Instead of seeing the Israelites as an influence of blessing, the king decides to fight with God. The pampered lives of Jacob’s family were about over. Given prime real estate in Egypt, the rich grasslands of Goshen, some of the sons also held key positions overseeing Pharaoh’s cattle. Joseph had seen to it that life […]
We’re about to see the greatest escape in history, God landing on the planet at Sinai, and more! The book of Genesis begins with God’s creation of this amazing world and ends with Joseph’s body “in a coffin in Egypt” (Gen 50:26). Oh, the ravages of sin! Since then, billions have wept at loved ones’ […]
Read More… from September 13, 2021 — Welcome To The Book Of Exodus
What a way to wrap up your life: blessing others, worshiping God, a pilgrim to the end. Let’s continue with Jacob’s blessings. “Bread from Asher shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties” (Gen 49:20), but James warns, “Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you.” It […]
Read More… from September 10, 2021 — Blessing, Worshiping, Leaning On His Staff
Both the struggles and the victories are in God’s plan for His people, as we see in this lesson. It’s amazing how different children in the same family can be. So with Jacob’s sons. “Reuben,…my firstborn, my might and the beginning of my strength,…unstable as water, you shall not excel” (Gen 49:3-4). Oh, the burden […]
Read More… from September 9, 2021 — Jacob’s Prophetic Blessings
The portraits of these 12 men is hardly flattering, but it is fascinating. And God is at work! As Genesis 48 draws to a close, Jacob gives a confession of faith that encapsulates his life under the tutelage of God. It is included in the double blessing he gives Joseph by adopting Ephraim and Manasseh, […]
Read More… from September 8, 2021 — The Importance Of Self-Honesty
Strange, isn’t it? The one born first is never the firstborn. Because grace triumphs over law. In Genesis 47, Jacob acknowledges, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years” (v 9). Though the family is settled in Goshen, the patriarch still considers himself a pilgrim. He isn’t home yet. […]
It’s a Southern expression to evince surprise, the kind Jacob’s sons felt at meeting Joseph! Having been reunited with his long-alienated brethren, Joseph says there will be another five years of famine. Why not retrieve their old father, Jacob, and bring the whole family to Egypt? Sheep herding was a despised occupation there, so with […]
Life’s fiery difficulties, if accepted from God, can burn off the dross and make us pure gold. Following the unexpected meal in the Grand Vizier’s home, Jacob’s sons had left with a new supply of grain. But also, unknown to them, was their double payment, and Joseph’s cup in Benjamin’s sack. Stopped just outside the […]
“No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward…” (Heb 12:11). Jacob’s sons head back to Egypt, their first load of grain gone. Simeon awaits in prison there, and Benjamin is compelled to go along, much to Jacob’s grief. In their saddlebags they carry double the money—the returned funds from the […]