Joshua 20-21

Thursday Evening Bible Study

May 12, 2011

Introduction

Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision

The book of Joshua is a book about taking the Promised Land. The Israelites have been delivered from the slavery of Egypt, but before they can settle into what God wants to give them, they have to conquer the land.

The Promised Land is learning to receive all that God has for us in our personal lives - victory over sin, experiencing God’s peace, joy, love, power.

The first half of the book was about the battles involved in conquering the Promised Land. The second half is all about the division of the land among the tribes of Israel.

Joshua 20

20:1-9 Cities of Refuge

:1 The LORD also spoke to Joshua, saying,

:2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,

:3 that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.

:2 cities of refuge

The Israelite judicial and penal system looked a bit different than our judicial system in the United States.

The Israelites didn’t have a prison system (for the most part)

There were basically two ways that crime was dealt with.

1. Capital crimes

Things like murder, sexual sins like rape or adultery, blasphemy, disobedience to parents, etc.

The penalty, if found guilty, was death.

2. Crimes against a person

Things like robbery or vandalism - you had to pay restitution, sometimes up to five times the value of what was stolen.

One of the crimes that fell in between the cracks was what we call “manslaughter”.

This is where one person is responsible for the death of another, but they didn’t kill the other person on purpose, it was an accident.

In Israel, the part of the problem was a cultural mindset of revenge.

If you did something to me, then I did something back to you.

Sometimes car crashes are just accidents.

Play Russian Tunnel / Blue Danube clip

Illustration

The Carrot Saga

One day two carrots were walking down the street. They were the best of friends. Just as they started to step off the curb a car came speeding around the corner and ran one of them over. The unhurt carrot cradled his buddy, telling him over and over again that he would be OK. Finally the ambulance arrived and rushed the injured carrot off to the hospital. His friend rode with him. Once at the hospital the uninjured carrot paced back and forth in the emergency room waiting to hear how his pal was going to be. After many minutes of agonized waiting the doctor came out. He walked over to the distraught carrot and said “I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that your friend is going to be alright. The bad news is that he is going to be a vegetable all his life”.

If you were on the freeway, a tire blew out, and as you spun out of control, your car crashed into my sister’s car, accidentally killing my sister, then according to Israeli custom, I was bound by honor to revenge my sister’s death, even if you did it by accident.

My role in killing you in revenge was known as the “avenger of blood”.

These revenge feuds could go on for years, even centuries.

One family paying back another family, who pays back the first family...

These cities of refuge were God’s answer to stopping the unjust revenge, where death was caused by an accident.

God thought that they were so important, that they are mentioned in four of the first six books of the Bible: Exo 21:12-13; Num.35:6-34; Deut 4:41-43; 19:1-14; Josh 20

:3 the avenger of blood

Sounds like a comic book hero.

This was the part played by a member of the family where someone was accidentally killed.

That person would be honor bound by their culture (not by God) to seek out the accidental killer for the rest of their life until they killed them.

avenger – ga’al – to redeem, act as kinsman-redeemer, avenge, revenge, ransom

We see this word used in a positive way, such as a brother marrying his dead brother’s wife to raise up a name for the dead brother, or the idea of buying your relatives out of slavery (such as Boaz and Ruth).

But the role of a near relative (kinsman) might also include revenge in the case of the death of a relative.

Lesson

No Revenge

There’s something inside us as well that wants revenge.

God wants to change the “revenge” mentality.

God says we ought to leave it in God’s hands.

(Ro 12:17–21 NKJV) —17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

:4 And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.

:5 Then if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, but did not hate him beforehand.

:4 at the entrance of the gate

Don’t be thinking of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, where she and her friends were kept out of the city by a huge wall and gate, and they couldn’t come in unless they had the secret password, or killed the wicked witch. The phrase “gate of the city” refers to the place you entered into the city, but it carried more than that.

The gate of the city was the traditional place where the elders and rulers of a city would hang out.

It kind of served as a city hall, city clerk’s office, and city courthouse all rolled up into one.

If you were buying property, you had it recorded and approved at the gates of the city.

If you had a disagreement with another person, you went to the old wise men at the gates of the city.

The manslayer would present his petition to the leaders of the city, asking for asylum.

:4 the elders of that city

You’ll see this in a minute, that each of these cities of refuge were given to the Levites to populate.

The judiciary was to be composed of the priests and Levites.

(Dt 17:8–9 NKJV) —8 “If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the Lord your God chooses. 9 And you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them; they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment.

:6 And he shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.’ ”

:6 before the congregation for judgment

Eventually there would still be some kind of trial to determine whether or not the death happened accidentally, or whether it was murder.

If it was determined that the death was caused by accident, then the slayer was given continued protection in the city of refuge.

There were all kinds of guidelines describing what was and wasn’t to be considered murder.

If it was determined that the death was actually a murder, then the slayer would be put to death.

:6 until the death of the … high priest

The manslayer would have to stay in the city of refuge not only until a trial was held, but even after that, he would have to wait until the man who served as high priest at the time died. (Num. 35:24-28)

In one sense this was like a prison term. The manslayer was required to stay within that city. The manslayer could not live his life like normal at home.

In another sense, it was not like prison. You’re just living in another city, not in jail.

If the slayer left the city of refuge before the death of the high priest, he could still be killed by the avenger of blood, and the avenger would not be considered guilty of murder.

Why the death of the high priest?

Not sure - except that if the accident happened when there was a young, healthy high priest, you could be in for a long sentence. I wonder if the accidental death rate went up as the high priest got older?

One possible suggestion:

Part of the original law concerning the cities of refuge says:

(Nu 35:25 NKJV) —25 So the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and he shall remain there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.

The word “Messiah” means “anointed one”. It could be that since the text specifically reminds us of the “anointing”, that this might be a picture of our Great High Priest, Jesus, the Messiah, the “anointed” One.

When Jesus died, we were set free from all our sin.

:7 So they appointed Kedesh in Galilee, in the mountains of Naphtali, Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and Kirjath Arba (which is Hebron) in the mountains of Judah.

:7 So they appointed …

See map.

These three cities are located on the western side of the Jordan River. Notice how evenly spread they are throughout the land.

The idea is that you were never more than a day’s run from the nearest city of refuge (though if you were in between Kedesh and Shechem, you might have to run a marathon…

Jewish tradition tells us that the roads to these cities were kept in excellent condition, and the crossroads along the way were well marked with signposts reading, “Refuge! Refuge!” Runners were also stationed along the way to guide any fugitives.

:8 And on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.

:8 on the other side

See map.

We’ve already seen these cities. These were cities located on the eastern side of the Jordan and had already been designated as cities of Refuge by Moses (Deut. 4:41-43)

:9 These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who dwelt among them, that whoever killed a person accidentally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation.

:2 refuge – miqlat – refuge, asylum

Lesson

Our refuge

What a marvelous picture these cities are.

We have a place of safety to run to.

The Bible says,

(Ps 46:1 NKJV) God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

The writer of Hebrews says,

(Heb 6:18 The Message) God can’t break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go.

There’s an old hymn that speaks about this:

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!

What more can He say than to you He hath said,

To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

Fear not, I am with thee; O be not dismayed,

For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;

I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,

Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,

My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply:

The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design

Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose

I will not, I will not desert to its foes;

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

I’ll never, no, never, no, never forsake!

He’s never too far away.

But He’s just around the corner, really just behind you, if you just turn around.

(Ps 139:7–10 NKJV) —7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.

Life Sentence

We stay in our place of safety until the death of the high priest.

It’s good to know that our high priest is alive and will never die again.

(Heb 7:25 NKJV) Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

21:1-42 Levitical Cities

:1 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites came near to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel.

:2 And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “The LORD commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their common-lands for our livestock.”

:2 give us cities

We’ve talked before about how the Levites were not given a big chunk of land like the other tribes (Deut. 18:1-2)

(Dt 18:1–2 NKJV) —1 “The priests, the Levites—all the tribe of Levi—shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and His portion. 2 Therefore they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the Lord is their inheritance, as He said to them.

God was to be their inheritance. But this had an actual, practical part to it – the Levites were the ones that worked in the Tabernacle, and they got a “salary”, a portion of the sacrifices brought to God.

This doesn’t mean that the Levites were homeless. We’ve already seen the Levites being given cities in the land east of the Jordan River, and Moses promised them more cities once the Promised Land had been conquered. (Num. 35:1-8)

(Nu 35:1–8 NKJV) —1 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, saying: 2 “Command the children of Israel that they give the Levites cities to dwell in from the inheritance of their possession, and you shall also give the Levites common-land around the cities. 3 They shall have the cities to dwell in; and their common-land shall be for their cattle, for their herds, and for all their animals. 4 The common-land of the cities which you will give the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around. 5 And you shall measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits. The city shall be in the middle. This shall belong to them as common-land for the cities. 6 “Now among the cities which you will give to the Levites you shall appoint six cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. And to these you shall add forty-two cities. 7 So all the cities you will give to the Levites shall be forty-eight; these you shall give with their common-land. 8 And the cities which you will give shall be from the possession of the children of Israel; from the larger tribe you shall give many, from the smaller you shall give few. Each shall give some of its cities to the Levites, in proportion to the inheritance that each receives.”

… skip to …

:3 So the children of Israel gave to the Levites from their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD, these cities and their common-lands:

:4 Now the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of Simeon, and from the tribe of Benjamin.

:5 The rest of the children of Kohath had ten cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.

:6 And the children of Gershon had thirteen cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

:7 The children of Merari according to their families had twelve cities from the tribe of Reuben, from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun.

:8 And the children of Israel gave these cities with their common-lands by lot to the Levites, as the LORD had commanded by the hand of Moses.

:3-8 Kohath … Gerson … Merari

We get a summary of the cities. These were the three family divisions among the Levites. They were 48 cities, from each of the other tribes.

Kohath (priests): 13 cities from Judah, Simeon, Benjamin

Kohath: 10 cities from Ephraim, Dan, Manasseh west

Gershon: 13 cities from Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh east

Merari: 12 cities from Reuben, Gad, Zebulun

Note: The priests were given cities that were all close to Jerusalem. Interesting …

:9 So they gave from the tribe of the children of Judah and from the tribe of the children of Simeon these cities which are designated by name,

:10 which were for the children of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi; for the lot was theirs first.

:11 And they gave them Kirjath Arba (Arba was the father of Anak), which is Hebron, in the mountains of Judah, with the common-land surrounding it.

:12 But the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.

:13 Thus to the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), Libnah with its common-land,

:13 Hebron – A city of refuge. Caleb got the surrounding fields, the Levites got the city.

…skip to…

:14 Jattir with its common-land, Eshtemoa with its common-land,

:15 Holon with its common-land, Debir with its common-land,

:16 Ain with its common-land, Juttah with its common-land, and Beth Shemesh with its common-land: nine cities from those two tribes;

:16 Beth Shemesh – The Philistines had captured the Ark (1Sam. 5), got hemorrhoids, and decided to return the Ark. They sent it back to Beth Shemesh. Some of the men of Beth Shemesh peeked inside the Ark, and many died of a plague (1Sam. 6). It was a Levitical city – they should have known better.

:17 and from the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its common-land, Geba with its common-land,

:17 Gibeon – Remember the Gibeonites (Josh. 9)? They were to be wood cutters, supplying wood for the tabernacle. Gibeon was a Levitical city.

:18 Anathoth with its common-land, and Almon with its common-land: four cities.

:18 Anathoth – this was the hometown of the prophet Jeremiah, who was a descendant of the priests (Jer. 1:1)

(Je 1:1 NKJV) —1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,

… skip to …

:19 All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their common-lands.

:20 And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, the rest of the children of Kohath, even they had the cities of their lot from the tribe of Ephraim.

:21 For they gave them Shechem with its common-land in the mountains of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the slayer), Gezer with its common-land,

:21 Shechem – another city of Refuge

… skip to …

:22 Kibzaim with its common-land, and Beth Horon with its common-land: four cities;

:23 and from the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with its common-land, Gibbethon with its common-land,

:24 Aijalon with its common-land, and Gath Rimmon with its common-land: four cities;

:25 and from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with its common-land and Gath Rimmon with its common-land: two cities.

:26 All the ten cities with their common-lands were for the rest of the families of the children of Kohath.

:27 Also to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, from the other half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave Golan in Bashan with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), and Be Eshterah with its common-land: two cities;

:27 Golan – a city of refuge (though Joshua doesn’t record it here), already given to the Levites.

… skip to …

:28 and from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its common-land, Daberath with its common-land,

:29 Jarmuth with its common-land, and En Gannim with its common-land: four cities;

:30 and from the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its common-land, Abdon with its common-land,

:31 Helkath with its common-land, and Rehob with its common-land: four cities;

:32 and from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), Hammoth Dor with its common-land, and Kartan with its common-land: three cities.

:32 Kedesh – the northernmost city of Refuge.

… skip to …

:33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their common-lands.

:34 And to the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its common-land, Kartah with its common-land,

:35 Dimnah with its common-land, and Nahalal with its common-land: four cities;

:36 and from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its common-land, Jahaz with its common-land,

:36 Bezer – a city of refuge (though Joshua doesn’t record it here), already given to the Levites.

:37 Kedemoth with its common-land, and Mephaath with its common-land: four cities;

:38 and from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), Mahanaim with its common-land,

:38 Ramoth in Gilead – a city of refuge

:38 Mahanaim – where David fled when his son Abasalom pulled his coup (2Sam. 17:24)

(2 Sa 17:24 NKJV) —24 Then David went to Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

:39 Heshbon with its common-land, and Jazer with its common-land: four cities in all.

:39 Heshbon – the capital of the Amorite king Sihon.

:40 So all the cities for the children of Merari according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites, were by their lot twelve cities.

:41 All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their common-lands.

:42 Every one of these cities had its common-land surrounding it; thus were all these cities.

:41 All the cities of the Levites

Lesson

Scattered

The Levites were the tribe that God had bought. They belonged to Him. They were the tribe that God “swapped” all of the firstborn for. (Num. 3:45)

(Nu 3:45 NKJV) “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. The Levites shall be Mine: I am the Lord.

They were the tribe that was dedicated to serving God.

This was the tribe that the priests came from.

In a sense, we have a lot in common with the Levites.

We too have been bought. We belong to God.

(1 Co 6:20 NKJV) For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

We are to serve the Lord.

(Mk 10:44 NKJV) And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.

We are all priests to our God.

(Re 1:6 NKJV) —6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

In a sense, God has “scattered” us throughout the world.

The Levites were the “judges”.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians rebuking them for taking all their internal matters before secular judges. He felt that Christians should have the ability to act with wisdom and “judge” properly,

(1 Co 6:3 NKJV) Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?

I think that a Christian who reads his Bible carefully is a person who will grow in the wisdom of God.

I think that there are times when we ought to not question the sound mind that we have been given as Christians.

God has scattered you in the world to speak up.

We are like “salt” in the world.

(Mt 5:13 NKJV) “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

Salt adds flavor. Salt is a preservative.

We influence the world.

We are “light” to this world.

(Mt 5:14–16 NKJV) —14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

I do not believe it is a healthy attitude for Christians to withdraw from the world into their closed little communities.

God needs His representatives in this world.

Play “Free Hugs” video clip.

Don’t get me wrong. We need to give a lot more than hugs to this world. We need to give truth. Sometimes truth hurts. But we can’t reach out to the world if we isolate ourselves.

21:43-45 Promise Fulfilled

:43 So the LORD gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it.

:44 The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.

:45 Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

:44 The LORD gave them rest all around

Lesson

God’s peace

Sometimes life gets kind of crazy.

Anxiety is a drag. Where is this “peace” stuff?

The Bible says,

(Php 4:6–7 NKJV) —6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

The problem is that too often we either want to hold on to our problems and worry, or we want to go to others to trust our problems to, instead of the Lord.

Go to the Lord first.

Illustration:

Mrs. Oswald Chambers once said of her husband, “Like all teachers of forceful personality, he constantly had people longing to pour out their intimate troubles to him. I remember at the close of one meeting a woman came up to him with the words, “Oh, Mr. Chambers, I feel I must tell you about myself.’ As he led her away to a quiet corner, I resigned myself to a long wait; but he was back again in a few minutes. As we went home, I remarked on the speed with which he managed to free himself, and he replied, “I just asked her if she had ever told God all about herself. When she said she hadn’t, I advised her to go home and pour out before Him as honestly as she could all her troubles, then see if she still needed or wanted to relate them to me.’” Chambers knew the importance of going directly to Jesus when faced with a special need or a trying situation.

:45 Not a word failed

Lesson

God’s faithfulness

Other people will fail you, but God won’t.

David wrote,

(Ps 27:10 NKJV) When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me.

Our struggle is when it seems that God HASN’T come through.

What if it looks as if God has failed me?

“I hear what you’re saying, but the truth is, God has let me down, a lot.”

1. God may be testing you

He wants us to learn how to walk by faith.

(2 Co 5:7 NKJV) For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Hezekiah –

(2 Ch 32:31 NKJV) However, regarding the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, whom they sent to him to inquire about the wonder that was done in the land, God withdrew from him, in order to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.

This may be hard to hear, but I think there are times when God is going to be silent simply because He wants to see how you react when you think He’s not around. Have you ever caught one of your children doing something while they thought that no one was watching? Don’t you want your children to “behave” even when you’re not around?

2. Maybe it’s me

I’m more likely to break a promise than God.

If God seems far away, guess who moved. Me.

Sometimes the reason God seems so far away is because our own sin has come in the way between God and me.

(Is 59:1–2 NKJV) —1 Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.

All through Israel's history, the problems they found themselves in were problems that they caused by their own sin.

The solution is not to pretend everything's okay. The solution isn't reached by blaming other people around you. The solution comes by admitting our sin and asking God for help.

3. God isn’t finished yet

(Php 1:6 NKJV) being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

Sometimes it’s simply our impatience. We want to quit before God is finished.

Think of Joseph sitting in prison, falsely accused of making a pass at his master’s wife. Life looked utterly hopeless. But it wasn’t the end of the story yet.

(Ro 8:28 NKJV) —28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.