# 8 2024 Dev. Ge. 47:10 God’s Blessing! Read all of chapter forty seven  first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ge. 47:10 “Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.”

Chapter 47 Is about Joseph introducing his brothers and father to Pharaoh and finalizing their move to Goshen. The chapter also tells us how Joseph dealt with the Egyptian population. 

Vs.1-12 “Joseph went and told Pharaoh, ‘My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.’” Pharaoh had suggested to Joseph that his family should live in Goshen. 

Joseph introduced five of his brothers to Pharaoh. Why only five?  Some commentators think that Joseph took the fiercest looking brother to try to forestall any opposition to his family. Others say, no, Joseph wanted to present the finest to Pharaoh in order to impress him. To me, that seems more likely. In any case the brothers indicated that they had run out of pasture in Canaan and now needed pasture. They asked to stay in Goshen. 

Next Jacob was ushered in to Pharaoh, Joseph was honoring his father as the head of the clan. Jacob blessed Pharaoh twice, this is the covenantal fulfillment of: “all nations will be blessed through you and your offspring.” God had indeed blessed Egypt by sending them Joseph and sending Pharaoh the dream. But God has a bigger agenda; building this 70 member family into a great nation. 

Vs.13-31 Joseph has to adjust the method of payment for the grain because he “had collected all the money in Egypt and Canaan.” So now he collected all the livestock for Pharaoh. After that he took all the land, only the priests kept their land and belongings because they received a food allowance. Joseph also treated his family in that way as well, they received a food allowance for all family members, to the point that “They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.”

Jacob tells Joseph not to bury him in Egypt. Joseph agreed but Jacob demanded; “Swear to me,” ‘he said.’” Then Joseph swore to him and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.” 

Jacob trusted the promises of God “To you and your offspring I give this land, forever, “Canaan”. Forever assures us that the Promised Land pre-figures the New Heaven and the New Earth. Praise be to God!

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# 7 2024 Dev. Ecclesiastes 4:1 God’s Comfort! Read all of chapter four first . We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ecc.4: “I saw the tears of the oppressed-and they have no comforter”

Ecc.4 Ecclesiastes is a difficult book, and there are different ways to deal with it. One way is to look at the plain meaning of the text. Often the material is a foil to what is good and to what is meaningful. The “teacher” talks about oppression, about toil, friendlessness and yes,  meaninglessness, the theme throughout the book. 

Vs.1-3 “I saw the tears of the oppressed…” There is oppression in every country, there are different kinds of oppressions; disease, racism, economic inadequacy, lack of infrastructure as in the third world. We can go on, in  some countries there are no comforters but in most countries there those who comfort, those with compassion, those who want to help where God uses people to comfort. Thank God! But those countries and institutions that oppress, and offer no help, no compassion, you know who the are,  those who are oppressed by them are better off dead, better yet, “is the one who has never been born.”

Vs.4-6 “And I saw that all toil and all achievement springs from one person’s envy of another.” The verse says “all” twice. Are all people envious? Do all achievements  rise out of envy? No, very few. Toil and achievement is what God created us for. V.5 Laziness,  belies the envy premise V.6 asks for restraint in gaining goods, too much is “chasing after the wind.”

Vs.7-8 expands on v.6. Obsession with gain is “a miserable business.”

Vs.9-12 “Two are better than one,” the benefits;  easier labor, pick each other up, help each other, keep each other warm, and defend each other. “Pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” “A cord of three strands is not easily broken” often quoted at weddings, but applies to all Christian families. Christ is in the mix.

Vs.13-16 Wisdom exceeds foolishness, moving from poverty to kingship he is followed not by  advancement to kingship but because of his wisdom. Wisdom or foolishness, there are always those who are displeased, that is a lack of wisdom, “a chasing after the wind.” Thanks be to God!

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# 6 2024 Dev. Ge. 46:2. God Speaks! Read all of chapter forty six   first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ge. 46:2 “And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said ‘Jacob!   Jacob!’”

Chapter 46 is about Jacob being convinced to move to Egypt. We can imagine his reluctance to move to Egypt with all his offspring and all their flocks  and possessions. I think of my own family moving to a foreign land, different language, customs and culture, a big undertaking and a huge step in faith. 

Vs.1-7 Pharaoh had sent transport for Jacob and family so they started their journey from Mamre, where both Abraham and Isaac had lived, to Egypt. This was Jacob’s ancestral home for three generations, for something like 500 years. Every offspring, all their goods, there would be nothing to come back to.

“So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. Beersheba was on the border. Jacob worshiped there, God had returned Jacob back to Mamre from Pana Aram, Jacob needed assurance about leaving the land promised to him, to Issac and to Abraham. God spoke to Jacob: go to Egypt, I will go with you, make you a great nation and bring you back again. So Jacob went, with all his offspring and all he had with him.

Vs. 8-27 These are the names of all who went to Egypt. Based on other genealogies Like in Numbers 26 this one is not as accurate as we expect. Joseph and sons are included, as well as Er and Onan are replaced by Perez and Zerah, none of the women are included except for Diana and Gad’s daughter Sarah. 

This is what The NIV commentary has to say about it: “ we must remember that we need not expect genealogies to operate in the Israelite culture the same way they operate in ours. If they have a different function in the culture, different methods can be used to construct them, and different criteria must be used to evaluate their accuracy.”   It appears that the goal was to add up to 70 which is considered  as a complete number.

Vs.28-34 they arrive in Egypt and Judah is sent ahead to Joseph, and then Judah leads Jacob and group to Goshen. It appears that had settled in before Joseph went to see His father.  After that Joseph prepares to introduce his family to Pharaoh. What do we take away from this chapter? 

The first thing is that we see that family is so important in our lives and God considers it as such. The second thing is that God works through families and with individuals formed in families. The third thing is that God controls our lives and our situations as he controls all of history. The Word of God gives us the big picture. Praise the Lord. 

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# 5 2024 Dev. Ecclesiastes 3:11. Eternity In our Hearts! Read all of chapter three first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ecc. 3:11. This verse sets the tone for this devotional: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ”

Ecc.3 The “teacher.” This book is about the experiences throughout  one person’s life, he is not named but there are indications in the text  that  Ecc. was probably written by King Solomon. That puts the date of writing at 970 BC to 931BC. 

Vs.1-14 “A Time for Everything” The author does not measure time in terms of hours and days but in terms of human existence and experience. Time is defined as “the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.”“travel through space and time” (Oxford Dictionary)

The author is describing time in terms of   God’s creation, It was very good but sin entered in, Satan’s  attempt to destroy it.  Even so, “He (God)  has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”  But  God has revealed himself in His Word both in the authors time and in ours!

Vs.15-17 “Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.” God created time, we live in time and space and  we are created for God’s glory. Yes, there is a place of judgment, there will be “a time to judge every deed.” For “both the righteous and the wicked.” But the righteous, the believers, are judged in Christ Jesus, both in the author’s time and in our time, praise the Lord.

Vs.18-22 Here the author despairs comparing humans with animals. Animals follow their natures as created. Humans follow their conscience or lack of it displayed in their actions both good and bad. Yes, every living thing dies because of sin in our broken world. God who lives outside of time and is eternal created  this world to be forever. And it will be again. God created us for His glory, and Satan is not able to take that away. God created human’s in His image, male and female He created them. Humans are given a soul, “eternity in the human heart.” 

The author asks a rhetorical question: “Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?” This is what God wants us to consider! 

The author say; enjoy your work, this is your lot, “For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?” A second question; what is the answer? No, on our own we will not know what will happen to us, only  by faith  in Christ Jesus are we assured that “the human spirit rises upward” to eternity with God!

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# 2 2024 Dev. Ge. 44:13. God’s Test! Was it successful?  Read all of chapter forty four first . We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ge. 44:13 “At this, they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.”

Ch.44 continues the story of Joseph in Egypt. God placed Joseph where He needed him to be to fulfill God’s purposes. This chapter is the culmination of Joseph’s testing his brothers from the first time they came to him for food. It begs the question; does God test us at times? Does God allow Satan to tempt us sometimes?

Vs.1-5 The Test. Joseph is determined to understand if his brothers had changed in the last twenty years. We know very little about the brothers. We see that Reuben offers Jacob his two children if Benjamin is not returned to him. But Jacob did not accept that offer. When they finally had to go back Judah guaranteed  Benjamin’s safety. Reuben had tried  to save Joseph but failed, Judah was the one who suggested selling Joseph instead of killing him. Providentially, a caravan came along at the right time, a caravan of people related to them. 

The test was that Joseph had his silver cup put into Benjamin’s grain bag and they did not get far.

Vs.6-9 Joseph’s steward was sent after them and accused them of taking Joseph’s silver cup. The brothers were incredulous, why would we do a thing like that?  Whoever is found with the cup, “ he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.” This is what Jacob had said to Laban when accused of stealing his gods. 

Vs.10 -13 “Very well, then,” he said, ‘let it be as you say. Whoever is found to have it will become my slave; the rest of you will be free from blame.”’ The search proceeded, beginning with Reuben down to the youngest. There was a lot of tension but the closer the steward came to the end of searching the better the brothers were feeling, until of course the cup was found in Benjamin’s bag. ‘ At this, they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.”

Vs.14-15 Joseph plays his diversion to the hilt: “Don’t you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?” After all that had happened the brothers still did not have a clue.

Vs.16-34 “Judah replied. ‘What can we say…God has uncovered your servant’s guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves… But Joseph said: ‘Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will be my slave.’”

After this Judah approached Joseph, and reiterates their earlier conversation about his family as well as the conversation they had with his father and the family situation concerning Benjamin. He ends his conversation with: “ How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father.” 

He lays his father’s possible grief at Joseph’s feet. Was God’s test through Joseph successful? Yes, The brothers had changed due in part because of the result of selling Joseph to Egypt, Jacob’s grief, and their dealings with Joseph brought it all back to them  and confronted them with the reality of family and loss. 

We all need confrontation at times, yes, God does test us and Satan temps us, but God stands with us and gets us through whatever happens to us!  Amen and Amen!

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