Death and Restoration


Genesis 46:1-47:12 
http://www.esvbible.org/Genesis 46:1-47:12

With alarming frequency stories emerge in the news about children who have been abducted and are missing for years. I can think of nothing more terrifying than having a child stolen and then wondering what happened to them, desperately praying for their safety and for their return. Sometimes those stories end rather miraculously with the child being returned to their families and sometimes they end in tragedy. Either way, we are horrified and fascinated.

In our reading for today, Jacob has the one thing he never dreamed imaginable; he is reunited with his son, Joseph. His other sons had led him to believe that Joseph had perished in the desert, destroyed by an animal. Twenty-two years later Jacob learns the truth – his son is alive and thriving! Having never been through such a thing I simply cannot imagine the emotional impact this news would have had on Jacob. Overwhelming is probably not a big enough word. He who was thought dead is instead alive and brings with him salvation from the famine. Hmmm – sounds familiar.

In this regard, Joseph can be thought of as a “type” of Christ. He was sacrificed by his brothers and thought dead by his father. When the truth comes out, it is just in time to save the entire region from certain death. Jesus, who was thought dead by everyone who saw Him die is resurrected from that death only to bring with Him salvation from the sin that entangles us and separates us from God. We are then moved to a “new land”. We no longer reside in a life of sin and degradation. Instead we live in the Kingdom of God and will do so for the rest of eternity. We are saved by Jesus from way more than starvation. We are saved from hell itself and that forever. I, who was once dead in my sin am now made alive in the blood of Christ, brought back from destruction by an all-powerful God. While Joseph is not one of the ancestors of Jesus, his story is certainly one of grace and forgiveness.

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