God’s Divine Appointments: The Supernatural Working Of God Through Everyday Events
While it may seem odd to read a book that centers upon the stories of these three Old Testament characters, Joseph, Judah and Jonah, there are, at least, four very important reasons as to why their accounts in Scripture are so valuable to us today.
First, each of these men had a destiny that needed to be fulfilled, a special calling to accomplish the plan of God in our world.
Joseph was to become second in command in Egypt. This would allow for the survival of his own people as well as the survival of the Egyptians. It also allowed the fulfillment of a promise that God made to Abraham: that his descendants would spend four hundreds away from the Promised Land but would eventually return as a powerful nation with great wealth.
Though he was the fourth eldest son of Jacob, Judah was destined to become the special one among his twelve sons. Indeed, it would be the line of Judah through whom the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, would eventually come.
Jonah was called to proclaim judgment upon Nineveh. His attempts to flee were thwarted by the Lord. The message to the people of Nineveh had to be proclaimed and was indeed proclaimed. Like Joseph, Jonah was a “type of Christ;” but only for the time he spent in the belly of the sea monster. In fact, Jonah is the only Old Testament character that Jesus compared Himself to.
Their destinies were all part of the overall plan of God for time and eternity. Consequently, we will explain the importance of each one of them with respect to God’s plan for the human race.
Second, there are a number of “divine appointments” in each of these three narratives. “Divine appointments” as we define them, are the supernatural workings of God through simple everyday events.
In other words, there are a number of seemingly unrelated incidents, that, when eventually connected, reveal the plan of an all-knowing, all-powerful God, a God who is supernaturally working His will by means of ordinary occurrences. Put another way, it is the “supernatural” working through the “natural.”
Third, as was true in the lives of these biblical characters, the Lord Himself is working in this same way in the lives of believers today. Seemingly unrelated events, which on their own do not appear to be important, are all part of a greater plan of the Lord. They will eventually begin to make sense to us when we are able to connect the dots.
Finally, these accounts contain a number of valuable lessons that each believer should understand as well as put into practice in their daily lives.
There is something else that we should mention. The experiences of these three biblical characters are vastly different. While not a perfect human being, Joseph consistently lived a life that was pleasing to the Lord.
On the other hand, Judah was not always spiritually in tune with God. Indeed, his life is a testimony of one who matures, a person who experiences spiritual growth.
Finally, there is Jonah. Basically, he shows no spirituality at all throughout his entire ordeal. Indeed, from his initial commissioning to go to Nineveh, to the last words of criticism against him by the Lord, his story is a spiritual train wreck! Simply stated, what we learn from Jonah is how a believer in the God of the Bible should not act.
One final thing. At the end of the book we have an appendix in which we summarize the various divine appointments in the lives of these individuals. Along with it, we make some observations about their experiences and the lessons that each of us should learn from them.
May the Lord teach us, through these three important biblical characters, to realize that He is also supernaturally guiding everyday events in our lives to bring about His divine will for us.