Exodus 1 is setting the stage for the Exodus. It tells us what had happened to the Israelites in the time since Joseph. Joseph and his brothers are gone, and the Israelites have multiplied. There came a Pharoah who knew nothing about Joseph and what he had done for Egypt. Well, it has been over three hundred years at this point when this Pharoah came to power.
Author: Pamela Porterfield
I am a graduate of Bethany Nazarene College which is no Southern Nazarene University. I have a Bachelor of Arts in Speech, English, Creative Writing and Drama with a minor In Educations. I live in Baton Rouge, La, with my husband of 45 years, Stan. We are members of the Baton Rouge First Church of the Nazarene. I am excited to be doing what God has inspired me to do.
EGYPT AND THE EXODUS
As we begin to look at Exodus, we need to approach it with open minds and not be fixed on the traditional views of the journey. We need to understand that archaeology may or may not have gotten the timing and places right. There are so many different opinions of when the Israelites left Egypt, where they left from, the route they traveled and which body of water they crossed that killed the entire Egyptian army.
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DAD’S GONE, JOE’S GONNA KILL US
Jacob was gone. Joseph and his brothers mourned his death. Joseph ordered that his father be embalmed as Egyptians were embalmed before burial. We know from archaeology that ancient Egyptians, at least the wealthy, were mummified for burial. So Joseph was following the customs of his time when he had Jacob embalmed. The Bible tells us that it took 40 days for the embalming to be completed. We are also told that the Egyptians mourned him for 70 days. This tells me that the Israelites were respected because of Joseph. They were not slaves at the beginning of their time in Egypt.
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JACOB BLESSES HIS SONS
Jacob lived another seventeen years after he arrived in Egypt and died at the ripe old age of one hundred and forty-seven. Very venerable to the Egyptians. Before he died, he called all of his sons together to bless them. These blessings were not only expected but were important to the inheritance of the father’s wealth and authority. We will find as Jacob blesses his sons that, again, birth order does not count.
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TWO MORE SONS FOR JACOB
Jacob adopts the two sons of Joseph. This adoption placed them as legal sons of Jacob. Jacob said that they were now as much his sons and Reuben and Simeon. This placed them as equals to the rest of the sons of Jacob, with all the rights and privileges. They would have a part of the inheritance when they returned to Canaan. Jacob stated that they would be named as sons of Israel and called by his name. His adoption was his desire to turn them from the wealth and riches of Egypt to the spiritual richness of God’s chosen people. He named them as heads of two of the tribes of Israel.
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OFF TO EGYPT, AGAIN
The prophecy given to Abraham, that his descendants would be “strangers in a country not their own,“ is beginning to come true. (Genesis 15:13) I am sure that Jacob and his sons knew of that prophecy, but it was not foremost in their mind at the time. They may have thought that it wasn’t their generation that it applied to. A lot of us look at prophecies in scripture and think that it is not our generation that it applies to. Don’t be so certain. We do not know the future. At any rate, Jacob and all of his family, possessions, servants, flocks and herds packed up and headed to Egypt.
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HEY GUYS, IT’S ME!
Joseph now knows that his brothers have changed over the years. He has seen the change in their honesty and in their concern for family. He also sees a great change in Judah. It was Judah who suggested that Joseph be sold to the slave traders back in the day. The testing was over and Joseph’s emotions were overwhelming.
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TAKE ME INSTEAD
Let’s look back at what Joseph has done to his brothers and why. But let us also be aware that Joseph was being led by God. His actions were God’s tools to bring the brothers to repentance. First, he accused them of being spies and threw them in prison. I would imagine that they were interrogated, not only by Joseph but by his servants as well. I mean, if you are arrested as spies, wouldn’t you expect to be carefully questioned? Then, rather than letting them all go, he kept Simeon as prisoner and sent the rest back to Jacob. Then he sent them away with the money they had paid for the grain secreted in their grain sacks. What is he trying to find out? What is God doing in the brothers’ lives?
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OK, LET’S TRY THIS AGAIN
The famine is getting worse, in Egypt and surrounding lands. Soon the food purchased on the first trip to Egypt is running low and to survive, the sons of Israel must go back to purchase more food. Jacob said that they had to go back to Egypt, BUT the brothers dared not go back without Benjamin. The ruler had told them that they would not see his face if he was not with them. Jacob was not about to let his youngest son, by his beloved Rachel, out of his sight.
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REVENGE OR REUNION
Joseph is the second most powerful man in Egypt. There was not much that he could not do. So, when his brothers showed up from the land of Canaan, he was met with a temptation that many would have yielded to. He could have thrown his brothers in to prison and forgotten them, just as callously as they sold him to slavers.
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FAT COWS AND LEAN COWS . . .
When we left Joseph, he had just been raised from being a slave to being the second most powerful person in all of Egypt. That’s some serious corporate ladder climbing, right? But with the position came great responsibility. Now Joseph had to put the ideas which he had told Pharoah of into action. Joseph was not going to be fumbling around in the dark here. God had put him into all the positions he had been in to train for just this moment. First, he worked in Potiphar’s household. Not a huge undertaking but Joseph learned to manage a household. Then, Joseph went to prison where he became the manager of the prison. Here he learned to manage a much larger “household” (for want of a better word). Now, after thirteen years, Joseph has been positioned to care for an entire nation. To prepare for a time when food would be scarce, if not non-existent.
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Apologies – Technical difficulties
January 8,2024 Dear Firends. I apologize that this week’s post has not dropped yet. I have had a bit of a problem switching the website to a new host. That has been done and I can get back to what God has for me to do. I will be posting a little later this week,…
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GOOD BYE 2023, HELLO 2024!
Man! 2023 just zipped by, didn’t it? Now 2024 is here. As I look back over the past year, I am amazed at all that I have accomplished and experienced. The most amazing thing is this blog. I never dreamed that I would be doing anything like this. But God did. And He brought me to it and has guided me all the way. As I have shared, I find that I have learned as I have shared. I have shared things that I wonder where that came from. I can only say that it comes from God. I see times that I have been hindered along the way by illness, computer problems and monetary issues too. But God has moved and has healed, fixed and provided all that I needed. I have found myself reaching out to people in the grocery store, the ER waiting room and other odd places to reach out and pray for them.
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SEASON’S TRADITION OR SEASON’S REASON
It’s Christmas Eve, the night that tradition tells us that Jesus was born. Tradition is an integral part of Christmas. Tradition tells us that Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem just in time for the birth of Jesus. It tells us that He was born in December. It also tells us that the inn had no room. It tells us that He was born in a stable. Both shepherds and wise men came to see the newborn. There were three wise men and hundreds of baby boys were slaughtered by Herod. But are those traditions correct? Let’s look at some of these traditions.
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OH, LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM
December 17, 2023 Reading: Luke 2:1-7 Focus: Luke 2:4 – So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. Father God, as we look forward to Christmas, help us to see Your Plan that has…
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WHY DID GOD CHOOSE MARY AND JOSEPH?
December 10, 2023 Reading: Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38 Focus: Luke 1:26-27 Father God, Help us to see why You chose Mary and Joseph to be the parents of Your Son. Help us to strive to have the faith that they did in a confusing, stressful situation. Help us to accept Your guidance with the obedience…
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THE FAMILY TREE
The prophet Daniel, told of ‘the Anointed One’ coming to Israel about 500 years before he was born. The prophecy in the focus verse talks of 490 years. Seven years of that prophecy has not yet occurred, but 483 years after Jerusalem was rebuilt after the Babylonian captivity, Jesus was crucified. The decree, recorded in the book of Nehemiah, was made in 444 BC (according to our calendar). The calendar that we use is a more ‘modern’ calendar than the one used back in the day. A 360-day year was used at that time. So, 483 years X 360 days is 173,800 days. 173,800 divided by 365 equals 476 years. 444 BC plus 476 years (there is no zero year by the way), is 33 AD. Based on this calculation, this is the year Jesus was crucified. Judaism uses 490 years (70×7) of the prophecy rather than 483 years (69×7). They will not see the 62 ‘sevens’ plus the 7 ‘sevens’ as the Messianic prophecy. This allows them to say that Jesus is not the Messiah, based on their calculations.
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Suddenly, we are here at the holidays of Thanksgiving and soon, Christmas. Man! has this year passed quickly. Seems like I had just started this blog. I’ve watched my grandson turn 7 and my granddaughter turn 13. They were babies just yesterday. Time flies when you’re having fun, right?
What is Thanksgiving? It can be many things to different people. Food. Family. Friends. Football. Hunger. Pain. Loneliness. Hopelessness. What is it to you?
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OK THERE’S GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS
Have you ever had a dream that just stuck with you? Most of the time we don’t remember our dreams. I often wake up feeling like I’ve had a weird dream but don’t remember what it was. Frustrating, right? Well, Pharoah had a dream and not just one, but two dreams that would not go away. We are not told when he had the dream but suffice it to say that he probably lost sleep over them (LOL). It apparently bugged him so much that the next morning he called on his magicians and priests who were supposed to be able to interpret dreams. Interpreting dreams was big business in ancient times. There were many books on dream elements and their meanings. The magicians and priests who were supposed to be able to interpret dreams didn’t have the first inkling of what Pharoah’s dreams meant.
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I HAVE A DREAM
November 5, 2023 Reading: Genesis 40 Focus: Genesis 40:8 – “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.” Father God. We praise Your name. You are above all others. You know our thought, our…
