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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more