Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
I’m sure in your lifetime you have some wonderful experiences of anticipating an event that you’re so excited you can hardly sleep at night. Time simply isn’t moving fast enough. Perhaps you counted the days or maybe even the hours until finally, that long awaited moment would arrive. Today, would you join me and old Jacob as he is exactly in that situation of great anticipation.
We’ve been looking closely at the life of Joseph in the Bible, seeking to learn some important life lessons. You may recall he was actually sold into slavery by his older brothers when he was 17 years old. Those brothers then told their father Jacob that his favorite son Joseph must have been killed by a ferocious animal as they presented Joseph’s blood soaked, multi-colored coat to their father. Oh how he grieved for a very long time. In fact, I wonder if you’d understand if I said a part of Jacob’s heart died the day he heard that dreadful news about his son? I wonder if he kept that blood stained coat in a corner of his tent, just as a reminder year after year?
But Joseph was not dead! In fact God was working an amazing, great plan to save His Covenant people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, from extinction in a harsh famine. God used the cruel act of Joseph’s brothers as an important part of His famine rescue plan, as we’ve seen these past few days in Genesis 42,43,44. Have there been times in your life when God has made great lemonade out of the lemon situations or your life? Do you understand that Romans 8:28 concept?
I left you yesterday in the amazing moment of Jacob hearing the unbelievable news that his son Joseph had not died 22 years ago, but in fact is the leader of all Egypt! And more than that, Jacob learned Joseph was inviting him to move, along with all his family, down to Egypt where they would be cared for during the next 5 years of famine. I can well imagine over the next several days Jacob would occasionally pull one of his sons aside and say something like this: “Tell me once more. What exactly is Joseph like now? How is he? How has God sustained him all these 22 years? Tell me again how Joseph went from being a slave prisoner in Pharaoh’s dungeon to becoming the Prime Minister of all Egypt?”
The Genesis record says Jacob finally believed it all was true and instructed his large family to pack up because they were moving to Egypt. Oh it wasn’t going to be a permanent move, they were not going to become Egyptian citizens. No, where they lived in the land of Canaan was their God given, Covenant promised land, and they would return to resume their lives here after the famine years. So Genesis 46 begins: “So Israel (Jacob) set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.” Do you notice something? The Genesis record refers here to Jacob by his God given, new name of Israel. As you continue reading through the rest of Genesis, you’ll see Jacob is sometimes referred to as Jacob and other times as Israel. I think it’s intended to remind us that Jacob was both the man who lived in the shadow of his many years of deception, but he was also the man who was seeking to live in his old age as the patriarch of the Covenant people of God.
It’s a picture of you and me my friends, if you have trusted Jesus to be your Savior. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore if anyone is in Christ they are a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come. All this is from God who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ…” Yes, our old, sinful past can be forgiven by God, covered by the blood of Jesus, and we can then live in a new, vibrant relationship with Jesus, and His Holy Spirit lives within us. But we still REMEMBER the past, don’t we, and our sinful nature still struggles to lead us back into our old lifestyles.
It isn’t a coincidence that Jacob stopped at Beersheba with his large family as they journeyed to Egypt. Jacob remembered Beersheba. It was one of the few times that he, as a young man, was able to see his father Isaac give some significant spiritual leadership to their family. Beersheba was the place God had appeared to Isaac (Gen. 26) and renewed the Covenant of Abraham, his father. Now, many years later, Jacob returned to that sacred place, Beersheba, and built an altar and called his family to gather around and worship the God of his father and his grandfather. Jacob had not often been a good spiritual leader for his family, but here in Beersheba, he was trying once again to lead his family to God.
The record says: “God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, ‘Jacob! Jacob!” and Jacob replied, “Here I am”. God said, ‘I am the God of your father, do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back to this land again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.” (Gen. 45:3,4) What a remarkable promise from God. Do you see how similar it is to the promise God had made to Jacob many years before, when he was running from his family, and spent that first night at Bethel? (Gen. 28:10)
God was affirming Jacob’s temporary move to Egypt and promising that His Presence would be with Jacob and his family while they were in Egypt. Do you see God promising Jacob would die there and his son Joseph would be at his side when he died? Can you imagine how comforting that was to Jacob? Do you see God promising Jacob’s family would keep growing while they were in Egypt, and finally do you see God’s promise that He would lead Jacob’s family back here to their Covenant land? I imagine it was with great delight that Jacob gathered his large family around and explained this message he had received from God… He had a new vision for their future as a family, a new excitement for living now! God would be with them in this journey! There was great hope for a bright future. When they would again load up their carts to move on from Beersheba, they would resume their journey with confidence that God was accompanying them, and even guiding them on a new road of HOPE!
Do you have that same confidence my friends? Do you have a strong sense of God’s Presence with you, wherever you live in this world? Are you confident that WHERE you are and WHAT you are doing with this season of your life is blessed by God, because it is in full alignment with what God is wanting for your life right now? Do you see the evidence of God’s hand of protection, provision and blessing upon you?
Do you see how God is involving you in what He is doing in your part of the world, even if there have been hard times recently for you? Maybe you are in a hard season right now? Have you talked with God lately about all this lately? I think maybe that’s what we ought to do right now. Here’s a song to help you consider the importance of living life with assurance that God is with you and therefore there is HOPE in going forward, even if you are in a hard season of life right now. Listen closely to the words of this song, look at the faces of those worshiping. . . and let’s join them:
Today’s Scripture is Genesis 46:1-4.
Choose below to read or listen.
 |  |
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Email
WhatsApp