Friday, January 31, 2014

Genesis 50:18-19, 24

Genesis 50:18-19, 24              His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives…. 

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.



            These concluding verses of Genesis explain to us the plan of redemption God had begun after The Fall in Genesis 3. Here we read of repentance and restoration leading toward the eventual gathering of all God’s people in the land he promised to Joseph’s forefathers.

            The saving of lives is what we find throughout Genesis. Adam and Eve sinned and brought the rest of our human race into the same predicament. Without a heart that turns to God seeking forgiveness for our sin, then reconciliation and restoration cannot occur. God used the sin of Joseph’s brothers to set the stage for God to meet the need of His people in years to come. Because God intended good to come from these events in Joseph’s life, many people, including the Egyptians, were helped.  

            Greater than this, is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob made years earlier. God comes to the aide of his people and promises to bring them into the land of milk and honey. Joseph learned this from his father, Jacob, who learned this from his father Isaac, who learned it from his father Abraham. God’s plan for his people spans more than one person’s lifetime. Each of us will impact the divine plan that unfolds after God calls us home to heaven. 

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