Month: September 2024

They said, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.” Exodus 2:19 (Chapter 2)

Moses was born into the home of Hebrew slaves. He had to be hidden in a basket, floated in the Nile and guarded by his sister, to protect him from death at the hands of Pharaoh.  However, a princess found him, paid his own mother to nurse him and then took him as her own child where he was given the finest education to be found.

Jochebed, Moses’ mother, did not waste the few years she was given with her son. She instilled the simple traditions of her faith so deeply that all the allurements of a heathen palace did not tempt him into turning his back on the people of his birth or their God. The first forty years of his life, mostly spent in luxury, did not halt Moses’ compassion for his fellow man.

Moses committed a murder that separated him from his homeland and all he knew. As a runaway fugitive he found himself at a well where women who had come to water their flocks were being accosted by shepherds. Moses defended them and took their manual labor upon himself. The father of these women invited Moses into his home and gave him a wife. As an alien in a foreign land, Moses made a new start, but little did he know, God was preparing him to be the liberator, with a perfectly designed and developed skill set, of His covenant nation.

If you are distracted or overwhelmed by hardship and disappointment, stop and ask what wonders God is preparing you for. Perseverance isn’t for the faint of heart. So, the difficulties we struggle with may simply be fitness training of the soul.  Moses had to grow and learn, and so must we.

Happy Friday,

Gretchen

The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Exodus 1:17 (Exodus 1)

370 years have passed since Joseph was governor of Egypt. The Pharaohs have long forgotten their debt of gratitude and begin to feel threatened by the growing population of Israelites.  This fear led to prejudice and oppression and soon the Hebrew/Israelite children were enslaved. Egypt became the world’s wealthiest and most advanced civilization, all on the backs of this exploited labor. 

God hears the cry of those who are broken and hopeless. Pharaoh’s answer to the growing numbers in a culture he did not approve of, was to murder all the baby boys, but allow the baby girls to live and eventually intermarry among the Egyptians. His objective was genocide. God sent rescue by way of faithful midwives who honored human life rather than the edicts of their government. Among those saved from infant death was a child, from the tribe of Levi, named Moses.

My words sound somewhat political. They are not. I am summarizing a story that displays God’s character and heart. He is good, He is love. Cries do not go unheard and man’s evil is never the end of your story. Pray, trust, hope and know, that God is doing something beyond the visible. 

Love,

Gretchen

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? Genesis 50:20 (Genesis 47-50)

Joseph saves his entire family and the nation of Israel from demise during the seven year drought. Pharaoh instructs Joseph to settle his father, brothers and their families in the best land Egypt has to offer, Goshen. There they remained. When Jacob died, he was honored and mourned as if he’d been a king. After he was embalmed, in the Egyptian style, he was returned to Hebron and buried with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah and his own wife Leah. This burial cave was the only land owned by an Israelite, but someday Israel would be given the entire region of Canaan. Years later, when this nation returned to claim Canaan, they took Joseph’s bones with them, just as he had asked them to do.

Following the death of their father, Joseph’s brothers felt less secure in his good graces so they forged a letter from their father imploring Joseph to take care of them. Joseph’s response is above. His righteousness shines through. Man’s deeds, or misdeeds, will not determine his actions, only God has that authority.

It is easy to see God at work through the faithfulness of man, but less clear when devious and self-interested men allow personal ambition to hurt others. But, the character of God is loving. He takes care of us no matter where we find ourselves. What man means for evil, God will make good and bless others too.

Love,

Gretchen

But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. Genesis 45:7 (Genesis 42-46)

These chapters hold one of the most beautiful stories in the Bible. Joseph, who was sold into slavery and presumed dead, has ascended to the highest realms of Pharaoh’s government. As was foretold in Joseph’s youthful dreams, he is now in a position of authority over the same brothers that planned his demise. However, Joseph has a heart of love and forgiveness and the father and son who thought they would never meet again have a beautiful reunion. When Jacob dies in the foreign Land of Goshen, Joseph, along with his own sons, returns his father’s remains to Canaan.

When God made his covenant with Abraham He established a Messianic line that began with Abraham and ended with Jesus. The first five links in this chain are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and Perez. No Joseph to be found! The family line descends through Joseph’s older brother Judah, who was not a very nice person!! Four of these men were guilty of egregious sin. If not for Joseph’s holiness and faith, the covenant nation would have ended in it’s fourth generation.

From the beginning, God’s covenant nation struggled to survive. Man’s sin, and now an act of nature, threatened to end all for the Hebrew people. But God prevailed! He made a way. A pesky little brother became the victim of hatred, but he rose to become the second most powerful man in the most powerful government of that time. Joseph found he was liberated from other’s destructive and sinful behavior when He hoped and trusted in God’s providence. Do right, do good, never take your eyes off the Throne and He who is seated there. The Kingdom of God will withstand ALL forces of opposition.  It is the winning team!

Have a Terrific Tuesday!

Gretchen

“I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”  Genesis 41:16 (Genesis 40-41)

A very quick summary of these two chapters is difficult because they tell a detailed story, but the skeleton narrative is, Joseph has been a slave for thirteen years. While in prison he explains the dreams of the Pharaoh’s chef and butler.  The chef dies, the butler is restored to his position, but forgets to bring Joseph’s name before Pharaoh for a pardon. Two years later Pharaoh himself is disturbed by a vision his magicians cannot unravel. Spoiler! Joseph goes from prisoner to governor in the blink of an eye.

Pharaoh’s dream foretells of seven years of bountiful harvest in the Nile valley, then a drought extending way beyond Egypt’s borders will place many nations in peril. The job of being prepared for both feast and famine is passed to Joseph and he does a stellar job.

Although not part of the Messianic family tree, Joseph takes up quite a lot of space in the story of the Hebrew people.  Egypt was not the brutal, enslaving power we see in Moses’ time. Joseph was judged on his own merit, not pedigree. His steadfast faith and determination toward righteousness made him a vital instrument in Israel’s survival (see details in tomorrows story). Maybe God is showing all of us that the little man, with faith as his strength can quietly change the world.

Have a Marvelous Monday!

Gretchen