THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST: GENESIS AND EXODUS (14)

GENESIS 45-47

JOSEPH’S FAMILY HONORED IN EGYPT

Key Passage: Genesis 47

CHAPTER 45	Chapter 46	CHAPTER 47
A Brother Rejected	A Family Reunited	A Father Rewarded
Joseph’s Secret	Jacob’s Sojourn	Jacob’s Satisfaction

OVERVIEW Joseph, no longer able to maintain the masquerade, reveals his true identity to his terrified brothers. His explanation of recent events (45:5-8) reveals the spiritual perspective that sustained him through years of heartache and uncertainty. In keeping with the prophecy given to Abram (15:13), God assures Jacob that a sojourn in Egypt is divinely approved (46:3). So the entire family of 70 moves to Goshen, which will become home for the fledgling nation Israel for the next 400 years.

When God measures the greatness of an individual, He puts the tape measure around the heart, not the head.

OUR DAILY WALK The contrast must have been striking. Into the court of the most powerful king on earth hobbled an old man dressed in the rough garb of a Bedouin tent dweller. Pharaoh was granting an audience to Jacob out of respect for Joseph. And Jacob, the seemingly insignificant old man, blessed the king (47:7-10).

Pharaoh didn’t know it, but he was being blessed by none other than Israel. For all his immediate importance, Pharaoh would subsequently fade into oblivion. Even his name would disappear from historical records. Yet this old shepherd would continue to occupy a place of honor throughout the centuries. God’s people would be called the “children of Israel,” and God would now identify Himself as “the God of Jacob.” From Jacob’s line would come the King of Kings, who “will reign over the house of Jacob forever” (Luke 1:33).

Appearances can be deceiving. You, like Jacob, may not look like a V.I.P. in the eyes of the world. But you are. Your importance, like Jacob’s does not stem from what you have made of yourself, but from what Jesus has made of you. See if you can complete this sentence 10 ways. “Because I am a child of God, I am____________________.” Then live out your identity today as a child of the King.

INSIGHT “You Did it…He Did it!”

“Do not be distressed…for selling me…God sent me” (45:5) is a classic statement of God’s providence. Looking back, Joseph could clearly see both elements-human and divine – at work in God’s plan.