Archive | November 2014

Genesis 44

Nov13

Good morning y’all. Today we in Genesis 44. In this chapter we see Joseph gives a final test to his brothers to confirm they have had a genuine change of heart.

Be blessed 🙂

Joseph after treating his brothers to a nice meal with him and housing them for the night, decided to set them up. This was going to be the final test. He purposefully asked for a cup to be left in Benjamins bag. I believe Joseph did this because he wanted to see if the change he was witnessing in his brothers was a genuine one.

He sent them on their way and unknown to the brothers, his cup was hidden in Benjamins bag. The steward caught up with them and accused them of stealing the cup. The brothers were quick to defend themselves and even offer punishment if they found the cup. They were so sure the cup won’t be found but notice how in verse 10, the steward rephrased the punishment they originally offered.

“That’s fair,” the man replied. “But only the one who stole the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go free.” (Genesis 44:10 NLT)

This was going to be the test. Will the brothers desert Benjamin and run away for fear of their life or will they all stay back and be slaves to Joseph.

Verse 13 tells us once the servant searched and found the cup in Benjamin’s sack, they all tore their clothes in sorrow and they all decided to return back to Joseph in Egypt and plead their case.

Contrast this to the event that took place in chapter 37. The brothers in 37 were quick and eager to sell Joseph to slavery because they were jealous of him and wasn’t ready to bow to him as his dream suggested they would have to. They were selfish and didn’t care about the impact of their action on their father. Fast forward to chapter 44 and you see the brothers have had a change of heart. They were no longer selfish. This time around they genuinely wanted to do the right thing and weren’t willing to leave Benjamin behind. They knew how much doing that will destroy their father. Perhaps the guilt and regret of what they did to Joseph was part of what brought about the change in them.

The brothers went back to Joseph’s house and Judah stood up to plead their case before Joseph. Judah, in the previous chapter told his father he would return with Benjamin else he can be held responsible for the rest of his life. Notice how Judah approached Joseph with humility. He recognised they were slaves or servants to him including their father. The same Joseph they refused to bow down to and sold just cos of that, is now the one they are turning to for mercy, seeking his kindness and favour. Voluntarily declaring themselves as his slaves
  
Judah narrated the whole discussion with his father and how he finally let Benjamin go and the impact leaving Benjamin behind in Egypt will have on their father. Judah asked to be made a slave instead in return for his brother; Benjamin so that their father won’t die of distress. Perhaps this was Judahs way of repenting for his part in selling Joseph off as a slave (See Genesis 37 for Judahs role)

Joseph was amazed at Judah and how much him and the brothers had changed from the time he was sold in Dothan to now when Benjamin was about to be detained as a slave in Egypt. The final test has now been passed by the brothers. He could see that they were genuinely repentant of their actions. They were no longer the selfish wicked jealous brothers who didn’t care for him.

In the next chapter, we see Joseph moved by Judahs response so much he eventually revealed himself to them. I won’t jump ahead as that’s the blog for tomorrow :). Pls join tomorrow  to know how the story concludes 🙂

I will conclude with this excerpt I found online from bible.org

“Joseph’s dealings with his brothers have a great deal of application to men today. For those who have never come to faith in Christ, there is an illustration of salvation. God, like Joseph, desires to pour out upon men, whom He loves, the riches which are His to give. But men cannot be blessed until their sins have been dealt with. To Joseph’s brothers, this Egyptian potentate was all-wise and all-powerful, but harsh and to be feared. Yet to us, he was a loving brother whose tears revealed his heart and his earnest desires. In order to bring his brothers to repentance, Joseph had to put them to the test and make their lives appear to be in peril. But when they recognized themselves as sinners deserving any sentence Joseph had to pronounce upon them, repentance was realized, and Joseph was free to reveal himself to be a loving brother, not a vengeful master.
If you have never come to recognize your sin, desire to forsake it, and to confess it before God, then you, like Joseph’s brothers, will look upon God with only dread and fear. The thought of standing before God will be more fearful to you than Joseph’s brothers’ contemplation of returning to stand for sentencing before him. But once you realize your sins and the rightful penalty that should be yours—once you come to God, not to barter and bargain for blessings, but to cast yourself upon His mercy—then you will come to see the other side of God. He is a loving Father, who desires to pour out His blessings upon you. He wants to save you and to enable you to live a life that pleases Him and you.”

Prayer:
Dear Lord we thank you for today. We ask Lord that you open our eyes to see the areas we need to repent and give us the grace to live a life that pleases you. Thank you Lord. In Jesus Name. Amen

Thanks for joining today.

Have a blessed day 🙂

***With God all things are possible***

Genesis 43

Nov12

Good morning y’all. Today we in chapter 43 of Genesis. In this chapter Josephs brothers return to Egypt with Benjamin. Joseph receives them with gladness and invites them to a feast in his house. He still doesn’t reveal his identity to them.

Be blessed 🙂

Jacob in this chapter didn’t demonstrate good leadership skills at all. He had been told in the previous chapter that the only way they could go back to Egypt to get more grain was to go with Benjamin. Yet he prolonged and delayed acting on the matter until they had reached crisis point.

In v1 and 2 we are told the famine became really severe and they had eaten all the grain they brought back from Egypt the 1st time they went. Now, Jacob asks them to go back to Egypt and buy little more grain.
I ask myself why he would say such when he clearly knew what needed to be done if they wanted more grain. Perhaps he was hoping that his sons would go back to Egypt and somehow talk the governor out of the request to see Benjamin and he would allow them buy small grain and not a whole lot. Jacob was downplaying the situation at hand. He just wasn’t ready to face the issue head on.

Judah refused to give in to his father’s cowardly way of dealing with issues. He stood up to him and reminded him of what the governor requested. See verse 3-5
But Judah said, “The man was serious when he warned us, ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ If you send Benjamin with us, we will go down and buy more food. But if you don’t let Benjamin go, we won’t go either. Remember, the man said, ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you.’” (Genesis 43:3-5 NLT)

Even after the reminder from Judah, we see Jacob going back to his old manipulative ways. He tried to blame his sons for putting him in the predicament he was in. Jacob the father, the one who should be making decisions and leading the family was not doing that. In fact his concern was only for himself. He was being selfish. See verse 6-7
“Why were you so cruel to me?” Jacob moaned. “Why did you tell him you had another brother?” “The man kept asking us questions about our family,” they replied. “He asked, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ So we answered his questions. How could we know he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”(Genesis 43:6-7 NLT)

I ask myself was Jacob expecting the sons to lie when Joseph questioned them about their family as I couldn’t understand how the brothers telling the truth was an issue. I’m assuming he expected them to do as he probably would have done, which would have been to lie.
I noticed that this lying thing in the face of a threat or predicament seems to be hereditory in the family…lol. Grandpa Abraham did it when he went down to Egypt with Sarai. He lied she was his sister. Daddy Isaac also did it when he moved to Gerar and he lied Rebecca was his sister. Now, Jacob the son, is suggesting here that he would have lied or deceived if he was the one being questioned by the governor! Seems this men struggle with trusting God to help them in the face of adversity.

Judah insisted they would not go unless Benjamin went with them. He offered himself in return for Benjamin. He was thinking about the family as opposed to Jacob who was only thinking about himself. I particularly liked his response in verse 10.
If we hadn’t wasted all this time, we could have gone and returned twice by now.” (Genesis 43:10 NLT)

He was indirectly telling his father off for delaying what could gave been a successful mission, probably done twice. They would not be starving now if Jacob had assumed his responsibility as the head and dealt with the matter as opposed to putting it off.

Judahs response finally jolted Jacob from his passive state. He reluctantly agreed for the sons to go back to Egypt with Benjamin. He asked them to take along the bestest of gifts in the land. I am assuming Jacob asked his sons to do this with the hope that they would find favour in the sight of Joseph and he will release Simeon and also not harm Benjamin. This reminds me of what he did with Esau as well. He sent along gifts in advance hoping to sweeten Esau. Was he right in doing this? could this be termed as bribery? Was this done as an act of faith? I’m not too sure but I think it was an action done in flesh as opposed to reliance on God to help with the situation at hand.

The brothers went back to Egypt along with Benjamin. They were well received by Joseph and even dined with him. Joseph was overwhelmed when he saw his brother. He couldn’t control his emotion, he had to leave their presence to cry. The brothers were afraid, while all along what Joseph wanted was a chance to see his brother again and also reconcile with the rest of his family.

Friend how often do we act like Jacob; where we know what needs to be done in  order for us to get out of our predicament but we choose not to do it. We become comfortable in the situation. We think we can manage it and procastinate until the issue becomes a major crisis. Today hear the words of Judah to his father…..stop wasting time.

Don’t prolong your waiting period when you know the right thing to do. Lets ask for grace to get up and do what needs to be done.

Prayer:
Dear Lord we thank you for today. We ask for the  grace to trust you more and to rely on you for help rather than our own strength. We ask for grace to do the right thing at the right time. Thank you Lord. In Jesus Name.

Thanks for joining and pls feel free to leave your thoughts on the chapter.

Have a blessed day 🙂

***With God all things are possible***