Happy Monday..although today's reading was not that happy. We lost our third patriarch today. We had previously lost Abraham and Isaac and today we lost Jacob. Also in today's reading we lost Joseph, who was not a patriarch in the same way as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but he certainly was a great history maker and a person of great influence. It certainly was a tender day today as we lost two of our main characters in our story.
Wendy was touched by the blessing that Jacob spoke to Joseph after he gave his blessing to Manasseh and Ephraim. You may have noticed that he took on fathership of Joseph's sons so that they would be included in the land allotment when they arrive in Canaan. You will see that later, after the slavery and the exodus, they will be allotted land in Canaan that they would not have received if they remained as Joseph's sons. Jacob brought them into his fold and under his blessing so they could receive this land allotment.
Wendy loved what it said in Genesis 48:15, Jacob said, “May the God before whom my grandfather Abraham and my father, Isaac, walked – the God who has been my shepherd all my life, to this very day, the Angel who has redeemed me from all harm – may he bless these boys. May they preserve my name and the names of Abraham and Isaac. And may their descendants multiply greatly throughout the earth.” Wendy loved the way that Jacob referred to God as his Shepherd, his God, his leader. A shepherd is gentle in his leadership and we saw that evidenced throughout Jacob's life. “The Angel who has redeemed me from all harm”. He wants the same type of relationship that he had with God for his sons. He wants his sons to preserve His name as well as the name of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Wendy has heard people say, from generations behind her, that when they would leave the house their mom's and dad's would say, remember who you belong to. Remember how our name will be represented in the things that you say and do. These verses just reminded Wendy of that and it was very tender to her.
Wendy also noticed that both Jacob and Joseph, as they died, presented their brother's again the promise of God. He is telling them in Genesis 48:21, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to Canaan, the land of your ancestors.” I don't know what's going on now son, but you will get to go back. Now, we know that Joseph doesn't get to go back, but that promise is right there fresh. Joseph says to his brothers in Genesis 50:24, “Soon I will die, but God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Joseph didn't receive it, but that promise was still there. Sometimes we receive a promise or a revelation or a Word from the Lord, an assurance that we're going to move forward in an area or be blessed in some way or something is going to happen through the Holy Spirit and it just hasn't happened yet. Continue to remind yourself what God has told you. Wendy likes to mark these things in her journal and put a date beside them so that when she starts to wonder and question, she can go back to that date and know that she knows that she knows that God told her this. Whether it comes today, tomorrow, or not even this side of glory, we can see it there. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, none of them saw it, but it was still there and it was a promise that was passed down through generations. Today if you're experiencing this, go back to what you know God told you and remind yourself of that and remind God of that, not that He needs reminding, but say, “Lord, this is what you told me. If there's something different please tell me.”
Also, Wendy wonders if you noticed that neither Jacob or Joseph wanted to stay in Egypt in their death. Joseph and the brothers took Jacob back to Mamre and buried him there with his ancestors. Wendy thought it was interesting that the Egyptians had 40 days of mourning for Jacob. There's so much hostility between the Hebrews and Egyptians and it will be played out even more later on. She guesses that because Joseph was such a hero in their eyes, saving them from the famine, that is why they mourned his death for so long. That piece of the story was interesting to her. Joseph says in Genesis 50:25, “When God comes to help you and lead you back, you must take my bones with you.” Wendy supposes he needed to have his body remain there because he had been leader, but he wanted his bones taken back to the land that was promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the descendents. You'll find it refreshing later that someone does remember to go back and get the bones and that will tie this back together.
Wendy hopes you enjoyed today's reading and the nostalgia of it and the similarities between the blessing of Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim being the youngest and Manasseh being the oldest. Ephraim got the right hand blessing, which was the blessing of power. Manasseh got the left hand blessing. Jacob was the youngest who would rule over Esau. She hopes we saw some similarities there. Wendy hopes you're able to thread these things together and the tapestry of the story of the Old Testament.
Have a great rest of your Monday and Wendy will be back tomorrow. Tomorrow we begin the book of Job and that's another interesting story.
(All thoughts transcribed from Wendy's blog to aid those whose computers are not capatible to view these videos.)
No comments:
Post a Comment