[Linux4christians] Thursday Genesis 43:1-14

[pastordavid at bibleseven.com]

    Thursday



      Genesis 43:1-14



The Second Journey to Egypt

43:1 Now the famine was severe in the land. 43:2 When they finished 
eating the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, 
"Return, buy us a little more food."

43:3 But Judah said to him, "The man solemnly warned us, 'You will not 
see my face unless your brother is with you.' 43:4 If you send our 
brother with us, we'll go down and buy food for you. 43:5 But if you 
will not send him, we won't go down there because the man said to us, 
'You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.'"

43:6 Israel said, "Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the 
man you had one more brother?"

43:7 They replied, "The man questioned us thoroughly about ourselves and 
our family, saying, 'Is your father still alive? Do you have another 
brother?' So we answered him in this way. How could we possibly know 
that he would say, 'Bring your brother down'?"

43:8 Then Judah said to his father Israel, "Send the boy with me and we 
will go immediately. Then we will live and not die -- we and you and our 
little ones. 43:9 I myself pledge security for him; you may hold me 
liable. If I do not bring him back to you and place him here before you, 
I will bear the blame before you all my life. 43:10 But if we had not 
delayed, we could have traveled there and back twice by now!"

43:11 Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do 
this: Take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and take 
a gift down to the man -- a little balm and a little honey, spices and 
myrrh, pistachios and almonds. 43:12 Take double the money with you; you 
must take back the money that was returned in the mouths of your sacks 
-- perhaps it was an oversight. 43:13 Take your brother too, and go 
right away to the man. 43:14 May the sovereign God grant you mercy 
before the man so that he may release your other brother and Benjamin! 
As for me, if I lose my children I lose them."



      Prayer



Lord, sometimes we give too much information to people who may misuse 
it, give us the wisdom to know what to share and when to take a little 
extra care.



      Commentary


Jacob/Israel's family finally runs out of grain and is faced with the 
need to return to Egypt for more.


The older sons remind their father that they cannot return to Egypt 
without Benjamin. He chastising them for sharing the information about 
Benjamin, not knowing that they were speaking to Joseph, and they 
explain that they had no way of knowing the way that he reacted to the 
information.


Jacob/Israel relented and instructed them to bring the first payments 
plus a second and well as the best of many other special things so that 
they will be well-received, their older brother released, Benjamin 
unharmed, and all return with grain.



His final exclamation was "As for me, if I lose my children I lose 
them.", meaning that he recognized that them not going meant they all 
would starve to death -- so his desire to withhold Benjamin was meaningless.



      Interaction



        Consider this:

Joseph's father and brothers were in a no-win situation, Joseph had the 
food and the power of a huge nation, and they were hungry and powerless.



        Discuss this:

With his experiences with God why do you suppose that the record does 
not show Jacob/Israel ever consulting God about this situation?



        Reflect on this:

Jacob/Israel does refer to the "sovereign God" (El Shaddai), as opposed 
to the "Lord God", which suggests that he still views his relationship 
with God as hierarchical and distant. [Note: Genesis 1 uses "sovereign" 
as God is acting alone in Creation and His relationship with man is not 
yet the purpose of the text, Genesis 2 and 3 use "Lord", which also 
becomes an element of Satan's deception as he persuades Eve to drop 
"Lord" from her title of respect for God.]



        Share this:

When have you found yourself in a no-win situation, partially a result 
of your own prior poor choices, and you initially forgot to invite God 
into your decision making?

When did you finally invite Him and what was the result?



      Faith in Action



        Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you need to reconsider resistance 
to a changed strategy as your circumstances do not allow you the luxury 
of stubbornness -- especially stubbornness born of fear.



        Action:

I will prayerfully consult the Holy Spirit for wisdom and will allow Him 
to direct my decisions -- and to be my courage where I need to make some 
risky choices.




        Be Specific ______________________________________________________



    Friday's text will be:  Genesis 43:15-34


-- 

Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day!  Pastor David
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Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com
Bible Resources: http://bible.org
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