Page 43 - Living Light 90

Monday October 13 - Revenge ruled out
“We have come to live here for a while, because the famine is severe in Canaan.” Genesis 47:4
When you consider how badly Joseph’s brothers had treated him previously, you’d have thought that revenge would crop up somewhere in Genesis 47. It doesn’t! OK, so Joseph does test their character, but neither Joseph nor God gave them their ‘comeuppance’. Instead, God brought them out of a famine and into a land where there was ample food so that they wouldn’t starve. That’s what they’re telling Pharaoh in today’s passage. Which begs the question, why didn’t God leave the brothers in Canaan to suffer for the way they’d treated Joseph?
I believe it all boils down to covenant. God had made a binding promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the founding fathers of Israel, that they would be a nation through whom all nations would be blessed. Put another way, it would be through the Jews that salvation would come to all people who believed God’s promise. God’s commitment to bringing salvation to the world was paramount and his covenant with the Jewish people meant that Joseph’s brothers became beneficiaries of his goodness because of the bigger picture. That’s not to say that God would have let them off the hook; I’m sure he would still have been working repentance and restoration in their lives. But what a wonderful reminder that God’s ultimate goal is our salvation – not our comeuppance!
Heavenly Father, thank you that out of your goodness you are always seeking restoration, not revenge. Help me to live likewise. Amen.
Tuesday October 14 - Blessed to be a blessing
Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh... Jacob blessed Pharaoh... Genesis 47:7
The history of the Jewish people has been marked by frequent animosity from other nations. And yet, in this Bible account, not only does Joseph have the red carpet rolled out for him but so does his dad, Jacob. Proverbs 3:3-4 gives us a clue as to why this might be. It tells us that when we prioritise God’s ways and his word, we will ‘win favour and a good name in the sight of God and man’. It’s another way of saying that we will experience God’s blessings in tangible ways.
Jacob was a man who had journeyed with God and had his character moulded by him. He started out as a cheat, but God brought Jacob to a place where he was fully committed to doing things God’s way, not his own. That should give us all great hope! What’s fascinating about today’s verse is that Jacob doesn’t appear overawed by being in the presence of Pharaoh. But then again, as someone who had been in the very presence of God, he knew where ultimate authority came from. I love it that it was from a place of knowing who God is that Jacob was able to bless Egypt’s ruler. He may have been dependent on Pharaoh for natural provision, but Jacob knew that he had something even more valuable than this – God’s supernatural blessing.
Heavenly Father, thank you that through Jesus I am wonderfully blessed. Please help me to be a blessing to others this day. Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
PRAYER FOR TODAY
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