Category Archives: Bible Study

Genesis 49—The Struggle

What struck me first in this chapter were the words in verse 2:

“Come together and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.”

He referred to himself with both names – the one he was born with, and the one God gave him.

The name Jacob means supplanter (one who purposely takes over, or takes the place of someone else). However, the literal translation of Jacob’s name at birth was “He grasped the heel”.

“After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel with his hand. So he was named Jacob.”

In essence, Jacob did not let go of Esau until he had supplanted Esau’s position as first born, by gaining both Esau’s birthright, and his blessing.

The name Israel means he struggled with God. And it was after Jacob’s wrestling match with God (Genesis 32) that God changed his name from Jacob to Israel, saying “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” He said. “It will be Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.” He prevailed in his struggle with God by refusing to let go until he had received the blessing he was after.

And so all of this is swirling in my mind and I begin to wonder…

I know who I was before I encountered Jesus, and I know who I am since. It’s been a lot of years in the learning, but I do know who and how God has called me to be. But I still struggle from time to time between who I was and who I am. I bet you have that struggle too.

This chapter in Genesis is about waaay more than that, but this is what caught my eye, and what I think God wanted to speak to me about on this particular day. A gentle reminder that who I was is not who I am. An invitation to see the difference, and marvel at the work of God in my life, and to be thankful, even in the struggle. But there is something else I’m seeing as well –

Jacob took his blessing from man, living up to the meaning of his name. But he received a new name because he held on in the struggle for his blessing from God.

Hold on. Don’t let go of God, no matter what. Don’t settle for the blessings of men. It’s worth the limp you may have by holding on for God’s blessing in your life. And one final thought-

What I can take in this life pales in light of what I can receive from God when I choose to not let go of Him.

Genesis 48—When the Prayer Changes

“Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and numerous; I will make many nations come from you, and I will give this land as a permanent possession to your future descendants.'” (Genesis 48:3)

This is so similar to what God said to Abraham, and then to Isaac.

“And to you [Abraham] and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as a permanent possession, and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:8)

“For I will give all these lands to you [Isaac] and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.” (Genesis 26:3)

It was right here, in the book of Genesis, that I learned that God is generational. That in the same way He has been faithful to me, He will be faithful to my children and to their children. I understood, on a much deeper level, that those coming after me could know God, know His goodness and His mercy and His love, just as I had come to know them.

“I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or abandon you.” (Joshua 1:5)

The revelation of this part of God’s character changed how I prayed for my family. There is a boldness, borne out of confidence in the truth of His Word, that begins to rest on your prayer life when you know that He desires for your children and their children the same thing He desired to do in you.

I believe that if you stopped random people on the street and asked them what they wanted most for their children, the majority of them would say “I want them to be happy.” We all want good things for our children – happiness, good health, good education, financial security, good job, good friends – all the things that will benefit and help them in life.

But most of the things we want for them will not follow them into eternity.

The greatest desire that I have for my children and their children is that they would know God the way I have known Him, and even more. That they would know His faithfulness to them, His goodness toward them, His mercy, grace, love, and the incredible peace that comes from trusting in Him above any other, including themselves. That desire becomes my prayer life for them, because of the revelation that it is the same desire that dwells in His heart.

But, as we pray, we also must obey…

“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children—” (Dueteronomy 4:9)

We cannot just let our Sundays at church, our kindness to others, or our prayers over our food be the extent of our children’s vision of God. Those are things they see us do, but unless we tell them, they will not know the things God has done. We must testify to our children so that they can know that He is faithful, even before they have seen it in their own lives.

Tell them that His covenant with you is also for them.

Genesis 47—Blessed, But Not Home

Then Joseph settled his father and brothers in the land of Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s family with food for their dependents. Genesis 47:11-12

There was no reason that Jacob and his sons should have received so much favor and blessing from Pharaoh. He did not have to welcome them into Egypt, treat them with kindness, assign them the best part of the land, or feed them. Yet, there it was. Blessing after blessing coming to those who had done nothing to merit them. In fact, Joseph’s brothers are being blessed in spite of all they had done to deserve contempt.

{The older I get, the more I recognize the many unmerited blessings of God that have overflowed in my life.}

“Buy us and our land in exchange for food. Then we with our land will become Pharaoh’s slaves.” Genesis 47:19

The story moves away from Jacob and his family in verses 13 – 26 as we watch the people of Egypt give everything they have in exchange for the life sustaining food that Joseph would give them. In his God-given wisdom, he had prepared far in advance for the famine that would come, making him a resource of life to people who would have otherwise died of starvation. We can also see that Joseph was shrewd enough to use food as an opportunity to enrich Pharoah. Over the course of two, possibly three years, Joseph took all of the silver, livestock, and then the land. And finally, he made the people to be servants of Pharoah. It’s quite the story and it speaks to me of preparedness. Joseph prepared, because he knew what was coming. The people were unprepared, because they had no idea what was coming.

{I know a storm is coming. Whether it is the end times or not, something is coming. Am I prepared? Is my faith, my trust in God, strong enough to stand? Am I living in truth, or in compromise? Will I be able to be a resource of life for those who are unprepared?}

This chapter concludes with a request from Jacob of Joseph –

“Do not bury me in Egypt. When I rest with my ancestors, carry me away from Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” Genesis 47:29

And here is the final thought that lays on my heart from this chapter: Even though Jacob was now in a place of blessing, he knew it wasn’t home, and home is where he longed to go when his life was over.

{As I count the abundance of blessings in my life on this earth, I must guard against feeling at home here. I want my heart to be filled with a longing for my true home.}

“But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” Hebrews 11:16

Genesis 46—In Difficulty, the Promise

It started with a promise to make one man into many. (Abraham – Genesis 12:2)

It continued with the same promise to Issac. (Genesis 26:4)

Finally, the promise of “many” would also come to Jacob (Genesis 28:14), and is reestablished here, in verse 4.

And now, over 200 years after the covenant was made with Abraham, the “many” belonging to Jacob, were heading into Egypt, numbering about 70.

Roughly 430 years later, they would be brought up from there as 600,000 men, plus their families (Exodus 12:37). They had been an enslaved and oppressed people, living as aliens in a foreign land, just as God said they would when He made the covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15:13).

God’s covenant promise came to pass during a long season of great difficulty.

And this is what I learn of God today – He is utterly faithful to keep His Word, but He is not faithful to keep my expectations of what it will look like.

We are being saved, and we will be resurrected. The Church will be presented without blemish. Weeping will cease. Evil will be vanquished. Christ will return. There will be a new heaven and a new earth.

Perhaps, we too are in a long season of great difficulty that is leading to the promise of God.

May we persevere. Continue in the faith. Keep doing what we’ve been called to do, even while we cry out “Come, Lord Jesus.” Let us not turn from the work of the Kingdom, or from our King, taken by surprise with the great difficulties that have come. They are part of the promise, so let us stand firm.

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.” (James 1:12)

Genesis 45—Seeing God Through the Pain

This chapter. Man, it just undoes me. Talk about restoration. Talk about forgiveness, maturity, reconcilliation, grace. God breathed heavy in this chapter.

Joseph could no longer keep his composure in front of all his attendants, so he called out, “Send everyone away from me!” No one was with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers. But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and also Pharaoh’s household heard it.  Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But they could not answer him because they were terrified in his presence. Genesis 45:1-3

Some contradicting emotions in the room! In this corner, we have Joseph and his very loud weeping. And in the other corner, Joseph’s brothers staring in terrified silence. Both parties were looking at the same situation and having polar opposite reactions to it.

Joseph wept because he knew what God had done. The brothers were terrified because they knew what they had done.

I’ll just let that sit right there.

The view from Joseph’s perspective is nothing short of stunning. Seeing God through all of the pain he experienced. Oh if that could be said of us! That as we survey the pain of rejection, betrayal, and false accusations that we have endured, we would see God bringing diamonds out of the coal. Bringing life from what felt like our death.

When the news reached Pharaoh’s palace, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” Pharaoh and his servants were pleased. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and go on back to the land of Canaan. Get your father and your families, and come back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you can eat from the richness of the land.’ You are also commanded to tell them, ‘Do this: Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your dependents and your wives and bring your father here. Do not be concerned about your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ Genesis 45:17-20

For two decades Jacob lived with the loss of his favorite son, whom he believed to be dead. But now, in the middle of a famine, he’s about to experience the return of what he never thought he’d have again. But he won’t just receive Joseph back. He will get all that God had been doing with Joseph over twenty years. The favor, the provision, the best of all the land of Egypt. Jacob will now reap the fruit of God’s work in his son’s life.

And isn’t that just like God, to give back more than we’ve lost? Yes, it is just like Him.

And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave job twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:10)

Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double. (Zechariah 9:12)

Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy. (Isaiah 61:7)

At the end of this chapter, what is it that I come away wanting? Glad you asked and I’d love to tell you.

I want to weep because I see what God has done, instead of over what I have done.

I want to know, believe, trust in, walk with, and lean on the God who gives me more than I could possibly lose.

And I want God to be in view no matter where I am or what it looks like there.

Genesis 44—What Has Given Way?

It had been roughly 20 years since Joseph’s brothers had thrown him into a pit, sold him into slavery, and then led their father to believe he was dead. They knew Joseph was the favored son and they knew the grief it would bring to Jacob. But young hearts that are filled with jealousy and rivalry are impetuous, and unable – or unwilling – to consider the fallout that is sure to come from their self-centered actions. Twenty years before this testing moment in chapter 44, these brothers did not care enough for their own father to spare him from what they knew would break his heart. They threw their brother into a pit and then sat down to eat lunch, no doubt in earshot of his fear. And then they went home, hurt their father with the news, and offered him comfort from the blow of grief they themselves had caused. {Genesis 3}

But time passed. Youth and rivalry gave way to famine, and now things matter differently.

“So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father, and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life, sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow.” Genesis 44:30-31

There is a giving way that accompanies the passing of our years. I’ve seen it. Felt it. You have too. We all have. Seasons of famine as God patiently waits for things to matter differently. For our selfishness to give way to compassion, and pride to give way to humility.

For Joseph’s brothers, this giving way of their jealousy and selfishness came with regret and fear. I’ve felt that kind of giving way as well, the kind that makes you wish for a do-over in the worst way.

And maybe that’s the topic today. I never really know until we’re knee deep in and suddenly, it shows itself in the way a father’s heart mattered differently to once selfish sons, as the years wash away petty pride, leaving behind the regret and fear that sometimes only a famine can bring.

What has given way in you, I wonder?

Have the years taken one thing and left another in its place? Something to ponder. But there is a better giving way that is far more worthy of our thoughts.

Has anxiety given way to peace? Fear to courage? Pride to humility? Self-reliance to trust in God? What is it, Beloved, in you that has given way to Jesus? Little by little, a moving back to make room, conceding the right to occupy. It is good sometimes, I think, to remember and give thanks for how much darkness has given way to Light.

For those of us who are in Christ, we can say this much for sure – death has given way to life.

May everything else that is in us give way to everything in Him.

Genesis 43—Suspicious Grace

Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They thought, “We were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys.” Genesis 43:18

Joseph had already been good to his brothers the first time they came to Egypt seeking relief from the famine. Of course, they didn’t know he was their brother just yet, but they did know that for some reason, they were receiving extraordinary treatment, and it made them uneasy.

Remember how the brothers responded to Joseph’s harsh words on their first trip to Egypt?

They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come on us.” Genesis 42:21

Guilt can make us assume that anything negative we are going through is a punishment, and cause us to suspect anything good that comes to us. That’s how I lived for many years, even after I was saved — assuming God was mad at me for all of the bad things I had done. And when something good did happen, I nervously waited for some mysterious “other shoe” to drop. Today, I can’t say that I fully comprehend the forgiveness that God has given to me, but I have learned to trust it.

Joseph’s brothers were unaware of how his heart was moved by the sight of his youngest brother, Benjamin, his brother from the same mother (I couldn’t wait to use that line). They has no idea the longing in Joseph’s heart to have his family restored. And because they don’t know his heart, they made assumptions that stirred up their own fears and suspicions. But perhaps it wasn’t just Joseph’s heart they didn’t know…

He replied, “Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you.” Genesis 43:23

The kindness that Joseph showed his brothers in returning their money to them, was actually attributed to God, yet they remained fearful that something bad was happening to them because of what they had done to Joseph.

Sometimes, I think we struggle to see past ourselves enough to really see God. And when we do catch a good look at His grace, we see it through the filter of us, so it looks distorted. Suspicious. Like something we know good and well we don’t deserve.

If we want to see grace as it really is, we have to stop making it about us. He is full of grace. He is generous and He is kind, and His heart longs for restoration, not punishment.

He didn’t become that way for us. It was His image long before He made us in it.