Well, here it is again. Christmas!! I love this time of year. Not only because it’s winter but because we celebrate the birth of the reason for our faith. Jesus. I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again, we need to keep Christmas in our hearts all year long. Celebrate Jesus. Celebrate His life and His death on Calvary. Celebrate His resurrection and the renewal of our relationship with God. Christmas is just the beginning of it all.
Tag: Joseph
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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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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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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IT’S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!
October 29, 2023 Reading: Genesis 39 Focus: Gensis 39:6 – So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Father God, thank You so much for all of your blessings. Thank You that we have eyes to see and…
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THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT
The coat that Jacob made for Joseph only poured more fuel on the fire of his brothers’ hatred. Everyone had a coat or cloak of some type but this particular coat was a very significant item. It was very colorful. Made of many colors and probably of very expensive materials. It wasn’t the common everyday kind of coat his brothers had. It was more a coat for royalty.
