GENESIS 44-47: DAY 79 JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
March 20, 2023
GENESIS 44-47
DAY 79 JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
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Focus Verses For Today: Genesis 45:4-7
Our journey today continues with the story of Joseph. Joseph was an interesting, a very interesting person. Today, Joseph would be viewed as a person who views his glass as half full rather than half empty. He was determined to make the best of every situation he encountered. Joseph had a spiritual perspective on life. Let’s take a look at Joseph, as he used calamity to reunite his family.
Take a moment to pray for God to reveal His true meaning of Genesis 44-47 to you. Ask God for a measure of Joseph’s perspective on your life. Time to read Genesis 44-47 and join the journey!
Genesis 44-47: Today’s reading begins where we left off last week. Joseph wants to see if his brothers have grown and learned from their past behavior. And so, he offers them a test to see if they are willing to give away their youngest brother Benjamin, the same way that they gave away Joseph. When Joseph saw that his brothers were willing to offer themselves into slavery in exchange for Benjamin’s freedom, Joseph was overcome by emotion and revealed himself to his brothers. To Joseph’s joy, he was also able to be reunited with his father, Israel (Jacob). The story, actually, recorded Biblical history, contains a very important message for Judaism and Christianity. God, through the faith of Joseph, preserved the family line of Abraham. The family line that leads directly to Jesus Christ! (Genesis 44:1–47:31)
Our focus verse for today:
4Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8“So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.
(Genesis 45:4-8,NIV)
Take a moment to paint this picture in your thoughts: you are standing before Joseph, the second-most powerful man in the world, at the time. The man was trusted completely by Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world, at the time. You are not looking at the Pharaoh’s right-hand man. You are looking at your brother. The brother you plotted to kill; then relented to sell him to the Ishmaelites whom you believed would kill him for you. Instead, you learn that the brother you sold into slavery wasn’t murdered. God had a plan for Joseph and it required Joseph’s long and hard journey in Egypt.
Joseph didn’t look at the world through a half-empty glass. Joseph didn’t look at the world through a half-full glass. Joseph looked at the world through God’s eyes. Joseph saw God working in your actions. Joseph saw you as a tool to position Joseph to act on God’s will. Joseph didn’t see what you did as you intended. Joseph saw God working through your actions. Joseph chose to give all his life over to the Lord. Joseph saw every situation in which he was placed as an opportunity to serve the God of Israel: his God. Joseph did everything to the best of his ability which God had given him. Joseph always acknowledged that God was the source of his ability. It was God working through Joseph – not Joseph. Joseph used all the accomplishments for which man praised him to give credit to the God of Israel, honoring and testifying to God’s awesome power. Have you chosen to give all of your life over to Jesus?
Godspeace!
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