Monthly Archives: April 2024

GENESIS 47 JACOB’S REQUEST TO BE BURIED IN CANAAN

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April 10

GENESIS 47

23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” 25 And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” 26 So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s.27 Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. 28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years.

29 And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.” 31 And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed. – Genesis 47:23-31

GENESIS 47 JACOB’S REQUEST TO BE BURIED IN CANAAN

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

During the famine years that Joseph prospered Pharaoh

He required Pharaoh’s servant to give a fifth of their harvest

Those servants willingly complied, so Joseph made a decree of it

At this time, Jacob was 147 years old and requested Joseph

He didn’t want to be buried in Egypt but in his father’s land

He made Joseph promise that he will do as he requested.

Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years and he was generously provided for by his beloved Joseph. Although Pharaoh treated him well and his entire family, he still wanted to be buried in his father’s land. It was the promised land to Abraham and to his offspring.

Even though that promise wasn’t yet fulfilled, it was the land that God promised to his ancestors. Joseph will comply and arrange when he dies to be buried in Canaan.

REFLECTION

  • Why do you think it was significant for Jacob to be buried in Canaan?

GENESIS 47 JOSEPH PROSPERS PHARAOH DURING FAMINE

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April 9

GENESIS 47

13 Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. 14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15 And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” 16 And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18 And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh’s. 21 As for the people, he made servants of them[a] from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land. – Genesis 47:13-22

GENESIS 47 JOSEPH PROSPERS PHARAOH DURING FAMINE

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

When the seven years of famine came over the lands

Only Egypt and Canaan had food from their grains

So, all the surrounding areas bought grain from Joseph

Joseph’s administration made Pharaoh rich and owned much.

If God wasn’t with Joseph, the whole of Egypt and Canaan wouldn’t survive the famine.They didn’t only survive it, but thrived because of God’s guidance through Joseph. Joseph’s wise administration brought Pharaoh much prosperity and wealth.

REFLECTION

  • Do you think anyone would prosper without God’s hand in it? Why or why not?

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GENESIS 47 JOSEPH PRESENTS JACOB TO PHARAOH

April 8

GENESIS 47

 So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen.” 2 And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. 3 Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were.” 4 They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. And now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” 5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”7 Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 11 Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents. – Genesis 47:1-12

GENESIS 47 JOSEPH PRESENTS JACOB TO PHARAOH

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

When Jacob and his sons and whole household arrived in Goshen

Joseph announced to Pharaoh their arrival and presented his family

Pharaoh followed through his promise to Joseph that they could come

They were given the land of Rameses which was one of Egypt’s best lands.

If you trace back the story of how Joseph arrived in Egypt, it is so far from this scene we see at this account. Joseph was now ruler of Egypt second to the Pharaoh. He is treated as one of the Egyptians and his entire family were privileged to live in the best of Egypt.

REFLECTION

  • How can Pharaoh extend such generosity to Joseph’s entire family?

GENESIS 46 FATHER AND SON REUNITED

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April 7

GENESIS 46

26 All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. 27 And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.28 He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. 30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” 31 Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33 When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

                                                              – Genesis 46:26-34

GENESIS 46 FATHER AND SON REUNITED

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

After Israel journeyed towards Egypt with all his household

He finally arrived in Goshen where they are to settle

Then Joseph came to meet his father whom he hasn’t seen for years

He wept on his father’s neck long enough as they were reunited

Then Joseph sent his brothers ahead of him to tell Pharaoh

They were to report to him that their men were shepherds

Since shepherds were disgrace to the Egyptians

Pharaoh had to know so they could stay in the land of Goshen.

It must have been a relief to both Joseph and Israel to see each other again after many years of absence. In this account, we witness God’s plan for Joseph’s life fulfilled from the dream he gave him. He was sold to slavery so that he can be in authority in Egypt so that the promise of God to Abraham’s offspring will be fulfilled. The remnants of Israel are now taken care of to be preserved in the land of Goshen.

REFLECTION

  • How is Joseph’s life instrumental for God’s covenant promise to be fulfilled?

GENESIS 46 GOD APPEASES ISRAEL TO GO DOWN TO EGYPT

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April 6

GENESIS 46

So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” 3 Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. 4 I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.”5 Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, 7 his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters. All his offspring he brought with him into Egypt. – Genesis 46:1-7

GENESIS 46 GOD APPEASES ISRAEL TO GO DOWN TO EGYPT

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

After knowing that his favorite son Joseph was still alive

Israel took the journey even though he had trepidations

On his way, the Lord God spoke to him in visions of the night

God confirmed to Israel that he need not fear to go to Egypt.

God was with him all the way to see his son who was waiting for him

So went on his journey knowing that he’ll see his son before he dies

All his sons and daughters and all their entire household are to come too

They will all be provided for in Egypt and survive the famine in the land.

Israel must have been over a hundred years old by the time Joseph was sending him to go to Egypt. It is understandable to have apprehensions to travel that far with the entire family with them at that age. He doesn’t know what was going to happen if he did leave Canaan. But the Lord knows his fears and he was appeased in a vision by God himself and he was told that it was alright for him to go and die there in Joseph’s presence.

We are humans and it’s okay to fear at times but for God’s people, he always makes a way to comfort and appease us with the truth.

REFLECTION

  • When has God appeased you when you start to worry or fear about something?

GENESIS 45 ISRAEL’S JOY TO LEARN JOSEPH IS ALIVE

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April 5

GENESIS 45

16 When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. 17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, 18 and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ 19 And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20 Have no concern foryour goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”21 The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. 22 To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five changes of clothes. 23 To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. 24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.”25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. 26 And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”   – Genesis 45:16-28

GENESIS 45 ISRAEL’S JOY TO LEARN JOSEPH IS ALIVE

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

After Pharaoh and his household learned about Joseph’s family

He generously provided for the brothers to go back and get their father

All of Egypt is under Joseph’s disposal and can have all his family back

Israel was overjoyed to know his favorite son is still alive.

After all those years of suffering and grief over Joseph’s absence has now ended. God has used all the sins of Israel’s sons to Joseph to turn it into blessings. He used it for good so that Joseph can be the link for them to see God’s blessings poured on Israel’s family.

REFLECTION

  • How can the story of Israel’s family bring hope to all sinners on earth?

GENESIS 45 JOSEPH’S PROVIDENCE FOR HIS FAMILY

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April 4

GENESIS 45

10 You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11 There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ 12 And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 13 You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” 14 Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him. – Genesis 45:10-15

GENESIS 45 JOSEPH’S PROVIDENCE FOR HIS FAMILY

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

When Joseph revealed himself to his brothers

They were speechless from panic and surprise

Then Joseph laid down his plans for all of them

God placed him in authority so they can survive the famine.

It is to Goshen where their father and all their children will dwell

Joseph wanted them to be near him so he can look after them all

He needed to warrant that they have enough for the next years of famine

Then Joseph kissed all his brothers and their fears were all swept away.

I am curious as to what these evil brothers of Joseph were thinking now that Joseph is a powerful ruler in Egypt. It must have crossed their minds how they were going to explain to their father and confess the truth about their lies about Joseph’s death and how it would impact their relationship with him for the remaining years of his life. They must have panicked and feared what Joseph might do to them, but Joseph’s weeping and telling them his plan to bring them all in Goshen so they can be provided for all the next five years of famine must have comforted them and given them peace. Now they can speak freely and know that Joseph has truly forgiven them and that he is still their younger brother. Joseph’s generosity and providence come from God’s grace.

REFLECTION

  • What does 1 Timothy 5:6 say about taking care of your own family?

GENESIS 45 JOSEPH EXPLAINS GOD’S PLAN

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April 3

GENESIS 45

6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9 Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. 

                                                             – Genesis 45:6-9

GENESIS 45 JOSEPH EXPLAINS GOD’S PLAN

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verse

When Joseph revealed about his true identity to his siblings

He explained to them the famine that had been in the land

God gave Joseph wisdom to interpret Pharaoh’s dream

Which also landed him that position to save the land.

In those years of famine, God wanted to preserve remnants

It was through Joseph that many will be kept alive and survive

Joseph explained God’s plan to his brothers and told them to hurry

He commanded them to get their father Joseph quickly down to Egypt.

In this account, we clearly see God’s wisdom through Joseph. If God wasn’t with him, he would not be able to discern the famine and how to go about preserving God’s people. It was in Jacob’s descendants that God promised a Messiah to save the world. It was through Joseph that he preserved the twelve tribes of Jacob, who is also called Israel. Who would have thought of that brilliant plan if it didn’t come from God? God prepared Joseph for this big task of managing the resources of Egypt all those seven years of plenty so that when the seven years of famine came, it would sustain those remnants of Israel.

It must have left the brothers dumbfounded. This younger brother of theirs knew God’s plan. This brother whom they mocked and plotted to kill is the one saving their lives and has all the authority over them now. What a twist of circumstances.

REFLECTION

  • As Christians, do we know God’s plan for our lives? What is his plan for you?

GENESIS 45 JOSEPH REVEALS HIMSELF TO HIS BROTHERS

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April 2

GENESIS 45

Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.4 So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.

                                                                   – Genesis 45:1-5

GENESIS 45 JOSEPH REVEALS HIMSELF TO HIS BROTHERS

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

When Judah that if Benjamin was captured, their father would die from grief

Joseph could no longer control himself, so he asked all the Egyptians to leave

Then he wept and wailed that even those outside the room could hear him

Joseph finally revealed himself to his brothers and appeased them.

He asked them to come near him and not feel bad for selling him to slavery

Joseph explained how God used it to preserve their lives from scarcity

Then he wanted to know more about their father and he asked them

But they were all unable to answer him as they were all still in shock.

This is the ultimate drama in the life of Joseph where he finally revealed himself to his brothers who had no idea who he truly was. It was a shock for the brothers to hear his revelation as they couldn’t wrap their minds around the events that just happened. They thought they were going to be captives and slaves of the Egyptians and cause their father’s death from losing Benjamin. Suddenly, the tide changes and now, their sins were finally exposed by Joseph’s disclosure. They must have felt so much shame from what they have done to plot to kill him first and then sell him to slavery. They must have feared what revenge Joseph might do to them, but Joseph was quick to appease them that God showed him from the start why he was sold into slavery. It was to save them from death.

REFLECTION

  • What must have gone through the brothers’ minds during Joseph’s revelation?