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Daily Devotions

Genesis

Genesis 
Day 
Day 335

"Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; The upright shall dwell in Your presence." Psalm 140:13

Text: Genesis 45:1-28

AN IMPORTANT AND URGENT CONSIDERATION

Joseph sought to impress upon his brothers a solemn truth. They must know that the famine they were experiencing was going to get worse!

“For these two years the famine has been in the land,
and there are still five years in which there will be neither
plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you
to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and
to save your lives by a great deliverance.”
GENESIS 45:6-7

There was high purpose behind God’s will to send Joseph into Egypt. Two purposes were highlighted:-

1. To save the lives of the brothers

If Joseph had not become a high-ranking Egyptian official, the brothers might have perished in the famine! Thousand had flocked into Egypt to buy grain. They might not have obtained all they needed for survival!

2. To preserve a posterity

God had promised to bless the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! In promising that He would bless them, He would also have to especially preserve them! He would have to grant them “great deliverance”.


THE ALMIGHTY HAND OF GOD

Joseph wanted his brothers to know the Lord God as he had come to know Him. Thus he emphasized the following truth.

“So now it was not you who sent me here, but God;
and He has made me a father to Pharaoh,
and lord of all his house,
and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.”
GENESIS 45:8

Who but God Himself could cause Joseph to be promoted to fulfil the following two functions?

1. Father of Pharaoh

Joseph fulfilled this role by being the adviser to Pharaoh. He had gained the highest respect from Pharaoh.

2. Lord of all his house and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt

The Pharaoh had so exalted Joseph that he virtually ruled Egypt. Of course, he ruled Egypt in the Pharaoh’s name, nevertheless he wielded tremendous power in the land. Who could imagine that a young Hebrew shepherd lad could arrive at this exalted position? This was humanly impossible. But nothing is impossible with God!