Jan 28, Genesis 46-47
Genesis 46 God promises to Jacob that He will be a great nation and that it is good to go to Egypt. God tells him that Joseph will be by his side when Jacob dies. Jacob leaves his home and takes everything with them and moves to a foreign land. We are given the lineage of Jacob. Now, let us not forget that God is promising to make his descendants as numerous as the sands of the beach - but for now, we can still count all his descendants, which are 70 people in all. God is a God of process, and some things take time. Joseph is reunited with his dad after 22 years, and Jacob is so happy he could die! Joseph then gives his family some coaching on how to speak to Pharaoh…
Genesis 47 Joseph went to Pharaoh and told him the good news, that his family is here! Pharaoh wants them to have the best land, so Pharaoh gives them Goshen and offers jobs to Joseph’s family members to be in charge of and take care of his animals. Then Jacob blesses Pharaoh. This is significant as Jacob is mediating God’s blessing (being a liaison for God). Joseph sets his family up and provides for them.
The famine got worse, as we know that there was 4-5 years left of the famine. All the people came to Joseph and had used all the money they had to buy food, and had no money left. So, they started selling/giving their livestock to him for food. Once that was gone or had dwindled, they started giving/selling their land for the grain. When they had no more animals or land, they started selling themselves to Pharaoh so that they might have grain and live. So, Joseph bought all the land and the Egyptians and it all became Pharaoh’s. The priests didn't sell their land because they had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh, they were the only people group to keep their land. Joseph gave the people seed to plant and at harvest they were to give 1/5 of the harvest to Pharaoh for payment, basically setting up a 20% tax from the King of Egypt.
Jacob was dying and brought Joseph close to him. Jacob asked Joseph to bury him with his fathers, not in Egypt. Joseph agreed.
To sum it all up: God is a God of process, but He keeps His word. Regardless...
- Sometimes loved ones die.
- Sometimes life doesn't seem fair.
- Sometimes we can’t pay our bills.
- Sometimes life is arduous and frustrating.
- Sometimes life doesn't always make sense.
- Sometimes the people we love, don't love God.
- Sometimes God will have you in a prominent position to take care of others.
- Sometimes God will have you taking care of things, only to be falsely accused for being righteous.
- Sometimes our lives will look a lot like Joseph’s where God will have us in a prison of sorts for a while, so that when the time is right, God will use you.
- Sometimes it seems, that God has forgotten you. Truth is - He has not forgotten you, He just has a lot of things to work out and you are part of that. Trust in God and His ways.
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