafted sequence, plot shifts, characterization, and other features—has e...

Dreams dominate the story of Joseph, but their importance in the narrative derives from the significance of dreams in the culture and theology of the ancient Near East. While many of us dismiss dreams as a mental reworking of the day’s events or as the result of indigestion, ancients considered dreams to have potential revelatory significance. Dreams were one way the gods communicated from the divine realm to the human realm—a belief that is clearly evident in the Joseph narrative. Six dreams, conveyed in three pairs, propel the story of Joseph [and his] rise from being the favoured—and thus despised—son of Jacob to being the “discerning and wise” man appointed to manage Egypt during its 14 years of feast and famine (Gen 41:33). Joseph has two dreams (Gen 37), two of his fellow prisoners in Egypt each have a dream (Gen 40), and Pharaoh has a pair of dreams (Gen 41). The first pair sets the narrative in motion and points ahead to its destination, while the second and third pairs ar...

RUN JOSEPH RUN! “She caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me.’ But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house” ( Gen. 39:12 ). - Genesis 39:11–18 Potiphar’s wife does not abandon her desire to seduce Joseph after first making the brazen demand for Joseph to sleep with her ( Gen. 39:6b–9 ). Instead, she softens her request in an attempt to get around Joseph’s forthright refusal to be with her. “Day after day” she speaks to Jacob’s favorite son, begging him to “lie beside her” or “be with her,” a seemingly innocent request that he spend time with her without doing anything improper. However, Joseph is smart enough to know better (v. 10). He knows that to put himself where he might find temptation is to play with fire, and so he wisely determines not to listen to the “smooth words” of this adulteress ( Prov. 7:4–5 ). Nevertheless, as today’s passage indicates, this woman will get her way, or else! No one is around one day when Joseph goes to work...

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. [Heb. 1:1] God revealed himself to the Old Testament prophets in a myriad of ways. We can learn something about God by reviewing some of them. One of the most important ways God revealed himself was through theophanies. In a theophany God shows himself in and through some created thing. In one of the most famous examples of a theophany, the burning bush, God revealed himself to Moses as the bush burned with his divine glory. God also revealed himself through dreams. Famous dreams of Scripture include those of Jacob, Joseph, Nebuchadnezzar (in Daniel), and the night visions of Zechariah 1–6. God spoke in dreams to Joseph, the husband of Mary, and to Pilate’s wife. Visions differ from dreams in that they happen while people are awake. Ezekiel experienced numerous visions. The vision of Isaiah 6 surely changed Isaiah’s life and message. God spoke to Peter in a vision of the clean and uncl...

Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph by Rembrandt, 1656. Genesis 48 describes how Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “By faith Jacob , when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph , bowing in worship over the head of his staff” (Heb. 11:21). In Hebrews 11:20 we saw how Isaac by faith blessed his two sons at the end of his life. This evidence of faith shows that those with true persevering faith will hold onto God ’s promises even if they die before they are all fully realized. In Hebrews 11:21 we read another example of faith drawn from the last days of an old covenant saint. This time our model is Jacob who when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph while “bowing in worship over the head of his staff” (v. 21). This verse reflects upon the book of Genesis and the story of Jacob blessing his two grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh . We read in Genesis 48:8–16 that near the end of Jacob’s life, Joseph brought his two sons to their grandfather. Manasse...

Unregenerate man is consistently described as being in a state of alienation and enmity. This is the condition that makes reconciliation necessary. Reconciliation is necessary only when a state of estrangement exists between two or more parties. Estrangement is the natural fallen state of our relationship to God . Romans 5:10: "For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."  Ephesians 2:12: "At that time you were without Christ , being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." How are we enemies of God? Jonathan Edwards provides an insightful summary of the problem. He lists several points of tension between God and man: 1. By nature, we have a low esteem of God. We count Him unworthy of our love or fear. 2. We prefer to keep a distance from God. We have no natural ...

Acts 28:1-6 is illustrated showing Paul being perceived by the Malta inhabitants as a God. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Something else gave Paul great hope and enthusiasm: He saw these circumstances as an opportunity to introduce unbelievers to his God . He wasn’t the least bit timid about mentioning “the God to whom I belong and whom I serve” ( Acts 27:23). God was the source of Paul’s authority, his wisdom, his hope, his optimism, and his enthusiasm. Why would he be apprehensive about saying so? Paul was eager to introduce God to these people. Under the circumstances, they might have thought they needed to prepare to meet Him. Paul wanted them to know Him first as Savior, rather than as Judge. So he was bold. He knew, of course, that the prophecy given to him by the angel would come to pass. And when it did, the glory and the credit went to God. As we noted earlier, the precise fulfillment of all Paul’s predictions also established Paul’s credibility. But it did much more than th...

Molnár József: Ábrahám kiköltözése (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) After man again failed at the tower of Babel and the new variety of languages brought confusion and scattering, the Book of Genesis ceases to deal with mankind as a whole. The remainder of the book is concerned with Abraham and the chosen line that comes from him. Most mentions of the Holy Spirit in the rest of the Old Testament have to do with Israel . Someone has said, “The story of the Bible is the story of Spirit-filled men.” This may not seem very apparent in the history of the patriarchs, but it would be very strange if Abraham, whom Paul upholds as one of the greatest examples of faith (Romans 4:1–22; Galatians 3:6–18), were not a man of the Spirit. Actually, there is one clear indication that he was, though the circumstances are somewhat strange. Abraham had called his wife his sister (actually, she was his half-sister) and allowed her to be taken into King Abimelech ’s harem. When a treaty was made allow...