Month: January 2025

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Genesis 48-50 Blessings, Death, Forgiveness

Forgiveness ..man's greatest need

As we close out Genesis, we come to these three chapters which might be called, God’s Diary for in it we find how God operates through human history. 

God blesses those who obey and honor Him. He brings “home” those of his servants to enjoy the afterlife. And lastly, maybe one of the most important lesson and take away for us is the trait of forgiveness.

As we have said, God never wastes a trial but uses it to show His faithfulness and his lovingkindness. We see that in the life of Joseph and even though it was years and years, God used them to grow Joseph to be the man of God He could use to bring about His plans for his people.  In the meantime, Jacob has to learn from his sins, which were many, to prepare his sons for the next stage in their lives. God opens the windows of heaven and pours out his blessings on Jacob after he has lived in the cauldron of affliction and sin. He is now humble and ready to see God’s plan unfold in steps in the restoration of his family in a very agonizing and challenging time. God restores Joseph to Jacob so that he and his children might be spared the death knell of famine. 

Jacob has a family time and pronounces “blessings” upon each boy  “what will happen to you in future days.” It seems strange to hear the words of Jacob because they don’t sound like blessings to us, but God will use each to show us Jacob may have had 12 sons but he knew the character of each. And after this time of reflection, Jacob blesses Joseph’s children, draws up his knees and dies. 

But, the last lesson is what we want to focus on: forgiveness. Joseph has had many a year to process his life and what has happened to him but has come to terms with “God’s ways are not our ways.” [Is 55:8-9] As he welcomes his brothers and provides for them,he is astounded and deeply hurt when they announce they will give their lives to be his slaves. They have not learned the lesson of forgiveness as seen by Joseph’s tears. They really didn’t get it! 

Which brings us to our own lives. Do we get it? Do we understand that verse in Isaiah? 

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Genesis 47 God’s Grace

God is sufficient

racInterestingly as we follow God’s leading, we see His hand on His people to bless them. Joseph was faithful and God blessed him in many ways. God never wastes our trials but uses them to bring prosperity to us and others around us just as He did with Pharaoh through Joseph. 

Years before Abraham went to Egypt in a time of famine but it was there that he lied and was escorted from there ..in haste. Now God uses another famine to bring blessing to Pharaoh and his court because Joseph was faithful.  Jacob now can receive this blessing because of his son’s faithfulness even though it had been years and years! Jacob, for once, has been truthful about his life. It is almost as if he has finally recognized that his sin of deceit has been revealed and he is humbled. 

How often does God reveal to us our sin so we can be a recipient of His grace? Lesson, keep your account short before God. Humble yourself before God and He will bring His blessing to you. 

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We have walked with Joseph through many a year, beginning when he was a favored son of Jacob and hated by his brothers. In a moment of jealousy, they sold him to traders and then to Potiphar. From there, he was thrown into prison under false charges. Joseph triumphed over sin and temptations, and God blessed him with wisdom and understanding. God does not waste our trials but uses them to mature us and prepare us to be used for Him and His glory. Jesus gave the disciples a prayer, which we call the Lord’s Prayer. In it, He said for us to pray: lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. This was true in the life of Joseph and can be true for you.

Sometimes, God reveals his purposes in real time for two reasons: He alone gets the glory, and we become the instruments to proclaim His name and His work before unbelievers. Such was the case with Joseph; it is valid for each of us believers.

As you walk through the trials of life, ask God where He wants to use you in His kingdom work, but be prepared for trials to come your way just as they did in the life of Joseph. Behind every black cloud of trials is a line of pure light and God’s blessing. Claim it!

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Genesis 41 Remember or Forget? 

Joseph is an example for us of how God uses His plans to come to us and His explanations as well. This is a reminder of the words of Isaiah: God’s plans are higher and more superior than ours. [Is 55:8-9]  What He has decreed He will do. Joseph evidently had been recalling the words of God in some way and now at 30 yrs of age, God is going to use him for the world which is soon to experience a famine. 

Today we have the whole counsel of God in written form, but for Joseph and men of his time, God revealed His plan in dreams, whether they be servants or officials. And so it happened that the cupbearer and the baker had dreams and God revealed the wisdom to Joseph about them and gave credit to God and it happened just as he said. Two years later, (I wonder if used that time to hone Joseph’s skills even more than before??) God also used dreams for Pharaoh but blocked the interpretation from his “wise” men so that Joseph alone would be able to interpret. 

As Joseph interpreted, did you notice this one verse? “But seven years of famine will occur after them, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt.” God opens our blessing box but when trouble follows we fail to remember the blessings just like the cupbearer! A word of wisdom: keep close to your heart God’s blessings so that when trouble happens, you have that to recall and give you assurance. 

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Genesis 40 Joseph

The game of chess

There is much to be learned when we take time to analyze the biblical characters that we find in our daily reading. Joseph is always seen as the master of his fate and the beloved son of his aged father, but one author called him the “upstart” and one that used his position to garner his father’s love. So, with that on our minds, let’s really look at Joseph.

He was the son of his father’s love and the youngest son in this story but there is another son who will be the youngest, Benjamin. Joseph endeared himself to his father as the son of his old age, but his other brothers were jealous of him. These brothers, as we have seen, are not the best examples of purity and righteous for they schemed and plotted to destroy the Shechemites. It was after this, that Joseph is tasked to go and report on the brother’s work. Joseph innocently goes off to find them, but the brothers are once again scheming to remove Joseph. Through this we see Joseph as one who seems to lack discernment regarding these ten brothers It is into this saga we find innocent Joseph being sold into slavery where he rises in the ranks of Potiphar’s house and then is unjustly imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. It is in these two places, Joseph’s skills as caretaker and interpreter of dreams are noted. God does not waste our positions but uses them for His purposes which brings us back to the words of Isaiah 55:8-9:

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

When we are in a quandary as to the “why’s” we need to turn back to Isaiah and trust God in all circumstances. Just as we read in Job, God is at work to bring about His plans for our good even though presently we are left in the dark.

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Genesis 35-37 Reuben

Reuben was the first born but his life did not reflect that in many ways. He brought shame upon the life of Jacob by committing adultery with Jacob’s concubine. He tried to save Joseph but that too turned badly. Reuben’s name means behold the son but he was not a picture of righteousness.

Easton’s dictionary has this to say about Jacob’s first born: ‘behold a son!, the eldest son of Jacob and Leah (Gen. 29:32). His sinful conduct, referred to in Gen. 35:22, brought down upon him his dying father’s malediction (48:4). He showed kindness to Joseph, and was the means of saving his life when his other brothers would have put him to death (37:21,22). It was he also who pledged his life and the life of his sons when Jacob was unwilling to let Benjamin go down into Egypt. After Jacob and his family went down into Egypt (46:8) no further mention is made of Reuben beyond what is recorded in ch. 49:3,4.” 

Many times we come across men in the Bible that cause us to shake our heads and as we read their life stories we wonder why God chose them and used them. But, God’s ways are not our ways.[Is 55:8-9] Reuben was saved because he did like all of us: admitting their wrong and seeking to live righteously. Where are you in this story? Are you a Reuben before or after his changed life? 

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Genesis 30 The Saga Continues

God cares for his own

Jacob has yet to stand strong in the face of his father in law, Laban, yet who can blame him for his actions? Laban has deceived and bartered away his livelihood, and it wasn’t just once but many times. And so now Jacob deceives Laban back. The deceiver becomes the deceived. Laban rightly said that his success has come to him because of Jacob’s faithfulness to guard his flocks. We wonder why Laban has not yet learned that what he just said might be a cause for his downfall, but I digress.The fool never learns from his actions and words. Jacob devises a plan to build his flocks and when he hears that his brothers in law complaining about him decides to leave secretly after gaining his wives encouragement to do so. Jacob and his family leave while Laban is away. When Laban returns and in anger goes after Jacob he fails to realize that this was a turn from God. It must have been humiliating to Laban to be confronted by God but he obeys reluctantly.

What is the lesson we can take from this saga? God will direct our steps even when we are afraid or others seek our demise.

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Genesis 28 “if…”

You can trust God

Jacob was a man who couched his obedience in the “if’s”. He did it with men and he did it with God. “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear, and I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will become my God.”  Like many today, Jacob shows us that men’s belief and dependence on God depends on His presence and provision with conditions they set up. How often do we also present conditions to God? We use manipulation to get what we want without considering the cost. 

Today, take a page out of Jacob’s diary and see that God wants obedience before He blesses and Jacob will learn that very soon. The deceiver will become deceived and it happens to us as well. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us that we are to trust in the Lord and he will make our paths straight. But Jacob has to learn that truth and it will be through hardship. 

Learn from Jacob. Put God first unconditionally and then He will bless. 

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Genesis 25-26 Trust…or…Fear

Are you fearful and if so of what?

Two times in these chapters we read that God blessed Isaac because of the obedience of his father Abraham. This is a principle that God has revealed: children are blessed because of the obedience and faithfulness of their parents. 

Yet, Isaac had a failure just as Abraham in that he did not trust God to protect his wife, but instead lied about his relationship with her. But, just as Numbers tells us , if we sin, God will reveal it loud and clear which is exactly what happened to Isaac. [Num 32:23] Both Abraham and Isaac had one glaring failure which the book of Proverbs tells us: The fear of man is a snare but he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted. [Prov29:25]

So why did God bless Abraham and Isaac? God clearly points out that He hates lying in Proverbs 6 and in other places we see the fruit of lies like in the account of Gehazi where God pronounced leprosy on him. These are those issues that we find frustrating but when that happens and we don’t have clear cut answers, we need to remember Isaiah 55:8-9. His ways are higher and more superior to ours. 

God has His plans and even though we may not understand, we can trust that His way is the right and true way. Where is God calling you to trust Him today and tomorrow and the next day? 

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Genesis 22 It takes Faith…

God tests our heart motives

Hebrews reminds us that by faith Abraham obeyed God in leaving his home and by waiting on God for a son to be born as one born out of due time. Yet, even though Abraham obeyed God, he was tested by God to prove his faithfulness. We too are tested by God to prove our faithfulness and our steadfastness. Abraham was found faithful and God recognized it and counted him as righteous. 

As we look at our lives, we can experience tests just as Abraham and like his son Isaac, we see the wood and the fire but where is the lamb? Abraham wisely answered that God Himself would provide the lamb and He did. When you face a test and wonder where the lamb is, will you stop and believe without a shadow of doubt that God will provide? 

Over and over through the OT and NT we see Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides. He provided the east wind to draw the Nile back so the Israelites could walk across on dry ground. He provided water for Rahab in the desert. He provided the walls to fill down in Jericho so the city could be conquered. In Acts, God provided two angelic visitors to release Peter from prison.

Where have you seen God’s provision in your life? What was the result? 

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