New Beginnings, Day 47 The blessing of Jacob. Read Genesis chapter 47. Joseph brings his family before Pharaoh. For his brothers, they establish that they will be shepherds and will live in a specific part of the land of Egypt. Then Joseph brings his father before Pharaoh. As we’ve already discussed a few days ago, Pharaoh, culturally, was considered god for the people of Egypt. It wasn’t that he was like a god, to them, he was actually god. So this concept of Jacob blessing Pharaoh is intriguing to me. The idea that Pharaoh understood that Joseph’s God was greater than he was, is awesome. Joseph’s God had interpreted the…

New Beginnings, Day 46 God’s promise. Read Genesis chapter 46. As we read this chapter, we see that Jacob is headed down to Egypt. Now, he probably was pretty nervous about that because he remembers the stories about his father and his grandfather having gone to Egypt when they weren’t supposed to. He remembers how God was frustrated with them. So as he’s going to Egypt, he stops by a place where God has appeared and spoken to his father and his grandfather. Jacob worships the Lord, and God comes and speaks to him. God tells him, “Don’t worry I’m taking you down to Egypt. I will go with you…

New Beginnings, Day 45 The big reveal. Read Genesis chapter 45. Joseph has his answer, and he sees that his brothers have definitely changed over the years. Joseph can’t take it anymore and he reveals himself to his brothers. They are shocked and have no idea what to say. I’m sure all they could think about is all the terrible things that they had done to Joseph over the years. But, Joseph is just so glad to see them. Joseph is excited to experience family and for them to all have a new beginning. Joseph wants them to start over. He sees the importance of being able to be together…

New Beginnings, Day 44 The Substitute. Read Genesis chapter 44. Joseph plans a test. He sets up his brothers so that they have to demonstrate whether or not they will save Benjamin or whether they will give him up like they gave up Joseph. Joseph wants to see whether they still hate their father’s favorite. During this test, the brothers demonstrate that they are willing to do anything to save Benjamin. Judah offers himself as a substitute for Benjamin. Even though Joseph is only asking for Benjamin to stay as a slave, because of the fact that Benjamin is his father’s favorite, Judah offers himself instead. God offers himself as…

New Beginnings, Day 43 Family, Read Genesis chapter 43. There is something special about the bond of family. Joseph hadn’t seen his brother in many many years. He knew he was still alive based on the other brothers discussion we read about yesterday, but he hadn’t actually seen him until this moment. Joseph couldn’t contain himself in that moment. We need to remember that need for community that we all have, whether it’s biological family, church family, or friend family. Those are the people that truly matter to us in our lives we don’t always understand how much they mean to us until we don’t have them anymore. Joseph recognized…

New Beginnings, Day 42 God’s plan. Read Genesis chapter 42. It had to have been quite the experience for Joseph to have seen his brothers, watch them bow down to him, and think back to all of the conversations they had had when he was a child. He had told them his dreams that they would bow down to him. Now here he is, and God brings everything to pass. It was emotionally overwhelming for Joseph. So many years have passed, and yet the question that Joseph wonders is are his brothers the same cruel individuals that they were when he was a child? Joseph devices a number of tests…

New Beginnings, Day 41 One like God. Read Genesis chapter 41. Honestly there is so much in this chapter that it was difficult to focus only on one thing from this whole chapter. We see God work and move in powerful in amazing ways through Joseph in the Egyptian nation. Pharaoh makes this statement in verse thirty-eight, “Can we find anyone like this man in whom is the Spirit of God.” When you think about the culture of Egypt you recognize what a truly phenomenal statement it was. You see, in their culture, Pharaoh wasn’t just king, Pharaoh was God to them. The fact that this Hebrew slave who was…

New Beginnings, Day 40 Credit. Read Genesis chapter 40. I’ve always found this chapter interesting. People need help and even though Joseph us in prison, he helps. Joseph is in this position of leadership because he has favor with the leader of the prison, like we discussed yesterday. But he doesn’t flaunt that and he doesn’t act like he’s in charge. In fact, when given the opportunity, he goes out of his way to explain that the credit for what he’s going to do actually belongs to God. I have found over the years that favor and credit go together. As I have worked and found favor with my employers…

New Beginnings, Day 39 Favor. Read Genesis chapter 39. Joseph experienced a couple of new beginnings in this chapter, they just aren’t the kind that you usually want to talk about. So many things about Joseph’s life have always been fascinating to me. One of the key components is how God allowed Joseph to have favor as he worked. It doesn’t really say what Joseph did exactly, but he did the work. It doesn’t say that he talked a lot or shared a lot about his dreams or his past, but God allowed him to have favor with everyone he was around. God gave him success in the most difficult…

New Beginnings, Day 38 What is right. Read Genesis chapter 38. I’ve heard the Bible described as earthy at times. That can be very true because many of the stories in the Bible show people at their very best and at their very worst. God recognizes that he is the holy one in this story, not us. As we read the story of Judah, we see that he started out trying to do what was right by his daughter-in-law. Unfortunately, he stopped trying to do what was right because he became afraid. As a result his daughter-in-law took matters into her own hands to be able to receive what was…