Scripture

“So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me adviser of Pharaoh- the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.”

Observation

Joseph has become the top leader in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. His brothers have come seeking aid in the famine and have not recognised their long lost brother.

Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers. Rather than being angry with them for their ill-treatment of him, he recognises that God is the one who sent him to Egypt for all of their sakes.

Joseph tells them to go and tell Jacob their father to come with the extended family and live in the region of Goshen until the famine ends.

Application

Joseph is an example of a mature man of faith.

Firstly, he sees his whole life, even the bad parts, as being directed by the Lord for the long term good of himself and his family.

Secondly, he has learned to forgive this brothers for callously selling him into slavery.

Both of these are big challenges in all of our lives- faith and forgiveness.

Prayer

Lord, please help me to see your hand in every part of my life and to always forgive those who hurt me. Amen.

Scripture

“Know tat I am with you and I will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for O will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you.”

Observation
Jacob leaves Beersheba and heads towards Haran looking for a suitable wife. He sleeps at a particular place along the way and dreams of a ladder reaching to heaven with angels coming and going upon it.
The Lord appears to Jacob and confirms the promise made to Jacob’s father Abraham. He promises that Jacob’s offspring will be like the dust of the earth and that the Lord will go with him.
Jacob wakes up and sets up a memorial stone. He calls the place Bethel, meaning House of God.

Application
Jacob was seeking a wife, but found God first. It would take another, more violent, encounter with the Lord before Jacob would be surrendered to the Lord’s purposes.
The Lord is always with us- we cannot flee from Him. He is often reaching out to us. But, because we a re preoccupied with our own concerns, we miss Him.
We need to be ready to hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit at any time, not just when we are seeking Him.

Prayer
Father, I thank you that you are constantly revealing yourself to the hearts of men and women. Help me to listen to your voice in the midst of daily living. Amen.

Scripture

And Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother Sarah’s tent, and she became his wife. He loved her deeply, and she was a special comfort to him after the death of his mother.

Observation

Abraham, now very old in years, sends his servant to the region he had come from to find a suitable wife for Isaac. The servant finds Rebekah, sister of Laban. He proceeds to tell Laban and his father Bethuel of his mission and his desire to take Rebekah home.

Laban and Bethuel agree to the request. The servant then brings gifts of clothes and jewellery for Rebekah and her family.

The servant then takes Rebekah to Isaac and they are married.

Application

To our ears the idea of sending a servant to a distant land to find a wife for your son seems somewhat unromantic. In those days, finding the right wife for your sons was an important task which affected the whole family, and who better than a trusted senior servant? Whatever our opinions, it worked for we are told that Isaac loved Rebekah deeply.

The servant clearly trusted the Lord for the fulfilment of his mission. It must have seemed like finding a needle in a haystack, but the servant prayed for success.

Whatever we are called to do, prayer and trust in the Lord can make the impossible mission achievable with far less effort than we might have thought.

Prayer

Father forgive me for the times when I rely on my own resources instead of trusting in you. Help me to remember to hand over every impossible mission to you and grant me success in those things you call me to. Amen.

Scripture

“Come lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand for I will make a great nation of him.”

Observation

Sarah bears a son for Abraham in their old age. Isaac grows and Sarah becomes jealous of Hagar and Ishmael. She demands that Abraham sends them away. Abraham is reluctant to do this, but God tells him not to be worried. Although Isaac is the child of promise, Ishmael will also father a nation.

Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael away with some food and water. They wander in the wilderness near Beersheba. When the water is gone, Hagar places Ishmael under a bush and goes some distance away. God opens her eyes to see a well.

God is with the boy and he grows up in the wilderness.

Application

Sometimes we act outside of God’s perfect will. Abraham had tried to make God’s promises come true by sleeping with his wife’s servant. Trouble arose later but it didn’t mean that God would wash his hands of Ishmael.

God keeps His promises to us despite our sinfulness.

He also brings unexpected blessings out of our mistakes. That’s not to say that there are no consequences- Ishmael’s descendants continue to fight against Isaac’s to this day.

God takes our high points of faith and our monumental catastrophic failings and weaves them together to achieve His purposes.

Our sins don’t have the last word.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for the story of Ishmael and your provision for him in the desert. Please help me to be faithful to you all the time, and when I fall redeem my mistakes and forgive my sin. Amen.

Scripture

God saw everything he had made and it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Observation

In the beginning is God, and He commences His work of creation. What starts off as being formless and chaotic becomes ordered and productive.

Over a period of six days, by His creative word, God commands all things into existence, including people.

God’s verdict at the end of His work is that it is very good.

Finally God rests, and in doing so, He creates the Sabbath.

Application

At the heart of all creation is the hallmark of a God who is good. The creation which God makes is very good, although after sin enters the world chaos once again threatens to engulf God’s world.

Everything that is not the Lord is created by Him, and is therefore less than Him. We are a part of His creation and so we are not gods even if we sometimes think we are. The gods which people worship are also less than God- whether we think of creation, idols or crystals. These things are all subject to the God who reigns over all things.

Prayer

Father, you made all things in six days, and you continue to hold all things together. Please help me to give you true worship and surrender myself to you. Amen.

Scripture

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.

Observation

The Lord gives the man the instruction to care for the garden. Everything was there for him, but he may not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Later, the serpent comes to Eve and says “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’ “ Eve explains the Lord’s command, but satan misrepresents what the command is about.

Eve is seduced by the promise of the tree and so she eats the fruit. She also gives some to Adam.

Application

Just one job- and they blew it!

One thing was forbidden- one tree out of millions. How hard could it be?

We face temptations every day. Like Eve we know the command, but we wonder if the pleasure of the sin is worth the likely consequence.

Eve was tempted by three things:

• appeal to the flesh (good for food)

• appeal to the senses (good in appearance)

• appeal to pride (good for wisdom)

These are the same hot spots that satan presses today.

We need to be conscious of our vulnerability and always prepared to resist the lies of satan.

Prayer

Holy Spirit make me holy. Strengthen me to stand firm before all temptation and to remain faithful to you. Amen.