Page 31 - Living Light 90

Friday October 3 - Returning home in style
Joseph sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them,
“Don’t quarrel on the way!” Genesis 45:24
You may remember returning from a trip to find your children eagerly waiting to see what presents you’ve brought them. None would have been as lavish or exotic as those Joseph gave his brothers. They were all generously provided for. Benjamin was particularly favoured and received five times more than his brothers, as he had at the earlier banquet (43:34).
These verses stress that they were given new clothing. That’s a gracious irony. When they sold Joseph into slavery they stripped him of his special robe (37:23). But he does not retaliate in kind. Instead he treats them with a kindness they don’t deserve and clothes them in new garments. That’s how God deals with us as we come to him having nothing presentable to offer (Isaiah 64:6) and find ourselves ‘clothed with the garments of salvation’ (Isaiah 61:10). Christians are those who’ve clothed themselves in Christ (Galatians 3:27).
I’d love to have eavesdropped on the brothers’ conversation as they travelled. Joseph, knowing their (and our) nature, tells them not to quarrel on the way. Brothers do! Some might have argued that his invitation to return wasn’t genuine and was actually a plot to trap them eventually. Joseph’s choice of words was probably aimed at telling them not to voice suspicion and renege on their promise once they got back to Jacob. They needed to trust him.
Gracious God, may I ‘clothe myself today with the Lord Jesus Christ’ and not with the dirty rags of a selfish life. Amen.
Saturday October 4 - The greatest news of all
They told him, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.” Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. Genesis 45:26
We’ve recently seen several hostages released and returned to their families, who often haven’t known whether they were dead or alive and often doubted until the last moment. What joy we then witness! Just so for Jacob. His favourite son, Joseph, had been lost to him for years. His brothers had spun a fictitious story, claiming he’d been killed by an animal. But Jacob had never given up grieving. Whether he’d nursed any hope of Joseph still being alive and returning home someday isn’t clear. But he’d probably never dreamed of what he’s now told. Joseph not only alive, but a ruler in Egypt, who’d been their unrecognised provider through the famine. No wonder, especially given his age, he was ‘stunned’ and took some convincing.
What happened to Joseph sets up a pattern. Jesus talked about a prodigal son. While away from home his fortunes were nothing like Joseph’s. But what joy ‘the waiting father’ had when this son returned home: “This my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:24). Paul uses the pattern to explain our salvation, especially in Ephesians 2:1-10. We were dead because of our sin, but have been made alive through God’s kind and gracious action in Christ. He died and returned from the dead so that we who are dead might share in his resurrection life. What joy!
Thank you, waiting Father, for your welcome home. Give me joy in living in my renewed family. Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
PRAYER FOR TODAY
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