King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Saturday, January 27, 2024
Chapters: Genesis Chapters 43-45
Message: God’s Life Preserver
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
Yesterday, I took the day off from work to make a two-tiered cake for a baby shower, I thought that this cake will be my comeback, and if I could pull it off then I would know that it is something that God wants me to do. So, I made the cakes and decorated them, and all I needed to do was drive to the church and stack them when I got there. Well, the top part did not make it, it literally fell on its side and was not fixable. I was humiliated, and felt like God was telling me what I feared the most. Then it came to me, forget about the top, so, I took it off and what I thought was going to be a mess turned out beautiful. It was a reminder that no matter how messy life gets, we always have a firm foundation to stand on, [1 Corinthians 3:11-13 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.]
Even though the cake was fixed and everyone loved it, all I could think about was that the cake that fell apart on me. I replayed everything in my head of what I did wrong, especially on the way home and kept telling myself how badly I wanted this to work out and proved that I am no good at making cakes. That was when God told me to stop whining, it was not the cake, it was the box the cake was in. I did not secure it properly so it had no barrier to keep it from falling, but the problem was fixed so I needed to stop obsessing about it. God, definitely has a way of being straight forward about things and if we are going to sit there in our pity party He will be sure to let us know to stop it. It reminds me of what God said to Joshua when they were defeated by Ai.
[Joshua 7:10-11,13 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? 11 Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. 13 Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.]
We can definitely make a mess of things whether it is a test from God, an unrepentant sin that may have not been dealt with, or even someone in our lives has not dealt with. And talk about having a pity party, I imagine that the whole time Joseph’s brothers were home after coming back home to Canaan that all they could think about was what they did to him. As we continue in the reading of Genesis, we learn that the famine was hitting hard across the nations and Egypt hard and for about two years. Now, with Simeon held back in Egypt, and food running out, Jacob, calls for his sons to go back to Egypt.
[Genesis 43:2-7 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food. 3 And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. 4 If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food: 5 But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. 6 And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? 7 And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?]
[as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?] Jacob, wanted to know why they even felt the need to tell the man that they had another brother. I am like Judah, if someone asks me something I cannot tell a lie, and I cannot hide anything, the whole truth comes out along with the explanation. We cannot hide anything anyway, God, always knows and sees everything and one way or another the truth always come out and usually out in public. Therefore, in order to move forward sometimes we must confront the past, and that is exactly what these men were doing. At this point, Judah, still feeling the guilt from what happened with Joseph, puts his own life on the line. While still a little fearful about sending Benjamin, Jacob, knew it was the best thing to do in order to provide for his family. So, he sent them off with lots of gifts and money, and a prayer.
[Genesis 43:11-15 And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds: 12 And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight: 13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: 14 And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. 15 And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.]
[take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels,] I always wondered why they felt like they had nothing to eat if they had fruit, honey, and nuts as I eat those things as meal sometimes. Then it occurred to me that the fruits were probably raisins or other dried fruit and how often I am looking for more to sustain me. Also, there were sixty-six mouths to feed so you can imagine that it would not have lasted much longer. So, the best thing they could have done was bring what they had and then God would supply the rest, [Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.]
[and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.] Joseph, sees Benjamin for the first time in twenty years so you can imagine how he felt, not only in wanting to reveal who he was, but embrace him as well. He was not ready to do that just yet and actually had his servants send them to his house for lunch.
[Genesis 43:18-21 And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses. 19 And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house, 20 And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food: 21 And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand.]
[O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:] Talk about intimidation, and of course they were scared, so scared that they thought they were going to be arrested or worse, especially when they brought Simeon out. The man actually told them to calm down and brought them into the house.
[Genesis 43:23-26 And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them. 24 And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender. 25 And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there. 26 And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.]
[and bowed themselves to him to the earth.] Wow! Talk about a dream coming true. This is the very dream that Joseph to his brothers about, the one in which they hated him and called him a dreamer. Did you ever think, “This is too good to be true.” and just any minute something bad is going to happen?” Well, I imagine that they were feeling the same way, but Joseph, seeing Benjamin for the first time in twenty years could not contain himself, he ran to his room for a few minutes. When he returned the men had a feast like you would not believe.
[Genesis 43:29-31,33-34 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. 30 And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there. 31 And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. 33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another. 34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.]
[and the men marvelled one at another.] This just reminded me of the feast that Jesus with the disciples before His passion, when He told them that one of them was going to betray Him. They all looked at one another as to wonder who it was. This was not the case with Joseph’s brothers, they were actually wondering what was going to happen to them. Here they were stuffing themselves on a feast of food that they probably have not eaten in a while, then watching Benjamin get a whole pile of food, they just had to be thinking that something was up. While Joseph could have told them right there who he was, he did not, he had one more test for them.
[Genesis 44:1-4 And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth. 2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. 3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses. 4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?]
[Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?] What Joseph had the men do was put his silver goblet in Benjamin’s satchel and them follow them to see how they would react when they were confronted. Can you imagine what they all thought as their bags were being checked? “We were with you? We gave you money, why would we steal from you? Who did this?” And Benjamin, he must have wondered why he was being framed as he was innocent of all of this.
[Genesis 44:7-9,12-15 And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing: 8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold? 9 With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen. 12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city. 14 And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground. 15 And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?]
[wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?] In an unconventional way, even though Joseph knew the truth anyway, he was telling them that the truth of who they are will be found out and while the Egyptians would assume that the divine meant their wise men and magicians, Joseph would mean God. And let me tell you, these men began to tell Joseph everything.
[Genesis 44:20-21,27-29,33 And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him. 21 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him. 27 And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons: 28 And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since: 29 And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. 33 Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.]
[let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord;] Judah, was willing to give his own life to let Benjamin go home to their father. This is the same thing that Jesus did for us, who actually descended in the flesh through him, gave His own life so that those who believe in Him will be able to go home to their Father, [2 Corinthians 5:6-8 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.]
Well, after all that, Joseph could no longer contain himself or keep his brothers from knowing who he is. He actually sent everyone, but his brothers out of the room and told them who he was.
[Genesis 45:1-5 Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. 2 And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence. 4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. 5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.]
[for God did send me before you to preserve life.] Joseph, in giving food to save his own family as well as the Egyptians and everyone else in the surrounding areas that were suffering from the famine played a part in the preservation of life. In the same sense, this is what God did for us in sending His only begotten Son, Jesus, who is the bread of life gives all, Jew and Gentile the spiritual food they need in order to preserve their souls. Jesus, is the life preserver of our soul! [2 Timothy 4:18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.]
People are going to deceive us, even loved ones are going to deceive us, but we can find forgiveness through the grace of God. In fact, it is imperative that we forgive them if we want peace within ourselves. This is what Joseph goes on to tell his brothers.
[Genesis 45:7-11 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. 9 Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not: 10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast: 11 And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.]
[Go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph,] Everyone rejoiced, even the Pharaoh, when they heard the news that these men were his brother’s. Now, imagine their faces when they have to tell their father that Joseph is alive. The Pharaoh himself sent for Jacob.
[Genesis 45:14-18 And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him. 16 And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. 17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan; 18 And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.]
[lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan;] They thought the hardest part of all this was that they found out that Joseph was the governor of Egypt, but wait until their father found out. Well, they left Egypt to get the family and to tell Jacob the news, [Genesis 45:25-28 And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, 26 And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not. 27 And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: 28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.]
[And Jacob’s heart fainted,] At first, Jacob, did not believe them, but as soon as he saw the wagons with food and coming for the family he not only believed them, his spirit was revived. He did not even care to hear anymore, all he wanted to do was see his son before he died. This is almost like when the prodigal son disappeared and spent all his inheritance on worldly living then came home his father, he did not care what he did, he was alive, [Luke 15:24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.]
[And Israel said, It is enough;] Just before Jesus died on the cross, He said, “It is finished”, [John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.] This means that the work that He came here to do in that He would become the one and only sacrifice to give eternal life to all souls who believe in and receive Him was fulfilled. We all have work to do while we are here, and life is messy, we are all guilty of having doubts, fears, lack of faith, and even unrepentant sin that has yet to be addressed in order for us to move forward. I love what the man who came to Jesus said when he begged Him to remove the evil spirit that possessed his son, and I even ask God to do this, [Mark 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Genesis 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for forgiving and forgetting all my sins when I accepted Your Son as my Saviour. You have also taught me the importance of forgiveness, I may never forget what they have done, but I have overcome and am a witness and testimony of how blessed I am through the situations You placed or allowed in my life. Lord, Lead me and guide me, walk with me, and give me Your mercies and grace to endure every situation You place me in, teach me how to love like You love, to forgive like You forgive, and to use every situation as a guide to the good that You have yet to show me. Let every person that I come to know see Your Son in me, and may it bring them to accept Him as their Saviour too. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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