Day 16: Genesis 47, 48, 49 and 50

Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff (Genesis 47:31).

I can envision this old man (even though some might say he seems young for 130) full of years and full of life, looking out over the land of Goshen, but not seeing the fields or the sheep. He sees the years of his life: conspiring with his mother to get his brother’s blessing, twenty years working for his Uncle Laban, wrestling with God – at this point he automatically and without thinking reaches down to massage his hip – his reunion with Esau, the death of his sweetheart Rachel, the loss of his son Joseph; Jacob (himself an accomplished deceiver) now deceived by his sons, the famine, his astonishment at hearing Joseph was alive and then seeing him once again, second-in-command over all of Egypt.

What a life! There was good and there was bad. There had been things that brought him shame and some that brought him honor. There were times God’s will was accomplished in his life, not in cooperation with Jacob, but in spite of Jacob. It was like a tapestry being woven from the day of his birth, some of the threads beautiful and some ugly. Only now, in looking back, was he able to see the hand of his God – the God of Abraham, Isaac and yes, the God of Jacob.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

What are you fretting about today? Could these be the very threads God is weaving into a beautiful tapestry for tomorrow?

Day 15: Genesis 43, 44, 45 and 46

My son Joseph is still alive! (Genesis 45:28).

Jacob’s favorite son had been sold into slavery by his brothers. The evidence they planted convinced him Joseph had been torn apart by wild animals. Meanwhile their brother was transported to Egypt where, without God’s involvement, there was no way the family would ever be reunited.

Time attenuates but does not erase a father’s loss. Then Canaan is hit with the worst famine Jacob can remember from his considerably long lifetime. Who would have thought this hunger sweeping his land would give Jacob reason to rejoice after everything he’d been through? Apparently the fat lady wasn’t singing yet.

Jacob’s sons return from their latest trip with the incredible news that Joseph, the beloved son Jacob had long thought dead, is not only alive and preparing a place for them in Egypt, but he’s running the place! No screenwriter in Hollywood could have conceived this God-ordained turn of events. Though we may not know details of how our story will end, isn’t it good to know we can trust God to work out everything for the good?

 

The Gloom, Despair and Agony on Me of chapters 37 and 42 becomes the Hallelujah Chorus of chapter 46. Could it be the very events that are causing you pain today will be a catalyst for rejoicing in days to come? Whether we have a good day or a bad day often boils down not to our circumstances, but to our perspective.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

In what circumstances or in what areas of your life does God want to help with your perspective?

Day 14: Genesis 40, 41 and 42

Everything is against me! (Genesis 42:36).

This is a familiar story about famine in the Middle East and a father trying to save his family from starvation by finding food wherever it could be found. In this case food was available in Egypt. Ten of his eleven sons (a twelfth had died from an animal attack) had already made one trip to the Pharaoh’s land. They brought back food and supplies, but had to leave another son Simeon behind. Now they need food again, but have been warned not to come back unless they bring their youngest brother.

Jacob has already lost one wife and one son, both his favorites. His son Simeon is imprisoned in Egypt, and now he is being asked to risk losing Benjamin his youngest son, the only remaining child of his wife Rachel. It seems to him one more loss and he will die. But without food they will all die. And yet, unbeknownst to him, everything is not as it seems.

What appears to him as misfortune (Gloom, despair and agony on me) is actually the providential hand of God getting ready to grant his wildest dream. Jacob has no idea God is working in the background or what he has in store for him and his family.

When was the last time you asked, “Ever had one of those days?” One of what days? You mean one of those days when God is getting ready to blow my mind? Jacob’s story kind of changes the meaning of one of those days, doesn’t it?

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Are you having one of those days? Even if you can’t see it, could God be working in your behalf?

Day 13: Genesis 37, 38 and 39

While Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord . . . showed him kindness (Genesis 39:20,21).

Here we have another one of those Bible quotes that just doesn’t sound right: While Joseph was in prison, God showed him kindness. I might have had the attitude: “If you want to show me kindness, GET ME OUT OF HERE! Better yet, if you were really on my side why did you let me get thrown in here in the first place?” And yet Joseph was in prison for a substantial length of time – estimates suggest as much as ten years.

This son of privilege held captive in an African prison seems somehow changed from the young man sporting his brightly colored coat. The younger Joseph had his father wrapped around his little finger and took pleasure in parading that fact among his brothers, flaunting his position as the favorite. Joseph among the Egyptians is still a confident man, sure of his relationship with God and willing to stand by his dreams and his convictions, but this foreign national has been humbled by hardship – first being sold into slavery by his own brothers, then falsely accused of being a sex offender and tossed into prison.

Just goes to show: Our plans aren’t always the best way to get us where God wants us to go. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord (Isaiah 55:8).

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Even though it may not have felt like kindness at the time, can you thank God for the times you have been humbled?

Day 12: Genesis 34, 35 and 36

Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me” (Genesis 34:30).

This is one of the R-rated stories of the Bible. Jacob’s daughter Dinah was raped by Shechem, son of the local chieftain. To make things worse, Shechem’s townspeople thought they could use this crime to their advantage and cheat Jacob out of his livestock and property. How’s that for depraved? When Dinah’s brothers heard about the attack, they hatched a plan to avenge her. When the dust had settled, Shechem and his fellow citizens were dead.

Jacob panicked. “What if the other towns of this land join forces against us? We’ll be destroyed!” (v. 30).

Three days ago we read about a dispute involving Jacob’s father Isaac. He chose the non-confrontational route when some Philistine hotheads plugged up his wells. There’s something to be said for diplomacy and allowing cooler heads to prevail. Jacob would also have preferred avoiding confrontation, but now it was too late. His children’s impulsive reaction could not be taken back.

When the enemy is bigger and stronger, it’s usually wise to tactfully negotiate a settlement that doesn’t include getting one’s butt kicked. But sometimes the most important question is not, “What are my odds?” Sometimes the principles are important enough that someone has to stand up for what’s right. Is it possible there are times when it’s better to go down fighting than to compromise?

TODAY’S MEDITATION

When is diplomacy the best path? When is confrontation necessary?

Day 11: Genesis 31, 32 and 33

Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him (Genesis 33:4).

Let’s face it, Jacob was the nerd and Esau was the jock. When Esau returned from a hunting trip, Jacob leveraged a bowl of soup against his brother’s hunger for a double portion of the inheritance. Then Jacob – mama’s boy that he was – cooperated with Rebekah’s plan to cheat Esau out of his blessing too. No surprise, his flimflamming led to a death sentence of sorts, and he hightailed it out of Dodge to save his life. He found a safe haven working for his uncle, which gave him not only room to breathe, but also time to start a family and amass considerable wealth of his own.

Now, twenty years after cheating his brother out of his birthright, Jacob returns home. How will he be received by the brother who swore to kill him?

In reading this chapter, one might be tempted to say, “Happy ending!” But this is not the end of the story. Esau settled his extended family in the hill country of Mt. Seir, near the southern tip of the Dead Sea, to the south and east of Israel. Esau got a bowl of soup; Jacob got an inheritance, and their descendants were enemies for a thousand years. Was it worth it?

TODAY’S MEDITATION

After congratulating yourself on a sweet deal, have you ever found out the price was higher than you originally thought? How could doing things God’s way yield a better result next time?

Day 10: Genesis 28, 29 and 30

The Lord will be my God (Genesis 28:21).

Jacob, his father Isaac, and his grandfather Abraham were almost certainly not monotheistic – that is they did not believe in the existence of only one God. They were henotheistic. Henotheism is the belief that one god is superior among a range of lesser gods. It can also mean choosing to worship only one god, even though one still believes in the existence of other gods.

Listen to Jacob: If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God (Genesis 28:20,21).

Some might say the first commandment betrays the same belief during the time of Moses. You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3). What about during the time of Joshua? As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15). Jacob traveled to Harran in approximately 1700-1650 BC. The nation of Israel’s repeated flirtations with its neighbors’ gods wouldn’t stop until its Babylonian exile (587-536 BC), well over a thousand years later.

Through the prophet Isaiah, God makes it clear: I am the Lord and there is no other (45:5 – also vv. 6 and 18). And yet we worship all kinds of other gods, don’t we?

TODAY’S MEDITATION

What other gods are receiving your worship? Is there anything or anyone keeping you from giving your first love to God alone?

Day 9: Genesis 25, 26 and 27

He moved on from there and dug another well (Genesis 26:22).

Ever notice there’s a lot of biblical material about Abraham and Jacob, but not that much about Isaac? Most of the Isaac accounts have Isaac being passive while things happen to him like, for instance, when his father lays him out on the altar of sacrifice, or when his wife and child conspire to trick him into blessing the wrong son.

For a time Isaac lived among the Philistines. Because they were envious of his riches and nervous about his family’s strength, they blocked up all his wells. He dug a new well, and the Philistines filled it up and it sunk into the swamp. He dug another well and that one burnt down, fell over and it sunk into the swamp. So he dug another well and finally the Philistines left that one alone, and it was the finest well in all the land. (For those who didn’t notice, there is perhaps a small amount of Monty Python [1] inspired poetic license included in this account.)

Not all of us would have responded that way. Most, I would say, would probably have come back with a few other knee-jerk reactions: 1) Throw a tantrum; 2) quit and go home; or 3) beat the daylights out of the Philistines.

Isaac didn’t do any of those things. He just moved down the road, dug another well, and waited to see what would happen. That time, the Philistines left him and his well enough alone.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Do you rush in where angels fear to tread? What could God want you to learn from Isaac? Is restraint sometimes the better part of valor?

Day 8: Genesis 22, 23 and 24

He reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son (Genesis 22:10).

The account of Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son on Mount Moriah is dear to Christians, Jews and Muslims alike… with some significant differences in the Muslim telling. Although the Quran does not give the child’s name, most Muslim accounts state it was Ishmael that Abraham took to the mountain, not Isaac.

Do you notice the parallel between Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his only son borne to him by Sarah, and God’s willingness to sacrifice his only begotten Son?

With his hand grasping the knife, do you think Abraham breathed a sigh of relief when he was restrained from killing Isaac and the ram was provided to take his place? In reading the crucifixion account, do you think a person of Jewish tradition – if that person could put aside his worldview long enough to imagine that Jesus might have been God’s Son – would have noticed the parallel? As the Son was readied for sacrifice, what would be that reader’s expectation? Perhaps as the hammer arced (or arcked – awkward) through the air to connect with the nail and pierce Christ’s hand and feet, would the Jewish reader expect God to make a substitution? A perfect lamb in place of his Son?

But no substitution was made. Christ was the substitution.

Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain (Revelation 5:12).

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Can you thank God today for providing a Lamb to take your place?

Day 7: Genesis 19, 20 and 21

Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains (Genesis 19:30).

When Lot and his family were rushed out of Sodom, the angels told them to run for the mountains: Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away! (v. 17).

Instantly Lot started backpedaling. “Yeah, about that. I’m not overly fond of the mountains, you know – vertigo and all that – dry skin. Couldn’t Witness Protection set us up in a nice little villa somewhere in the valley? …like Zoar?”

Why did Lot resist the angels’ counsel to head for the mountains? Did he have ulterior motives? It seems he left Sodom begrudgingly, and didn’t want to relocate any further away than absolutely necessary. Maybe he underestimated the coming destruction, or was he living in denial? As an objective observer, I think he was holding on to something.

Then the sun came up (v. 23) and Lot shuddered to look at the devastation happening all around him. A tenuous oasis centered in a desert of destruction, suddenly Zoar didn’t look like the vacation getaway it seemed before the sky started raining fire.

And sometime in there Lot’s wife looked back. Was she making sure she and her family were safe? Or was it a look filled with resentment for the life she’d left behind? It was her undoing.

“Hey, those mountains don’t sound so bad after all.”

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Can you acknowledge that God really does know best? Reflect on some examples from your life.

Day 6: Genesis 16, 17 and 18

You are the God who sees me (Genesis 16:13).

This is the story of Sarah’s Egyptian slave girl Hagar. Abraham and Sarah lived in Egypt for a time, and that is no doubt when Abraham procured Hagar for his wife. But Hagar is not an Egyptian name; it’s Hebrew, and means forsaken. What father would name her that? Her Hebrew name, likely given by her mistress, makes her story all the more fascinating.

After Hagar got pregnant with Abraham’s child, she despised Sarah and in return Sarah mistreated her, provoked by jealousy. When Hagar (Forsaken) could take it no more, she ran away to the most forsaken place she could find – the desert. There she had an encounter with God, who assured her that her cries had been heard.

As a woman, a foreigner and a slave, Hagar had no standing in society, and yet the God of the universe found her in the wilderness, met with her and comforted her there. And in the loneliest place on earth she gave God a new name: You are the God who sees me. Can’t you almost hear her? “Even though I am forsaken, you are the God who does not forsake me. Even though I am rejected, you are the God who does not reject me. Even though I am unseen, you are the God who sees me.”

TODAY’S MEDITATION

When you feel forsaken, rejected, forgotten and maybe even invisible; can you take comfort in knowing that God sees you? Is there someone you know who feels invisible? How can you assure them that God sees them too?

Day 5: Genesis 13, 14 and 15

The sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure (Genesis 15:16).

God warns Abram that his descendants will be enslaved in a foreign land for a time. Even though this sojourn in Egypt was one of metamorphosis – they went down as a family and returned as a nation – it has been portrayed as a tragic period in their lives.

But what was going on in Canaan during the 400 years Abraham’s descendants were away? What was percolating under the surface? The writer states that a wickedness was taking hold of the Amorite people – a wickedness that had not yet reached its full measure.

What would have become of the Hebrew people (though they weren’t yet called that) if they had remained in Canaan? Is it possible the wickedness that had taken root in the Amorites, and was now growing like a cancer, would have infected the twelve tribes of Jacob too?

Providence often works in the dark. What seems bad at the time, just might turn out for good: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). God loved Israel and was definitely working out his purpose through them. As bad as the Egyptian enslavement might have been, something even worse could have befallen them if they had remained in Canaan.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Can you look back and see how some of your hardest times have turned out for the best? Give thanks for two or three specific examples.

Day 4: Genesis 10, 11 and 12

When they came to Harran, they settled there (Genesis 11:31).

Most authorities say Genesis 12:3 (NASB – And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.) is the pivotal verse of the Old Testament. That may be, but right now it’s a verse in chapter eleven that catches my attention: Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there (Genesis 11:31).

Terah wanted to take his family to Canaan. It was a long journey (a conservative estimate would be about 1,000 miles), and when they got to Harran, they settled there. When I read that my brain takes me in two different directions.

First, I can’t get past the word settled. How often do we have a God-given goal in mind, yet stop half-way, settling for something less than God intended? Is that what happened to Terah? Or…

Second, …can the journey to where God is leading us take more than just one generation? Sometimes we are blessed to take our families all the way; and at other times our kids or even our grandkids will finish the journey we began. Maybe they’ll look back and say, “Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa for taking us far as you could. We wouldn’t have made it without you.”

TODAY’S MEDITATION

How are you progressing on your journey? What will that mean to your grandchildren? What do you want them to say about you?

Day 3: Genesis 7, 8 and 9

Take with you . . . two of every kind of unclean animal (NIV 1984, Genesis 7:2).

When my boys were small, we had a beautiful Noah’s ark print framed in their bedroom. Of the many artists’ renderings of Noah’s Ark I’ve seen, I think every single one had the animals assembled two-by-two. Even a casual reading of the story reveals that whereas chapter six calls for two of every animal, chapter seven calls for seven (or maybe seven pairs) of every kind of bird and every kind of clean animal.

Never mind this is pre-Moses and pre-law, and that animals have not yet been catalogued as clean and unclean; or for that matter that it would seem humanity is still vegetarian – it is not until chapter nine that God gives man permission to eat meat – so what would an unclean designation even mean? It is nonetheless interesting that God specifies the rescue of unclean animals.

If God cares enough to orchestrate the preservation of the human race, of whom the writer of Genesis states: Every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time (6:5), and even went the extra mile to rescue not only clean but also unclean animals, should it come as any surprise that God hears our prayers when we find ourselves in deep waters?

Maybe this isn’t just a kids’ story. How often has God preserved you through difficult times?

TODAY’S MEDITATION

What’s that say for approaching storms on your radar?

Day 2: Genesis 4, 5 and 6

Is it my job to take care of my brother? (NCV, Genesis 4:9).

A while back, my family took a train trip to our nation’s capital. We lived for a time in suburban Washington D.C. on the Maryland side, but it had been awhile since we’d visited. We were surprised to encounter so many homeless. On a cold and rainy Sunday morning there were large numbers of impoverished people bundled in dirty blankets sheltered against the elements. At least three people came up to us asking for money, and that’s not counting the wonderful street musicians. I found myself very uncomfortable and avoiding eye contact, as if that made me less responsible to help.

Cain’s question was my question. I was seeking plausible deniability, as if by not seeing I was absolved of my responsibilities.

Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you? (Matthew 25:44). We avoided eye contact to limit our liability! Okay, I added that last part… but you get the point, right?

In the coming days you will have to make a choice. Sooner or later you’re going to come into contact with a brother or sister who needs help. You will choose to either 1) avoid eye contact, or 2) intentionally connect with one of God’s precious children. Will you go for plausible deniability, or will you let God touch someone through you?

TODAY’S MEDITATION

How could you touch someone’s life this week? How will you?

Day 1: Genesis 1, 2 and 3

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

One of the advantages of reading through the Bible in a year is seeing how diversity and unity can go hand in hand. Sixty-six books, dozens of writers, over a thousand years, and yet the finished product is a beautiful unity, made all the more enticing because of its multiple textures and genres.

In 364 days we will focus on the word omega (the end). Three times God refers to himself as the end, always coupled with alpha (the beginning). Even when our struggles seem to be never ending, God is present and faithful and will be with us long after our troubles have been resolved.

Here at the beginning of a new year and a new excursion through the Scriptures, we focus on the other half – the beginning. Again the unity of the biblical texts catches our eye. In the beginning God created (Genesis 1:1). I am the Alpha (Revelation 1:8). You are worthy . . . for you created all things (Revelation 4:11). When we journey through the Old Testament prophets, we will find a repeating theme in new beginnings beyond each ending (judgment followed by blessing). How beautifully the Word comes full circle.

God still creates; God still re-creates; God is the ultimate artist of beginnings. God is the great Initiator, and is at work even now initiating new life in us, and new and deeper relationship with us. Behold, I make all things new (KJV, Revelation 21:5).

TODAY’S MEDITATION

What does God want to make new in you this year?

Day 16: Genesis 47, 48, 49 and 50

Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. (Genesis 47:31)

I can envision this old man (even though some might say he seemed young for 130), full of years and full of life, looking out over the land of Goshen, but not seeing the fields or the sheep. He was seeing the years of his life - conspiring with his mother to get his brother's blessing, the twenty years working for his Uncle Laban, wrestling with God (at this point he automatically and without thinking reaches down to massage his hip), his reunion with Esau, the death of his sweetheart Rachel, the loss of his son Joseph; Jacob - an accomplished deceiver - now deceived by his sons, the famine, his astonishment at hearing Joseph was alive, and then seeing him once again, second-in-command over all Egypt.

What a life! There was good and there was bad. There had been things that brought him shame and some that had brought him honor. There were times God's will was accomplished in his life, not in cooperation with Jacob, but in spite of Jacob. It was like a tapestry being woven from the day of his birth, some of the threads beautiful, and some ugly. Only now, in looking back, was he able to see the hand of his God - the God of Abraham, Isaac and yes, the God of Jacob.

Could the things you fret about today actually be revealed as threads of a beautiful tapestry tomorrow?

Day 15: Genesis 43, 44, 45 and 46

My son Joseph is still alive! (Genesis 45:28)

Jacob’s favorite son had been sold into slavery by his brothers. The evidence they planted convinced him Joseph had been torn apart by wild animals. Meanwhile their brother was transported to Egypt where, without God’s involvement, there was no way the family would ever be reunited.

Time attenuates but does not erase a father’s loss. Then Canaan is hit with the worst famine Jacob can remember from his considerably long lifetime. Who would have thought this hunger sweeping his land would give Jacob reason to rejoice after everything he’d been through? Apparently the fat lady hadn’t yet begun to sing.

Jacob’s sons return from their latest trip with the incredible news that Joseph, the beloved son Jacob had long thought dead, is not only alive and preparing a place for them in Egypt, but he’s running the place! No screenwriter in Hollywood could have conceived this God-ordained turn of events. Though we may not know details of how our story will end, isn’t it good to know we can trust God to work everything out for the good?

The Gloom, Despair and Agony on Me of chapters 37 and 42 becomes the Hallelujah Chorus of chapter 46. Could it be the very events that are causing you pain today will be the catalyst for rejoicing in days to come? Whether we have a good day or a bad day often boils down not to circumstances, but to perspective.

How's yours?

Day 14: Genesis 40, 41 and 42

Everything is against me! (Genesis 42:36)

This is a familiar story about famine in the Middle East, and a father trying to save his family from starvation by finding food wherever it could be found. In this case food was available in Egypt. Ten of his eleven sons (a twelfth had died from an animal attack) had already made one trip. They brought back food and supplies but had to leave another son Simeon behind. Now they need food again, but have been warned not to come back unless they bring their youngest brother.

Jacob had already lost Rachel his wife and Joseph his favorite son. Simeon was imprisoned in Egypt and now he was being asked to risk losing Benjamin his youngest son, the only remaining child of his wife Rachel. It seemed to him one more loss and he would die. But without food they would all die. And yet not all was as it seemed.

What appeared to him as misfortune, (Gloom, despair and agony on me...) was actually the providential hand of God getting ready to grant his wildest dream. Jacob had no idea how God was working in the background or what he had in store for him and his family.

When was the last time you asked, Ever had one of those days? Kind of changes the meaning, doesn't it?

Have you ever had one of those days when God was working in your behalf, but you couldn't see it?

Day 13: Genesis 37, 38 and 39

While Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord . . . showed him kindness. (Genesis 39:20,21)

Here we have another one of those Bible quotes that just doesn't sound right: While Joseph was in prison, God showed him kindness. I might have had the attitude: If you want to show me kindness, GET ME OUT OF HERE! Better yet, if you were really on my side why did you let me get thrown in here in the first place? And yet Joseph was in prison for a substantial length of time – estimates suggest as much as ten years.

This son of privilege held captive in an African prison seems somehow changed from the young man sporting his brightly colored coat. The younger Joseph had his father wrapped around his little finger and took pride in parading that fact among his brothers, flaunting his position as the favorite. Joseph among the Egyptians is still a confident man, sure of his relationship with God and willing to stand by his dreams, but this foreign national has been humbled through hardship – first being sold into slavery by his own brothers, then falsely accused of being a sex offender and tossed into prison.

Just goes to show our plans don’t always get us where God wants us to go. My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord (Isaiah 55:8)

Have you ever been humbled? Did it feel like God was being kind to you?