Genesis General "A Certain Man"

Sometimes verses sort of jump out at me. Perhaps, I see something that is not there. But let me point out these few verses. Somepeople see God as a sort of mystical figure in a far away place who only sees us from afar and is just waiting for the end to come. I see Him as very active in humanity. By his perfect nature he cannot look upon sin and as we read before did not go into the cities he destroyed because of their wickedness. Nevertheless, I do believe he makes appearances in human and angelic form on the earth. In that regard, let me highlight some scriptures.

Genesis 37:15 "And a certain man found him, and behold he was wandering in the field and the man asked him saying, What seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me I pray thee where they feed their flocks. And the man said, They are departed hence for I heard them say Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren and found them in Dothan."

In being real, I must say this could have just been a man who happened to be in the neighborhood. I like to think though that with the importance of Joseph in the care of Israel while in Egypt that this certain man may have been the Lord. Joseph was wandering in the field and so may have been wore out and lost since his brothers were not where they were suppose to be. Anyway, the passage does stand out and the Lord's plan could not have used Joseph if he had died while wandering.

Genesis 32:24 "And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day."

The Bible calls him a man but he made a life changing decision in Jacobs life and the life of a nation. Jacob's name was changed by him. Jacob believed he had seen God face to face. One touch and Jacob limped from that day on.

Genesis 18:2 "And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo three men stood by him: and when he saw them he ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed himself toward the ground."

Abraham went on to feed the three and then one told Abraham about the future. Now, it must have been the Lord who appeared as a man. Verse 1 verifies that it was the Lord.

Genesis 14:18 "And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine and he was the priest of the most high God."

Sounds a lot like Jesus on the shore with fish prepared for the disciples. Hebrews 7 gives a good description of Melchizedek who I have no doubt was the Lord.

Hebrews 7:3 "Without father, without mother without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually.

We can jump back to Genesis 3 and see the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
Genesis 3:8 "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day..." He goes on to question them about their sin.

All through our studies we have seen the Lord come down and talk with those who carried the promise. Joseph is to be the protector of Israel during a famine, so it is very important that he find his way to his brothers. They meant to do evil to him but the Lord had a different purpose for him. We will see soon.

I just wanted to point out that the Lord is not far off. I often wonder if he walks into churches and sits down for one of the services. Or if he is the stranger who stops on the roadside when someone is in trouble. Perhaps, he is that kind person in the waiting room at the hospital who knows just the right words to say. I know he has many angels at his command and the power to calm natural storms and the storms of our life. I believe he comes at other times as 'a certain man' and walks among us.