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Plays On Word Radio
Ep 72: Faith and Identity - The Stories of Jacob, Joseph, and Jesus
"Today, we examine Jacob's struggle in Genesis 42, the irony of Joseph's brothers' honesty, and underscore the resurrection's legitimacy and transformative faith in Christ. Have you made it official with Jesus? Find out how, today."
Today, we dive into the role of the Holy Spirit and the profound significance of Jesus' use of pronouns reflecting His nature.
You will feel the raw emotion of Genesis 42 as we recount Jacob's heart-wrenching decision to send Benjamin to Egypt. This chapter paints a vivid picture of familial strife and faith, showcasing Jacob's desperation and the brothers' encounter with Joseph, who accuses them of espionage. Laden with gifts and double the money, their return to Egypt underlines their honesty amidst the turmoil. We examine Jacob's profound struggle and faith, illuminating loss, hope, and divine mercy.
We will consider the irony of Joseph's brothers, who once betrayed him, now claiming to be honest men. We delve into this irony with a touch of humor and transition into a compelling discussion on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. By examining historical evidence, scriptural references, and the transformation of the disciples, we underscore the legitimacy of the resurrection. Concluding with the transformative power of being justified by faith in Christ, we emphasize the vital importance of true faith and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, inviting you into a deeper understanding and spiritual renewal.
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Lord, you know you listen on the place of word. Radio is the best For all my days. If I could bring him back here and place him before you, I guarantee I would bring him back. As it is, look at all our levels. As it is, we could have gone and returned twice if we had not delayed already. So my father looked at you if we had not delayed already. So my father looked at Judah and said May God Almighty El Shaddai may we grant you mercy before that man?
Speaker 2:You're the only, only, only only. Hello and welcome to Plays on Word Radio, where we discuss, analyze, work and play on the Word of God. Thank you for joining us on this excursion today. Let's join Pastor Teddy, also known as Fred David Kenny Jr, the founder of Plays on Word Theater, as he does a deep dive into the Word of God. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Amen. Thank you very much, mr Josh Taylor and Katie Kenney. Thank you very much for that intro. This is Plays on Word Radio and I am your host, fred David Kenney Jr, otherwise known as Pastor Teddy. That's a whole other story. Some people scratching their heads. I remember this one guy. He was like like he went up to my wife. He was like, um, where's his brother? She was like what are you talking about? Um, he said fred and she was like no, teddy is freddy.
Speaker 1:So some of you are confused. Some of you guys are, are well-versed and you understand, yes, well, hey, I mean, it's kind of scriptural. Jacob is also known as Israel. Okay, he's got two names, right, solomon. Well, I don't know if he really had two names. The Lord loved him and said to David to call him Jedidiah, but they called him Solomon. Who else had two names? Well, saul was Saul and then he was changed to Paul. Okay, how about my man, cephas? He's got three Cephas. Oh, that's just a translation. So Simon, peter, petra, rock or stone or pebble, and Simon from, I believe, simeon, yeah, so I mean, it's kind of, yeah, it's kind of biblical. Some of you guys are just shaking your head, going, oh, my goodness, this guy's off the rails. I live close to the edge of the rails most of the time.
Speaker 1:Anyway, one verse at a time, that's how we do it. Anyway, we are continuing in Genesis 42. We are rolling over the Genesis Joe story, which comes from Genesis 37 through 50. Story which comes from Genesis 37 through 50, and it is from our production, which is from the scripture we are known as plays on word. That word in our title is the word of God. Interestingly enough, last week we read Isaiah 55 that spoke of the word of God that comes forth from his mouth. It shall accomplish all that he sends it out to do. And this word, specifically in that Isaiah prophecy, it's messianic, it's about Christ, but some people don't put the two and two together.
Speaker 1:The word that proceeds forth from the Father In the beginning was the word. The word was with God, the word was God. Right Through him, all things were made. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. And then it talks about. This very word became flesh and tabernacled among us. This word sent forth from the Father, this very word did not return empty or void back to God. No, he said on the cross Tetelestai, it is finished. Did not return empty or void back to God. No, he said on the cross Tetelestai, it is finished, the work is finished. The work of redemption was finished on the cross.
Speaker 1:Jesus did not have to go anywhere to continue any of our redemption work, his redemption work on our behalf. It was done on the cross. Then, when he ascended on high, he gave gifts to men yeah, and he not it. But he did not return empty or void. He accomplished all that he was sent out to do and he returned back to the father and did not leave us as orphans but sent another like himself, the spirit of truth.
Speaker 1:And he used the pronouns he and him for those of y'all on the left or side of things. When Jesus was speaking of this Holy Spirit, he used pronouns such as he will bring to your remembrance all that I teach you. He will not just be with you, but he will be in you. Oh, help me, holy Ghost. Come on now.
Speaker 1:I know that somebody's saying amen right now. I can't be the only one that's feeling this like that. See, that's the life in the scripture. You know what Somebody needs to email a brother and let him know that you're feeling it like I am, or send me a text, like Aunt Bev does, and some of the rest of you will send a text just to let me know that I'm not completely out of my well, I am completely out of my mind, but I'm out of my mind for Christ. You know what I mean, so I would consider myself a fool for Christ. How about that? We're going to continue, though, with this excursion through Genesis, but before we do, I want to play a clip. I want to continue with the clip that we started with last week, so check it out. I said we were spies and we have to take Benjamin and show the man, because he's got Simi.
Speaker 1:We take Benjamin down there and show the man and then we'll get Simi and we'll get some more food and we'll come back and my father looked at them and said you have bereaved me of my children. Joseph is no more, simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. No, everything is against me. My brother Reuben, said to my father he was the oldest. He said to my father he said Father you can put both of my sons to death if I don't bring him back here and set him before you.
Speaker 1:Let me take him down there and show him. We'll get Simeon, we'll get some more food. And my father looked at him. My son will not go down there with you. You know that his mother bore me two children. One of them has gone away from me. He's the only one left, if horror comes.
Speaker 1:Went through all the food. They went through my father after all. The food was out. My father said go back down to Egypt and buy some more food. And my brother said but we can't go down there without you. And my father said to them he said why did you tell the man that you had another brother? And my brothers all said in unison they said what he asked us closely. He said I mean, he said is your father still living? Do you have another brother? All we did was tell him the truth. We didn't lie. We told him the truth. We told him that we're on his bed. Then Joseph looks at the audience like he can't believe. He just said that. How am I supposed to know? He's going to say bring your youngest brother down here. Then my brother Judah stepped up and my brother Judah said Pop, let me take him down there and show the man. I personally guarantee I will place him before you.
Speaker 1:I'll bear the burden all my days if I don't bring him back here and place him before you. I guarantee I will bring him back as it is. Look at all our levels. As it is, we could have gone and returned twice if we had not delayed already. So my father looked at Judah and said okay, well then take some of the best products of the land. Take some pistachios and some almonds and some honey and some balm and some myrrh.
Speaker 1:Take double the amount of money, perhaps it was a mistake and take Benjamin, and may God, almighty El Shaddai, may he, grant you mercy before that man so that he'll let your brother Sidney, and Benjamin come back. And if I am bereaved, I am bereaved. Amen. That is a heavy scene there in Genesis 42, where Jacob, he just comes to the conclusion and he looks up to God when he says that too, you know, if I am bereaved and then he looks up to God, then I am bereaved. And man, we covered a lot of stuff in the clip from last week and this week. One of the things that I wanted to touch on that I thought was pretty interesting was that the brothers, when they come and present themselves before Joseph, originally they present themselves to Joseph and they say from the land of Canaan, all right. And Joseph questioned him where? You know where they come from.
Speaker 2:It's amazing.
Speaker 1:He said Joseph accuses him of being spies. And they said verse 10 of 42, they said no, my Lord, your servants have come to buy food. We're all the sons of one man. And then they say one of the funniest lines in scripture, and since it's in scripture, we put it in the play. They say to Joseph we are honest men. I mean, come on now, come on, man. You guys sold your brother into slavery into Egypt and then killed an animal, dipped the coat in the blood of the animal, went back to your elderly dad who loved this son, and you made him believe for 22 years. You made him believe he was dead. You're honest man, come on now. And Joseph in the play, he looks at the audience like really, I can't even believe I'm saying this and it's actually one of the funnier lines. And it's actually one of the funnier lines.
Speaker 1:Then verse 12, they continue. Listen as they continue. Let me back up 11. They say your servants have never been spies. Verse 12, he says to them no, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see. Some translations say you've come to see where our land is undefended, in verse 13. And they said we, your servants, are 12 brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. And behold, the youngest, this day is with our father, and one is no more. Now, no more. That's a lie right there. That's a straight lie right there. One is no more. They knew Joseph was probably still alive, but probably slaving it out in their mind. They didn't think Joseph was dead. They knew Joseph wasn't dead. So they're straight lying there.
Speaker 1:One is no more. Listen to what Guzik said about this section right here. He said saying that Joseph was dead didn't make him dead. Saying Jesus isn't alive doesn't make him dead. Jesus is alive and among us. And that's from Guzik's commentary on this section. It's just fascinating that insight right there, because many people I don't believe that Jesus is alive, he died on the cross, but that you know. Okay, he died, but that doesn't make him dead among the dead. That doesn't negate the resurrection of Christ, which is a fact, a historical fact.
Speaker 1:And for anybody to try to say that, well, jesus died, but he didn't the resurrection is not true. You have to either be ignorant. You have to either be ignorant Follow me, you got to be ignorant or you have to be intellectually dishonest. So if you know better and you just refuse to accept, you're being intellectually dishonest. If you have all, if you have the facts. And so what are the facts? Okay, well, the facts are he was absolutely put to death. There's really no dispute about that. There's some knuckleheads that like to try to say, oh, he never lived. That's just ridiculous. It's no credibility to that argument. He absolutely was put to death. The Romans didn't make mistakes when it came to killing people, in particularly, in particular, or in particularly, when it came to crucifixion. They perfected the art of keeping people alive as long as possible, to suffer as long as possible. The word excruciating comes from crucifixion, and the Romans perfected it. They didn't make mistakes. There's no such thing as people surviving a crucifixion. Stop that, come on now. No, uh-uh, he was absolutely put to death.
Speaker 1:Ah, but then he made appearances. See, this is a problem because the credibility that the majority of the world assigns to works from antiquity, the credibility that they assign to works from antiquity, from old works, they have a hard time assigning to the Bible. Yet the Bible has greater manuscript evidence for legitimacy than any work from antiquity, than any work from antiquity. The Bible has greater manuscript evidence than any other work from antiquity. Yet the majority of the world assigns all kinds of credibility to these works from antiquity. Yet the majority of the world assigns all kinds of credibility to these works from antiquity, like Homer and Plato and all that stuff like that, yet their manuscript. So he made appearances, and not just appearances to maybe one or two, no, there are multiple appearances recorded and he made an appearance to over 500 people on the hill, according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. And Paul even makes the statement, some of which are still basically haven't fallen asleep, are still alive. Some of these people are still alive. So what Paul is saying is go and ask them. He made appearances.
Speaker 1:It's possible for everyone, a bunch of people, a group of people, to have a hallucination. It's possible for a bunch of people to be hallucinating at the same time. Just rewind to the 60s. But there's no such thing for a bunch of people to be hallucinating at the same time. Just rewind to the 60s. But there's no such thing as a group hallucination where everybody sees the same exact thing. It's not happening. No, it doesn't happen.
Speaker 1:Yet these people, these people went to their deaths saying we saw him. You can kill me, man. I saw him. He ate fish right in front of me. I touched him. He is alive. I walked for seven miles to Emmaus with him. Then he opened my eyes and I recognized him.
Speaker 1:He opened up the scriptures while we walked to Emmaus and explained the scriptures about how the Messiah had to suffer. First, and we were so grief stricken and we didn't even recognize him. And then he opened our eyes, we recognized him and he disappeared right in front of us. We ran all the way back to Jerusalem to let the disciples know and they were all there saying, yeah, the women had seen Jesus and Peter had seen him, simon saw him. And then Jesus shows up in the upper room right there, eats fish in front of people, rebukes them for being so hardheaded, breathes on him, says receive the Holy Spirit. See, this was not done in a vacuum. He made appearances to people, multiple people, and these people went to their deaths saying we saw him.
Speaker 1:That transformation of these disciples from look at Peter, from being basically pumped by a little servant girl to 50 days later, standing up and having boldness because he encountered the resurrected Christ. And to this day people are transformed saying I have encountered this Jesus. He's in my life, he's breathed life into me, he speaks to me, I speak to him every day. His word speaks to me because he has given me of his spirit. I understand the scripture where I didn't understand it before. But by faith and faith comes by hearing and hearing of the word of God and by putting your faith in him and trusting in him, you are born again. Your spirit is made alive because it was dead in transgressions, but your spirit has been made alive in Christ Jesus, just by trusting and putting your faith in him, and then he fills you with his Holy Spirit and then you start to go whoa, oh, amen to the scripture, oh, hallelujah.
Speaker 1:Am I preaching up in here? Lord help me. You know what the point is. Like Guzik said in his commentary, there, jesus is alive and among us. And what a blessing. What a friend we have in Jesus. And that's what he said I call you my friends If you do what I say. And after the resurrection he called the disciples and us. By way of them, he called us brothers and sisters. Yeah, I mean, that should get you amped up. Amen, is anybody saying? Amen, amen. That is all the time we have for this episode.
Speaker 1:We are going to continue, god willing, as long as he gives me breath, I'm going to preach the word of God and preach the gospel. And what is this gospel? That is that Jesus Christ loved you, god so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. God loved you. God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. Jesus Christ came and lived. This word of God that was with God, that was God, that was in the beginning, through whom all things were made. This Jesus Christ came and lived. The word became flesh and dwelled among us, and he lived the perfect life and met the righteous requirements that God demands. He was put to death on the cross and he became the propitiation for our sin meaning and took them on himself, and he was in the ground for three days and on the third day he was raised to life again, as a sign, a stamp of approval that the sacrifice that he made to atone for our sin is accepted in the eyes of God and Afterwards, after the resurrection.
Speaker 1:Now we can put our faith in him and we can trust in him. When we trust in him, we are declared righteous, we are justified through faith in Christ Jesus, and God looks at us as if we had never sinned in the first place. We are right in God's sight because the debt, the sin debt, the guilt, has been removed, the sin debt has been paid and God has adopted us into his family. He didn't even have to do that. He adopted us into his family and made us sons and daughters of God, and he's given us of his Holy Spirit. Amen, this is some good news right here. That's the longer version. But is that not good news that we are not guilty? Oh, help me, holy Ghost. Amen. We are not guilty when we stand in Christ by faith.
Speaker 1:And if you have not put your faith in him, if you just know about him, that's no good man. You're null and void. No, no, no, no, no. Even the just know about him. That's no good man. You're null and void. No, no, no, no, no. Even the demons know about him. Knowing about him, that means nothing. Have you put your faith in him and have you trusted and come to him and said Lord Jesus, please forgive me of my sins, fill me with your Holy Spirit and live through me. Show me what this crazy guy is talking about. You do that you've moved from death to life, amen, amen. That's all the time that we have on this episode of Pl on word radio. So until we get together again, the lord bless you and keep you. The lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Speaker 2:This program was made possible by the Plays on Word family of supporters. To find out more, check out our website at playsonwordorg.
