Written by: Sean Andrews – Church Army
Genesis 48 v 8-11
Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons and said, “Who are these boys?”
Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons that God has given me here in Egypt.”
Israel said, “Bring your sons to me so I may bless them.”
At this time Israel’s eyesight was bad because he was old. So Joseph brought
the boys close to him, and Israel kissed the boys and put his arms around them.
He said to Joseph, “I thought I would never see you alive again, and now God
has let me see you and also your children.”
Notes
“Never give up; never surrender.” This is a catchphrase is from one of my favourite
films. The film is called Galaxy Quest, a science fiction comedy, where the
crew (a group of actors) of a spaceship called the Protector (which is actually
a film set) is seen as the last hope to save a small group of extraterrestrials
some twenty light years away from the earth. Their hope is so deep that from
what they think is a factual television programme, they replicate and duplicate
everything down to the last minute detail, including spaceship and uniforms.
They then put their trust for this one last hope for their survival in a
bunch of actors who they collect from earth, and unbeknown to them a flimsy
cardboard and wooden film set which they turned into a reality.
Jacob, or Israel as he is known in our reading, reminds us of a very important lesson when he says: “I thought I would never see you alive again, and now God has let me see you and also your children.” The lesson is that we should never doubt or give up on God’s promises to us; that when we ask in prayer for God to help change our lives and ways, to help us mend our relationships, he does, little by little, bit by bit. It might not happen overnight or in an instant, but be patient because God hasn’t finished with any of us yet.
Galaxy Quest is an entertaining piece if fiction, but its message isn’t. It’s real and relevant, in the same way that Jesus is real and relevant. He gives hope for us and for the world, and his message is: “Never give up on me, never surrender your faith, because I am with you always.”
Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me never to give up on those around me, help me never to give
up on you, and help me to deepen my faith in you. Amen
Genesis 48 v 12-16
Then Joseph moved his sons off Israel’s lap and bowed face down to the ground.
He put Ephraim on his right side and Manasseh on his left. (So Ephraim was
near Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh was near Israel’s right hand.) Joseph
brought the boys close to Israel. But Israel crossed his arms and put his
right hand on the head of Ephraim, who was younger. He put his left hand
on the head of Manasseh, the firstborn son. And Israel blessed Joseph and
said,
“My ancestors Abraham and Isaac served our God, and like a shepherd God has
led me all my life.
He was the Angel who saved me from all my troubles.
Now I pray that he will bless these boys.
May my name be known through these boys, and may the names of my ancestors
Abraham and Isaac be known through them.
May they have many descendants on the earth.”
Notes
Today’s message is about taking our lead from God, and this can clearly be
seen in the passage from Genesis. Joseph brought both of his children before
Jacob (Israel) for his blessing, and as the tradition had always been, Joseph
placed Manasseh at the right hand side and Ephraim the younger son at his
left. Joseph placed them in this way, because this is how it always had been
done, and the oldest would receive the greater blessing.
But Jacob (Israel) gives each of us a lesson in how things should be done. Instead of sticking with tradition, he crossed his arms and blessed Ephraim with his right hand and Manasseh with his left hand. As he did this he spoke of how God had led him all the way through his life, and it is this guidance from God which caused Jacob (Israel) to break with tradition.
We don’t always have to rely on what our own instincts say and follow the pack. Remember how Jacob said that God had been a shepherd to him, showing him the way to go and how to do things through his life. Take the pressure off your life. Let God shepherd you and guide you through those difficult times and decisions.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, be with me not just at the good times, but help me to realise that
you are with me all of the time. Amen
Genesis 48 v 17-20
When Joseph saw that his father put his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he didn’t
like it. So he took hold of his father’s hand, wanting to move it from Ephraim’s
head to Manasseh’s head. Joseph said to his father, “You are doing it wrong,
Father. Manasseh is the firstborn son. Put your right hand on his head.”
But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. Manasseh will be
great and have many descendants. But his younger brother will be greater, and
his descendants will be enough to make a nation.”
So Israel blessed them that day and said,
“When a blessing is given in Israel, they will say:
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”
In this way he made Ephraim greater than Manasseh.
Notes
I don’t know about you, but I suffered from Younger Brother Syndrome as a child
and young person. As you probably realise, it’s a condition that I made up
to try and explain my feelings when my younger brother used to get all of
the attention. It was always him that seemed to get to go places or do things
that I was never allowed to do. It was him that seemed to get all the opportunities.
I sometimes wondered where I fitted into life, the universe and everything, and how unfair it was. Joseph was suffering from something similar in today’s reading. He didn’t like what Jacob (Israel) had done, and he told him that he’d blessed the two boys in the wrong order by showing favour to Ephraim the younger and giving him the greater blessing. Jacobs’s response was simple. He said that both of them were great and would do great things, but Ephraim in some way would be greater, and that the blessings received by the boys were from God and not from him.
If, like me in the past, you feel that you get passed over and missed out, remember that God often works in such a way that it’s difficult to understand why things happen to us in the way that they do. God has as a purpose for each and every one of us, and you will find that you will be doing the most unexpected things. You just need to trust and let God do the guiding, and in the end his purpose for you will be there in front of you. When it happens, thank him and grab it with both hands and serve, no matter what it is. Trust me - you’ll know when that happens, so get ready.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me to see where you want me to serve you in my life. Amen
Genesis 48 v 21-22
Then Israel said to Joseph, “Look at me; I am about to die. But God will be
with you and will take you back to the land of your fathers. I have given
you something that I did not give your brothers—the land of Shechem that
I took from the Amorite people with my sword and my bow.”
Notes
A promise without strings!
It’s very difficult sometimes to take what people say or promise us at face value. We are often let down by our friends and those close to us by promises that are empty and have no substance or chance of being realised. Because of this, it’s very easy to look at everything that is offered to us with suspicion and a response of: “I’ll believe it when I see it”, or “I’ll believe it when it happens.”
Even though we might get let down by those around us, we can be sure that what God promises us, he delivers. Today, Jacob (Israel) just before his death reminds us that when everyone else around us has abandoned us, God will be there all of the time and for all time.
When Jesus died and was then resurrected on that first Easter day, God started to fulfil his promise to take each of us back to what Jacob described as “the land of your fathers” - into God’s kingdom. Through Jesus he wiped the slate clean for the whole of humankind by his death. Through Jesus’ resurrection he gives us all the hope of eternal life. Through his ascension he left the Holy Spirit to help us and to guide us in our lives. All we have to do is believe in that promise and to accept it at face value, “no strings attached”.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me to realise the promise of the hope of eternal life through
you, and help me realise that you are there with me as Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. Amen
Genesis 49 v 1-4
Then Jacob called his sons to him. He said, “Come here to me, and I will tell
you what will happen to you in the future.
“Come together and listen, sons of Jacob.
Listen to Israel, your father.
“Reuben, my first son, you are my strength.
Your birth showed I could be a father.
You have the highest position among my sons, and you are the most powerful.
But you are uncontrolled like water, so you will no longer lead your brothers.
This is because you got into your father’s bed and shamed me by having sexual
relations with my slave girl.”
Notes
The way that we grow up and develop as people is very much like a race. The
race is between two sides of our characters. The first competitor in our
race is the part of us that does good -that is thoughtful, kind and honest
and often races miles ahead at a pace. The second competitor is the opposite
- the part of us that we don’t like to air out in public, the part of us
that does the things that we aren’t very proud of. What happens in our race
is that this part drops out, or gets lapped and left behind and forgotten.
Our reading today reminds us that at some point in our life’s race our past
will catch up with us and overtake us. At some point we have to take responsibility
for the things that we do - both good and bad - and face up to them.
The message today is a question really, and it is this: “How are we going to positively shape our lives?” - because what happened to us yesterday and today makes us the people we are today and the people we become tomorrow.
We know from our experiences that those around us aren’t always forgiving and understanding, but remember that there is always one person who is willing to listen, without any preconceptions, and is always willing to forgive and understand - and that is God. So today let’s make a promise to let God help us, through our prayer life, to live positive lives that are worthy of him and those around us - our families, our friends and our other contacts that we meet day to day.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me to look towards you for forgiveness, help me to look towards
you for hope, and help me to be positive in my faith and life. Amen
Genesis 49 v 5-7
“Simeon and Levi are brothers who used their swords to do violence.
I will not join their secret talks, and I will not meet with them to plan evil.
They killed men because they were angry, and they crippled oxen just for fun.
May their anger be cursed, because it is too violent.
May their violence be cursed, because it is too cruel.
I will divide them up among the tribes of Jacob and scatter them through all
the tribes of Israel.”
Notes
The commandment “You shall not kill” is a major part of our faith as Christians,
yet in reading this we sometimes concentrate on the physical act of killing,
of murder. However, there is another way we can look at this commandment
through our reading today. In Jacob’s blessing of Simeon and Levi, he mentioned
that yes they had physically killed in anger, but they had also killed in
another way: in their dealings with others behind their backs.
It is very difficult with all of the pressures that are put on us during our lives; with the relationships that we make and build. Friendships and relationships are very fragile and can all too easily be destroyed by a stray word here and a stray word there. It is very easy for us to kill with our words, with the things that we say in secret. Yet we have to be careful, because as Christians we need to be transparent with our friends and those close to us. We also need to be transparent before God, because we know there are no secrets with God.
The message for us today is that anger, gossip, and hurtful words can hurt us and lead us into all kinds of difficulties, not just in the short term, but in the long term with each other. So today let’s try and make a conscious effort to be up-front with each other and to be up-front with God; to avoid going behind each other’s backs and sniping and hurting each other so that we can witness faithfully to the message of God’s love.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me to control what I say to those around me, help me to control
what I say about people when they aren’t there, and help me in strengthening
my witness of your love. Amen
Genesis 49 v 8-12
“Judah, your brothers will praise you.
You will grab your enemies by the neck, and your brothers will bow down to
you.
Judah is like a young lion.
You have returned from killing, my son.
Like a lion, he stretches out and lies down to rest, and no one is brave enough
to wake him.
Kings will come from Judah’s family; someone from Judah will always be on the
throne.
Judah will rule until Shiloh comes, and the nations will obey him.
He ties his donkey to a grapevine, his young donkey to the best branch.
He can afford to use wine to wash his clothes and the best wine to wash his
robes.
His eyes are dark like the colour of wine, and his teeth are as white as the
colour of milk.”
Notes
God uses the most unlikely people to do his work and our reading today reminds
us of this. Judah received the greatest blessing of all the brothers, yet
Judah’s past was somewhat of a colourful one. If you read in Genesis chapter
37, you will see that it was Judah who sold Joseph into slavery - in fact,
he was a bit of a crook - yet God chose him to be the most important royal
line in history that would eventually result in the birth of Jesus.
So why did he choose such a person to carry such responsibility? Why not? Look in Genesis chapter 44 v 33-34 and you’ll find the answer. Judah recognised the mistakes that he made and was willing to take the responsibility for the things that he’d done wrong. In Genesis chapter 44 Judah offered to swap his life for that of Benjamin, which, if you bring that right up to the time of Jesus, is what Jesus did for all of us. Jesus’ life was given so that we might have future hope in eternal life with God.
The message for us today is that through Judah we can learn that it isn’t a good idea to wait until our wrongdoings catch up with us. It is better to admit when we get it wrong and look for forgiveness. Once we do that we can begin to realise our full potential as Christians and allow God to work in other people’s lives through us and through our example. Remember, it’s never too late to change and turn our lives around for God to use them. The exciting bit is that we never know how he is going to use us until it happens, and when it does happen you’ll know.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me to face the things that I have done wrong, and help me
make them right with you. Lord Jesus, help me to serve you in whatever
way you want me to be used by you. Amen
word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes