2022-Q2-L13: Israel in Egypt
Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 46; Rom. 10:12, 13; Genesis 47; Genesis 48; Acts 3:25, 26; Genesis 49; Phil. 2:10; Gen. 49:29-50:21.
Memory Text: “So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly” (Genesis 47:27, NKJV).
Scriptures:
- Romans 10:12–13 (ESV): 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
- Acts 3:25–26 (ESV): 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
- Philippians 2:10 (ESV): 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Pentateuch Outline
- See Chiasm.
- Genesis. Prologue: Land, Seed, and Blessing
- Exodus. The Exodus and the Tabernacle
- Leviticus. Living in the presence of God
- Numbers. The Tabernacle and the Land of Promise
- Deuteronomy. Epilogue: Land, Seed and Blessing
Genesis vs Deuteronomy highlights
- At the center of the Story of Abraham is Covenant. Chapters 11:27 to 21:34. The center is 17:1-14: God's covenant; Abram to Abraham.
- At the center of the Story of Isaac is A Wife for Isaac. Chapters 22 to 25:11. The center is 24:15-33: Servant meets Rebekah.
- At the center of the Story of Jacob is Return to the Land. Chapters 25 to 38. The center is 32:22-32: Wrestling at Jabbok; Jacob to Israel.
- At the center of the Story of Joseph is Israel's Sons Reconciled. The center is 44:14-34: Judah's plea for Benjamin.
- Thus, we have God's Covenant, a Wife for the Child of Promise, (Return to the) Land (of Promise), the Sons of Israel reconciled and blessed.
- In single words: Covenant: Seed, Land, Blessing (of the Sons of Israel).
- In Deuteronomy Moses is preparing the people to enter into the land promised to them in Genesis 12 and 15 (Deut. 1:8). He does so by giving them instructions on how they should live in the land that God is giving them (Deut. 4:1). He urges them to teach their children how to live before God (6:4-9) that God might secure them in the land, increase their number, and bless them (7:12-14; 11:1-25). So, Genesis and Deuteronomy jointly introduce and reinforce the reality that is God who gives us the land from which we are sustained, offspring in whom we hope, and ultimately the blessing of himself.
- Revelation 21:12: having a great and high wall; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons [Greek: huion, from huios] of Israel.
Exodus vs Numbers highlights
- Similarly, Exodus and Numbers form a pair. Exodus opens by telling us how God brought his people out of Egypt. It closes with detailed instructions for building the Tabernacle and its furnishings. Numbers inverts this sequence. It begins with instructions for serving in the Tabernacle and with the Tabernacle’s consecration. It ends with the people setting out toward the land of promise. All of this moves us toward the covenant promises of land, seed, and blessing.
Leviticus Outline
- Leviticus chiasm:
- 1-7. Sacrifices and Feasts
- 8-10. The Priesthood
- 11-15. Purity Laws
- 18-20. Purity Laws
- 21-22. The Priesthood
- 23-27 Feasts and Sacrifices
- Leviticus tells us that God has made a way for his people to live in peace with him, to worship him rightly, and to enjoy his blessing forevermore. That way is composed of three parts. Chapters 1-7 and 23-27 describe the sacrifices God has provided to atone for our sins. Chapters 8-10 and 21-22 tell us about the priesthood he has given to intercede for us. Chapters 11-15 and 17-20 includes the laws he has ordained so that we might live lives of purity before him. Finally, at the theological center of the book, we find the Day of Atonement.
- The amazing thing is that all these sacrifices, priestly duties, and rituals point forward to Christ. Jesus is the fulfillment of all those Old Testament sacrifices. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). He is the great High Priest who stands in the presence of God and intercedes for us (Hebrews 4:14-16; Romans 8:34). It is by his righteousness that we are made righteous (Romans 3:21-22; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
- God's Covenant with us is that of the Seed, the Land, and the Blessing which are all fulfilled in and through Christ.
Joseph themes
- Joseph's name: "add" or "take away"
- Initially, Joseph was in the right: father, house, land, robe, name, "priesthood".
- Joseph was in the wrong: master, house, land, robe, name, and priesthood.
- Genesis 41:52: The name of the second, he called Ephraim: “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
- Joseph and Judah similarities and contrasts. Both have two sons. Reuben offers his two sons to Jacob later in the story.
Sons of Israel - benai Israel
- See Sons Of Israel / Benai Israel – Who Are They?
- "Sons of Israel." In Hebrew, benai Israel. It is not people of Israel, am Israel. It is not families (or little ones) of Israel, taph Israel. Not all translations will translate it correctly. Most translations translate benai as “children”. Even "sons" is not entirely accurate since benai is in the singular, i.e. "seed", not the plural, benim.
- Ben, benim, benai.
- Genesis 46:5-7: Jacob rose up from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 They took their livestock, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt—Jacob, and all his offspring [zerah] with him, 7 his sons [benim], and his sons’ [benim] sons [benai] with him, his daughters [benot], and his sons’ [benim] daughters, and he brought all his offspring [zerah] with him into Egypt.
- Chiasm:
- and came into Egypt—Jacob, and all his offspring [zerah] with him,
- 7 his sons [benim], and his sons’ [benim] sons [benai]
- his daughters [benot], and his sons’ [benim] daughters [benot],
- and he brought all his offspring [zerah] with him into Egypt.
- Daughters is benot. In the singular it is bat.
- Exodus 6:18,20: The sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred thirty-three years. . . 20 Amram took Jochebed his father’s sister to himself as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses. The years of the life of Amram were one hundred thirty-seven years.
Israel in Egypt - 215 years
- Must reconcile two verses in Exodus.
- Exodus 6:18,20: The sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred thirty-three years. . . 20 Amram took Jochebed his father’s sister to himself as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses. The years of the life of Amram were one hundred thirty-seven years.
- Exodus 12:40-41: Now the time that the children of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years.
- There were four generations from Jacob to Moses. 41 At the end of four hundred thirty years, to the day, all of Yahweh’s armies went out from the land of Egypt.
- Some of the ancient versions solved this problem by extending the period of 430 years back to Abraham’s arrival in Canaan. Accordingly, the Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch solve the problem by adding the stay in Canaan explicitly into Exod 12:40:
- Septuagint (LXX):
And the sojourning of the children of Israel, while they sojourned in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan, was 430 years.
Samaritan Pentateuch (SP): And the sojourning of the children of Israel, while they sojourned in the land of Canaan and the land of Egypt was 430 years.[5]
- Thus, from Abraham until Jacob entered Egypt was 215 years:
- 25 years passed from the time of Abraham’s arrival in Canaan at the age of 75 (Gen. 12:4) until the birth of Isaac, at which time Abraham was 100 years old (Gen 21:5)
- 60 years passed from the birth of Isaac until the birth of Jacob (Gen 25:26)
- 130 years passed from the birth of Jacob until he and his descendants moved to Egypt (Gen 47:9)
- See Genesis 15:13-16: He said to Abram, “Know for sure that your offspring will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. 14 I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth; 15 but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.”
- The discrepancy between 400 and 430 is to take into account the blessing which began when Ishmael, son of Hagar the Egyptian, mocked and persecuted Isaac, Genesis 21:9. Galatians 4:29. which fell out thirty years after the promise, Genesis 12:3. which promise was four hundred and thirty years before the law, Galatians 3:17 and four hundred and thirty years after that promise, came Israel out of bondage, Exod. 12:41.
- Based on these verses (Ga 4:29, Ge 15:13, Ac 7:6), we conclude that this persecution started at this time when Isaac was five years old and Abraham made this feast. This was thirty years after Abraham left Haran.
The Sin of the Sons of Israel and unification
- See The Path of Repentance.
- Pivot: Central to the story, and pivotal to Joseph's brothers, is the confession of Judah (Genesis 44:13-17). It is even pivotal from the chiastic structure.
- From Judah's speech it is apparent that he did not confess to stealing the cup. He considered the whole episode of the stolen goblet as a fabrication. His words, "God has revealed the sin of your servants," undoubtedly relate to the sin of selling Joseph.
- For Judah, protecting Benjamin at all cost is the atonement demanded for the selling of Joseph, a heaven - sent opportunity to make amends. In offering their respective propositions, Reuven and Judah remain faithful to their personalities: Reuven through acceptance of the punishment, and Judah through confrontation with the sin itself.
- Our assumption is that Joseph too was plagued by his brother's sin and, consequently, with the future of the house of Israel, no less than with his own fate. From the time he was sold, he had begun to rebuild not only his own life, but his family's unity. This unification was not to be forced upon his brothers, but rather achieved by willingness and love. Joseph desired a unification born of his brother's regretting their sin, a product of wholehearted repentance.
- It is on the basis of this explanation that we can understand Joseph's reaction to his brother's behavior and more specifically Joseph's crying three times. The first two times are inner, bound by self-restraint. The third time he breaks down totally and cries, openly and without control. What is the connection between the different occasions in which Joseph cries? What is unique about the third episode in which Joseph can no longer restrain himself?
- 1st tears. See Genesis 42:18-24. Reuben's repentance, before taking Simeon as prisoner.
- We have previously defined this kind of repentance as "Reuven's repentance," a repentance which involves submission and acceptance of the verdict, but lacks a program for improvement and change. Joseph is prepared to accept his brothers' confession and their submission. He witnesses the newly reestablished connection of the ten other brothers to the sons of Rachel, and he cries (42:24). But this is not sufficient for him. He requires a fuller, deeper repentance.
- 2nd tears. See Genesis 43:29-30. Joseph is unaware of Judah's assumption of responsibility for Benjamin. His mercy is aroused when he realizes that his younger brother's fate is to be no better than his - Joseph views Benjamin's being brought to Egypt as a reoccurrence of his own sale. True, in this case it is brought on by hunger and circumstances and is not the outcome of jealousy or hatred. Nonetheless, this was not the total repentance that was expected in the wake of the confessions he had heard from the brothers and Reuven in Egypt.
- 3rd tears. These tears come after the third test of his brothers. The first is to bring back Benjamin. The second test is to see if there was jealousy among the brothers when Joseph gave 5 times more food to Benjamin at the banquet. The third test as in putting the silver cup in Benjamins sack.
- At this point, Joseph is convinced of their total repentance. Judah's act combines two kinds of repentance. The first form of repentance is that whereby penance must counterbalance the crime. Judah, in a torn garment as a permanent slave in Egypt, is in the exact position he had placed Joseph. Secondly, we have the repentance as defined by the Rambam (Law of Repentance 2:1):
- ....what is complete repentance? When a person is confronted with the opportunity to repeat his sin but restrains himself because of repentance, and not because of fear or weakness.
- Here too, deserting Benjamin to lifelong servitude is similar to Joseph's situation in the past. But Judah now is prepared to give his life to save Benjamin. Joseph comes to realize his mistake in crying for pity over Benjamin. He understands that Benjamin's being brought down to Egypt was not the result of the brother's disdain for Benjamin but rather the result of Judah's becoming Benjamin's guarantor. Judah's repentance, including his attempt to amend the past, is a continuation and completion of Reuven's atonement. Joseph's weeping for the third time is a continuation of his weeping the first time, when Reuven submitted. When the repentance is complete Joseph is no longer capable of restraining himself, and he weeps openly. At this stage the brother's repentance for selling Joseph into slavery is complete and Joseph can reveal himself to them.
Why the Exile in Egypt
- See The Exile in Egypt - Process or Punishment?.
- Genesis 15:12-16. The prophecy given to Abraham.
- Two reasons:
- (1) The purpose of the Israelites' sojourn in Egypt is to delay their inheritance of the land of Israel until the Amorites, the indigenous inhabitants of the land, sin sufficiently to deserve having their land expropriated.
- (2) See Ezekiel 20:8. The slavery and oppression were PUNISHMENT for their [the Israelites'] bad deeds and sins in Egypt as stated in the prophecy of Ezekiel.
- The people are punished for their own sins. It is they who, while in Egypt, evince deficiencies in faith. According to Shmuel, the roots of these are to be found in Abraham the patriarch.
- Like Shmuel, the Ramban considers Abraham's sin to be that of lack of faith. However, this deficiency expresses itself not in Abraham's words (or request) but rather in his actions. The Ramban critiques Abraham for leaving Israel and moving to Egypt during the famine. Abraham should have had faith in God's providing for his needs. This lack of faith is apparently what also leads Jacob's family to go down to Egypt during the famine of their period. Shortcomings in faith which lead to the abandoning of the land of Israel in times of distress have their seeds in Abraham and continue with his descendants and eventually incur the punishment of oppression of the Israelites in Egypt.
- Another thought: The Torah testifies to the fact that they sinned a horrible sin in their unjustified hatred towards their brother Joseph and in their plot to kill him upon his visiting them, and in their throwing him into a pit and in their selling him to the Egyptians ... and since they sinned they deserved to be punished, and since they sinned in Egypt by selling their brother as a slave there, it was only appropriate that they should also be punished in Egypt and be slaves there, they and their offspring for many years. And just as they threw Joseph into the pit, all their newborn males were thrown into the Nile, and just as they caused Joseph to be brought down to Egypt, Joseph caused them to move to Egypt ...."
Joseph and Goshen
- First, Yosef obtains the land of Goshen for his brothers, and, according to the text, "gave them a possession." Thus their status is made equal, at least formally, to that of the Egyptian citizenry.
- They possess their portion of land and it becomes their inheritance, at the very same time that the Egyptian citizens lose their possession of the land and become Pharaoh's servants. Thus their status is greatly upgraded, and they in fact become "preferred citizens" – like the priests of Egypt, the only ones who own property.
- The easy conditions and stability also apparently served as a convenient basis for accelerated natural increase, which stands out all the more prominently against the background of Egyptian constriction.
- First, "they dwelled… took possession… and were fruitful and multiplied," specifically, "in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen." Later on, "they increased and swarmed and multiplied and grew exceedingly great, and the land" – meaning, not only the land of Goshen, but all of Egypt — was filled with them."
- Yosef's actions in Egypt grant him the status of a sort of "founding king" with respect to the tribes of Israel, as he leads the family through the corridor that lies between the tribal situation and the national state. Thus, Yosef becomes a sort of fourth forefather, or first king, in the history of Israel.
Joseph's loyalty
- Joseph is an example of moral excellence.
- Joseph learned and showed loyalty to his father, Jacob. He learned to love God and to strive for moral excellence.
- Joseph was exceptionally loyal to Potiphar, his master. To the point where he was willing to risk misunderstanding when tempted by Potiphar's wife.
- Ultimately, Joseph manifested loyalty to God when he was brought before Pharaoh to interpret his dreams. He gave all credit to God in the interpretation of dreams. Pharaoh recognized this and even mentioned it when he promoted Joseph to be prime minister.
Joseph's brothers in Egypt
- Parallels between Laban chasing after Jacob, asking for his idols which Rachel had hidden, and Joseph chasing after his brothers on the second voyage back to Canaan and accusing them of stealing his divining cup.
- Laban - God appears to Laban as he chased Jacob that he should not speak to him evil or good.
- Joseph tells his steward to make this statement: Why have you repaid evil for good?
- Genesis 30:27. I have observed the signs (divination) that God has blessed me by you.
- Jacob said to Laban, whoever has taken your idols shall not live.
- Judah said to Joseph's steward, whoever has taken the divining cup should die.
- Laban, in searching for his idols, he started with Leah, then the two maid servants, then Rachel.
- Joseph's steward started the search for the cup from the oldest to the youngest.
- This suggests that Joseph is the "new" Laban.
- An aspect of deception relative to favoritism. Jacob deceived Isaac because he was unfavored, Simeon and Levi deceived the Shechemites because they saw (in part) that they were unfavored, both here and in the hatred and sale of Joseph. See Genesis 37:4.
- Joseph was favored to his father, Jacob. But, he was unfavored to his brothers. In a sense, Joseph played the role of his brothers against them, to see how they would respond to the treatment that he received as a teenager. Joseph also played the role of Laban.
- As Jacob learned empathy in the hands of Laban, in how he deceived Esau. So, Joseph's brothers learned empathy in how they mistreated Joseph in selling him into slavery.
- Only after Jacob had learned the lesson himself, only then could he be reconciled to Esau. The same dynamic in the story of Joseph and his brothers.
Jacob and Israel
- Jacob is called Israel when he sends Joseph to his brothers in Genesis 37:13. Then he is not called Israel until Genesis 43:6.
- With the loss of Joseph, Jacob became despondent. But in chapter 43, with Judah's prompting, Jacob became Israel again. See Yaakov and Yehuda.
- The quality of grappling, wrestling, fighting to establish our destiny and not accepting what seems to be given, is first evinced by Yehuda in this conversation, and it immediately calls forth the source of that quality in Judaism, the name Yisrael.
Four sections of the Story of Joseph
- The rift in Yaakov's family; the family is together in Canaan. A disunited family.
- The trials and tribulations of Yosef in Egypt until he becomes the King's viceroy. The descent of Joseph and then ascension. Upon reaching the station of viceroy, Yosef completes his process of cleansing; he is now ready to fulfill his role in the support of his family during the famine, and in reunifying them under his patronage in Egypt.
- The trials and tribulations of the brothers in their descents to Egypt until Yosef reveals his identity to them. The brothers undergo their own suffering, reminding them of their sin towards Yosef, their brother, and towards Yaakov, their father. They become aware of the need to atone for their sins with regret and suffering, and to radically change their attitude towards the unity of the family.
- Reconciliation in Yaakov's family; the family is together again, this time in Egypt.
Jacob's (i.e. Israel's) descent to Egypt
- The descent to Egypt became a period of exile as prophesied to Abraham.
- Jacob/Israel did not descend to Egypt in chains, but he was lead by his son, Joseph, to Egypt. And in pleasantness lived there the balance of his life.
- In a similar way, Jesus was taken to Egypt with his parents having the magi's gifts as spending money.
Joseph, not forgotten
- A Tragic Misunderstanding. Rabbi Shimon discusses why Joseph never called home when he became second to Pharaoh.
- Our entire outlook on this story changes if we understand that Joseph did not know that his brothers had fooled his father with the coat, the blood, and the lie that Joseph had been devoured by wild animals. Such thoughts never occurred to him! So, it was Joseph who spent thirteen years of slavery in Egypt and the following years of greatness wondering: "Where is my father? Why has no one come to look for me?" All the factors are now reversed when seen from Joseph's point of view.
- Joseph's wonder at his father's silence is joined by a terrible sense of anxiety which grows stronger over the years, as seasons and years pass and no one comes. Joseph's anguish centers on his father: the voice inside him asking "where is my father?" is joined by another harsh voice: "Why did my father send me to my brothers that day?(see 37:13) Perhaps, his brothers had succeeded in convincing Jacob to disown Joseph!
- It is suggested that the hint is when Joseph names his first-born.
- Manasseh. Genesis 41:51: Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh [a], “For”, he said, “God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.”
- [a] "Manasseh” sounds like the Hebrew for “forget”.
- Apparently, then, Joseph's entire world is built on the misconception that his father had renounced him, while Jacob's world was destroyed by the misconception that Joseph was dead. Joseph's world was shaken when his brothers stood before him, unaware of his true identity, and bow down to him. At that moment, he questions this new reality:
- "...he remembers the dreams he dreamt about them..."(42:9)
- He is thrown back into the past. Stalling for time, he begins a line of inquiry - and action - which is geared to one end: to find out why his father had rejected him, if at all.
Genesis 48 - Jacob's Blessing
- Jacob adopts Joseph's sons as his own.
- The sons are born in Egypt, to an Egyptian woman, yet they become Israelites.
Genesis 49 - Blessing of Joseph
- Jacob blesses his sons. It was after his son, Joseph, was dead and was (spiritually) resurrected.
- Two significant blessings are Judah's and Joseph's.
- Blessing to Joseph. Genesis 49:22-26.
- Genesis 49:23 (KJ21): The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
- Genesis 49:23 (ESV): The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely,
- Literally: They embittered him and fought with him, and they despised him, the archers.
- Commentary: (1) they embittered him, (2) and they attacked him, struggled with him, (3) and they despised him.
- Question: What do the brothers have to do with archers? They were shepherds, not archers.
- H7852, satam: to hate, bear a grudge, cherish animosity against. This word is more than hatred, it is a deep-seated grudge. This word is used two other times in Genesis. (1) When Esau hated Jacob for stealing the blessing. See Genesis 27:41. It is a hatred where one brother wants to kill another.
- Genesis 27:41: Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
- Jacob's experience of the hatred of his brother, Esau, was similar to Joseph's experience of the hatred of his brothers.
- Genesis 50:15: When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all the evil which we did to him.”
- Genesis 49:24 (literally): But his bow was strongly established, and his arms with-agility [H6339, pazaz: supple, agility], from the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, from there he shepherded the rock of Israel.
- H6339, pazaz: to bound, be agile, be supple, to be nimble, to leap, show agility. To spring up and flee as a gazelle, to leap for joy.
- 2 Samuel 6:16: And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping H6339 and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.
- This is another archer. But what is different about this archer is that he is holding a bow but has not shot an arrow with the bow. Joseph has the power, but never took revenge--"his arms had agility", but he never used it.
- Thus, the archers (and arrows) are a symbol of power. The power to harm. The brothers harmed Joseph, and Joseph had the power to harm back, but he withheld that power.
- Joseph manifested true forgiveness. And as such, received the double blessing. See Genesis 49:25-26.
Israel's (i.e. Jacob) burial
- Genesis 47:31: Israel said, “Swear to me,” and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself on the bed’s head.
- Joseph had two fathers. One, the true biological father (Jacob) and the other a father figure (Pharaoh). By the way, EGW mentions that even Potiphar treated Joseph as a son.
- Jacob did not rescue him from the pit, but Pharaoh did.
- Jacob gave him a special coat, and so did Pharaoh.
- Jacob rebuked him for his dreams (and interpretation), while Pharaoh was appreciative of their meaning.
- Pharaoh gave him a wife and a new name. Thus, Pharaoh positions himself as a father figure.
- What happens then, when the worlds of these two father figures collide?
- Israel (Jacob) pleads with Joseph, "Please, don't bury me in Egypt. Bury me in Canaan."
- Then Israel made him swear. This was an issue because Jacob was, in Pharaoh's mind, royalty. After all, he was the father of Joseph, the savior of the Egyptians. He was in effect, a god. And no Egyptian god should be buried in a foreign land. He was to receive the best burial in the land of Egypt.
- Jacob's death and burial would then be of great interest to Pharaoh and the Egyptian people. Jacob's funeral was to be a state funeral, with all the honor accorded to an exalted position.
- This became a big deal. Jacob's funeral was a great procession of mourners leaving Egypt to bury Jacob in Canaan.
- Genesis ends with death and burial. Jacob was put in the grave and Joseph was placed in a coffin. In the case of Joseph, there was no better reminder that they were not at home. As is the case with us, the grave is a reminder that we are sojourners here.
EGW:
- PP 222.3: There are few who realize the influence of the little things of life upon the development of character. Nothing with which we have to do is really small. The varied circumstances that we meet day by day are designed to test our faithfulness and to qualify us for greater trusts. By adherence to principle in the transactions of ordinary life, the mind becomes accustomed to hold the claims of duty above those of pleasure and inclination. Minds thus disciplined are not wavering between right and wrong, like the reed trembling in the wind; they are loyal to duty because they have trained themselves to habits of fidelity and truth. By faithfulness in that which is least they acquire strength to be faithful in greater matters.
- PP 222.4: An upright character is of greater worth than the gold of Ophir. Without it none can rise to an honorable eminence. But character is not inherited. It cannot be bought. Moral excellence and fine mental qualities are not the result of accident. The most precious gifts are of no value unless they are improved. The formation of a noble character is the work of a lifetime and must be the result of diligent and persevering effort. God gives opportunities; success depends upon the use made of them.
- MH 487.2. So long as we are in the world, we shall meet with adverse influences. There will be provocations to test the temper; and it is by meeting these in a right spirit that the Christian graces are developed. If Christ dwells in us, we shall be patient, kind, and forbearing, cheerful amid frets and irritations. Day by day and year by year we shall conquer self, and grow into a noble heroism. This is our allotted task; but it cannot be accomplished without help from Jesus, resolute decision, unwavering purpose, continual watchfulness, and unceasing prayer. Each one has a personal battle to fight. Not even God can make our characters noble or our lives useful, unless we become co-workers with Him. Those who decline the struggle lose the strength and joy of victory.
SUNDAY. Jacob Goes to Joseph. Genesis 46.
MONDAY. Jacob Settles in Egypt. Genesis 47.
TUESDAY. Jacob Blesses Joseph's Sons. Genesis 48.
WEDNESDAY. Jacob Blesses His Sons. Genesis 49.
THURSDAY. The Hope of the Promised Land. Genesis 49:29 - 50.21.
FRIDAY. Further Thought: Ellen G. White, “Joseph and His Brothers,” in Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 233-240.
APPENDIX
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