There Will Always be Another King

Acts 7:18 - Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.

    There will always be another king. One of the tendencies of humanity is that we cannot seem to see very far in front of us and we are also inclined to forget what has happened behind us on the road of history. The stark reality is that we are on this earth for a short season and inevitably succession will come. Nothing in this life lasts forever. Every championship team knows that it is one thing to obtain the status of champions and a whole other thing to maintain it. Just because you won last season does not mean it will happen automatically again this season. The hunger of the challenging team will drive them on in a relentless pursuit of the title. There will always be another king. Successful companies understand that they may be at the top of their industry one year but that is no guarantee that they will repeat their performance again and they may even find themselves struggling the following year. Competition is fierce in the modern business world and new and improved products are being launched every minute. There will always be another king.

    The verse we are looking at is describing the experience of the children of Israel in Egypt. God gave Joseph favour and wisdom with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he was promoted into high levels of influence and responsibility. Both the Egyptians and the Israelites enjoyed a season of prosperity and blessing under this king because of his honourable relationship with Joseph. But another king arose who did not know Joseph. That king apparently, did not value the history that Egypt had with Joseph and the Israelites. He did not acknowledge the fact that there were others who had helped him get to this place of power. He did not know Joseph. There is a popular phrase that says ‘It’s not what you know but who you know that counts’, and we sometimes laugh at that idea, but the truth is, entrance into heaven isn’t based on what you know but on who you know. Who you know is all important and has eternal ramifications. Who you know, who you honour, who you acknowledge and who you associate with, will determine your destiny. Sadly, this new king did not know Joseph.

    Another king arose. This other king had a different spirit than the previous one had. He didn’t have a reverence for God and for his people. He did not have a compassionate heart but obviously had a self-serving motive. He was a king of another type than his predecessor. Arrogant pride is persistent; it lurks in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to destroy each one of us. Prideful conceit is the ever-constant enemy of mankind and it is cunningly deceptive by nature. We are deceived when we forget or don’t even acknowledge that many people have sacrificed their lives, their time, their money, their energy; all for someone else’s benefit; all for my benefit. I live in a city which has roads and power and a water system; all of which I enjoy the use of but actually did not contribute to any of it. It was all built before I was born and I must look back to appreciate what others have done for me. I may be sitting in a beautiful church auditorium with my family, enjoying and benefiting from the numerous ministries of the church, and never whispering even one prayer of gratitude for all those who sacrificed to build it. We don’t want to be like this other king, who chose to ignore the hard work done by his forbearers long before he rose to power.

    Someone has once commented that there are, in the scripture, more commands to remember than any other command. Scripture exhorts us, again and again, to not forget but, to remember. Remember those who have spoken to you the word of God, remember those who are in prison, remember that it is the Lord God who gives you the power to get wealth, remember Lot’s wife, remember that you were once a slave, remember your history, remember God’s faithfulness. Another king will always arise but, will he remember? More importantly, will we remember?