Read: Genesis 47
Joseph,
along with five of his brothers, went to Pharaoh to ensure that his family
would settle in Goshen (v. 1-2). Pharaoh
had already promised Joseph’s family the best of Egypt (45:18), but Joseph was
careful to see to it that this became reality. The brothers explained that they
were shepherds and that had come to sojourn in the land because of the famine
(v. 4) and they requested to dwell in Goshen.
Pharaoh agreed to let them settle in the land of Goshen and even requested
that they take care of his own livestock (v. 5-6). Then Joseph brought his father Jacob before
Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s graciousness to Jacob
no doubt reveals his respect for this aged man as well as his regard for
Joseph. Jacob explained that he had had 130 years of tough living (v. 9). Jacob
was right; he had lived a pretty tough life.
He struggled with his brother in the womb and he lived in a divided
house where each parent favored a different child. He also gained the blessing by deception and
had to live in exile and serve a deceitful father-in-law who tricked him and
caused continual rivalry among his wives.
Jacob suffered the defilement of his daughter Dinah and witnessed his
sons committing evil acts such as murder.
His beloved Rachel died in childbirth and to top it all off, his favorite
son was presumed to be dead. Finally
there was this famine that threatened his future. Jacob had lived a tough life. So, he blessed Pharaoh (v. 10), who was being
so kind to him and his descendants. The
Abrahamic covenant includes a promise that those who blessed his offspring
would also be blessed. Then Joseph
settled his family in the land and they were provided with food (v. 11-12).
The famine
in the land was so severe that eventually the Egyptians ran out of money to buy
grain (v. 15). Joseph responded to their
lack of money by offering to give them food in exchange for their livestock (v.
17). This helped sustain them for a year
but eventually they had no animals left (v. 18) so the people agreed to sell
their land and themselves in exchange for grain (v. 19). They may have run out of money and livestock
but they still had two valuable resources – land and labor. Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for
Pharaoh except the land of the priests (v. 22) and the people became Pharaoh’s
servants (v. 21). In return, the people
were given seed to sow the land and were required to give a fifth of the
harvest to Pharaoh (v. 24). They
responded with understanding that Joseph had saved their lives (v. 25).
While the
Egyptians were struggling to survive during the famine, Jacob’s family was
thriving in the land of Goshen (v. 27).
As Jacob grew nearer to death he requested to be buried in the land of
Canaan (v. 29-30). This emphasizes that
the family’s future was in the Promised Land.
Prayer and Journaling
1. There
is a difference between the suffering and hardship that Jacob experienced and
that which Joseph experienced. Joseph’s
suffering was undeserved, Jacob’s was not.
Jacob’s suffering was a consequence of his foolish choices and
actions. Ask the Lord to show you if
there is a hardship in your life that is a consequence for your own foolish
choices. Have you ever repented of this
choice? Have you taken ownership of this
choice? Dialog with God about this. Ask Him what He wants to tell you about this
choice and the consequence.
2. During
the seven years of plenty Joseph accumulated one fifth of the bumper crops in
the land for Pharaoh leaving four-fifths of the crop for the Egyptian
people. This should have given them
plenty of grain to store up for the future.
They must have not followed Joseph’s example in saving for the
future. Maybe they thought the years of
plenty would just go on and on? Why not
live the good life? In today’s culture
this would be equivalent to spending every penny that you make without ever
saving. Joseph knew the hard times were
coming therefore he put into place a plan but the Egyptians did not follow his
wise actions and do the same. They
failed to prepare for the future. Ask
the Lord to show you how you are doing in preparing for the future – not only
financially but spiritually? What does
God want to say to you today about this?
3. Jacob
knew the promises of God and he knew that his descendants would eventually go
back to dwell in the land of Canaan.
Requesting to be buried in the Promised Land showed His trust in
God. Thank the Lord that He can be
trusted in the hard times. Thank Him for
His good and perfect purposes in our lives.
Thank Him for His goodness in your life.
Ask Him to show you 5-8 other things that you can thank Him for
today.
