But his bow remained in strength,
And the arms of his hands were made strong
By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob
(From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
By the God of your father who will help you,
And by the Almighty who will bless you (Genesis 49:24-25a)

Genesis 49 records Jacob’s wonderful, prophetic blessing pronounced over the sons of Israel. This section from the blessing over Joseph presents at least two beautiful things to notice.

The first is the picture behind the phrase, the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob. Earlier, Jacob poetically described how Joseph’s enemies were like archers who shot at him (49:23). Yet Joseph was not defeated, because his bow remained in strength. Why did his bow stay strong? Because his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob.

Consider this picture: a father helps his son to shoot with bow and arrows. The son isn’t strong enough to skillfully handle to bow, so the father reaches around him, places his stronger hands on his son’s smaller hands, and helps him shoot the bow. The idea is that God’s hands were on Joseph’s hands, giving him strength and skill to work the bow expertly. God was there, even when Joseph did not know it. This is true also for you.

The second wonderful thing is found in the five great titles Jacob used for God in these verses. These titles show that Jacob did come to an understanding of who God is. As you read these, ask yourself: “Do I know God this way?”

– The Mighty God of Jacob: He is the God of true power and might, and the personal God.

– The Shepherd: He is the God who faithfully and tenderly cares for His people.

– The Stone of Israel: He is the God who is the stable foundation for His people, both individually and collectively.

– The God of your father: He is the God has an amazing record of faithfulness in past generations.

– The Almighty: He is the God who can do anything, who is powerful and sovereign over all. It is this Almighty, wonderful God who will bless you, bringing His goodness and grace to your life.

Taken together, this is much better than when Jacob earlier referred to God as the God of Abraham or the Fear of his father Isaac (Genesis 31:53). Those titles focused on how God related to Abraham and Isaac, not on how God related to Jacob. Now, in Genesis 49, these five wonderful titles for God shows that Jacob knew who God was for himself.

The same God Jacob promised would make Joseph bend the bow with strength and skill is the God revealed in these five wonderful titles. God wants you to know Him this way, both by the truth of His word and the experience of your life. Do you know Him?

Click here for David’s commentary on Genesis 49

So they said, “You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.” (Genesis 47:25)

Because God moved through the wisdom and bold action of Joseph, the Pharaoh of Egypt had lots of grain through seven years of terrible famine. In first few years, people sold everything they had to buy this grain. Before the famine was over, they sold their land and agreed to heavy taxation in the future to get the grain they needed to survive (Genesis 47:23-24).

In those days, one-fifth – that is, 20% – was considered heavy taxation. In fact, the hungry people who agreed to 20% taxes thought that rate of taxation made them servants or slaves of Pharoah. Many people in the western world today would be thrilled to be taxed “only” 20%. According to some sources, an average person in the USA can expect to pay more than 33% of their income in taxes over their lifetime, and most tax rates in Europe are significantly higher.

Still, in the days of Joseph and ancient Egypt, the people thought it was a good deal to pay 20% taxes for the rest of their lives. Why did they think it was a good deal? Because they recognized that Pharaoh and his grain had saved their lives.

Why were they willing to become servants to Pharaoh? Because he was, humanly speaking, their savior. He and his grain saved them, preserved their lives. If it wasn’t for the grain that Joseph wisely stockpiled because of the divine interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream, the streets of Egypt would have been filled with the withered bodies of the starving and dead. There was no other food to be found in the time of famine. Receiving Pharoah’s grain was the only way to live. Having received Pharaoh’s food, gratitude brought them to humbly serve the one who saved their lives.

Dear believing brother or sister, do you see the analogy to your relationship with God?

By His sacrificial death and victorious resurrection, Jesus Christ has rescued all those who put their trust in Him. Without Jesus they were lost and destined for eternal separation from God. There is no other way to come in right relationship with God: For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5).

Considering all that Jesus has done for us, it makes sense that we would gratefully serve Him.

The people made this arrangement with Joseph hoping to find favor in the sight of Joseph and Pharaoh. This points to a wonderful truth for all those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ. He not only saves our life (You have saved our lives), but He also gives us His favor.

In the riches of God’s grace, He does more than rescue the believer. In Jesus, God then lifts the believer up to a place of favor and blessing.

No wonder we are God’s grateful servants!

Click here for David’s commentary on Genesis 47

And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 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 45:7-8)

Joseph was the victim of cruel abuse, from his brothers, from the Midianites, from the Potiphar’s wife, from Pharoh’s butler, and from many others. Yet, Joseph didn’t think of himself as a victim. He saw God’s good work as greater than the bad things done against him.

We see this in the explanation he gave his brothers, once he revealed himself to them. Joseph explained how the hand of God worked despite the wicked things done against him.

This is how Joseph explained his being sold as a slave in Egypt: God sent me before you to preserve a posterity. Joseph did not diminish what the brothers did, yet he saw that God’s purpose in it all was greater than the evil of the brothers.

When sinned against, we are tempted to fail in one or both areas. We are tempted to pretend that the offending party never did it or tempted to ignore the over-arching hand of God in every circumstance.

It is fair to ask, “Why was Joseph in Egypt? Was it because of the sin of his brothers or because of the good plan of God?” The answer is that both aspects were true. All Joseph’s sorrows had a purpose. God used them to preserve his family and provide the conditions for it to become a nation. Joseph was a victim, harmed by the sins committed against him, but God turned it around for His glory. None of it was for a loss.

Going to Egypt, Israel did not assimilate among the pagan tribes of Canaan. God brought them to Egypt to grow yet remain a distinctive nation.

Years ago, Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a best-selling book titled When Bad Things Happen to Good People. The whole point of his book was to say God is all loving but not all powerful; that God is good, but not sovereign. So, when bad things happen to good people, it is because events are out of God’s control. Kushner advised his readers to “learn to love [God] and forgive him despite his limitations.” Whatever Kushner described, it was not the God of the Bible, the God displayed in Joseph’s life.

In saying, it was not you who sent me here, but God. Joseph realized God ruled his life, not good men, not evil men, not circumstances, and not fate. God was in control, and because God was in control, all things worked together for good.

Have others wronged you? You don’t need to pretend it never happened. Be real about what they did but see with greater clarity the good plan of God in it all.

Click here for David’s commentary on Genesis 45

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So they set him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. (Genesis 43:32)

There is no denying that Joseph, one of the 12 sons of Jacob (Israel), was abused and victimized by many people. These included his brothers, the Midianites who bought and sold him as a slave, his master Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife, and the baker and the butcher in prison. In their own ways, each of these did wrong to Joseph, and there were probably several more that the biblical account never mentioned.

Why? Why did God allow such terrible things to happen against Joseph? Even if we said that God did not do these things by His own hand, it is still true that God allowed them to happen. We suppose God had a purpose, but what was it?

One part of the answer is in Genesis 43:32, a verse explaining some of the dining customs of the ancient Egyptians. When Joseph invited his brothers for dinner, he ate at a place by himself. They Egyptians knew Joseph was a foreigner, so there were three tables at this dinner party. One for the Egyptians, one for the Hebrew brothers, and one for Joseph by himself.

They didn’t eat at the same table because it was an abomination to the Egyptians. According to some sources, in those ancient days, Egypt was one of the most racially separated societies on earth. The claim is that the ancient Egyptians believed that they came from the gods, and all other people came from lesser origins. Therefore, there was little social mixing with foreigners.

This is especially seen in that the Egyptians also ate…by themselves. The Egyptians would not eat with Joseph, much less the strangers from Canaan (the sons of Jacob). Even with all his status and power, Joseph could still not eat with “real” Egyptians.

Here we see the wisdom of God. Before the book of Genesis is finished, God brought the entire family of Jacob into Egypt, where they were isolated from the surrounding people for some 400 years. In that time, they multiplied greatly, increasing to the millions.

If God had allowed the family of Israel to remain in Canaan they would have simply assimilated into the corrupt and godless peoples of Canaan. God not only had to take the family of Israel out of the corrupt environment of Canaan, but He also had to put them among a racially separated people who would not often intermarry or mingle with them. God simply sent Joseph on ahead to make the arrangements.

They couldn’t see it at the time, but God had a great reason for sending Israel to Egypt. God has a great plan for your life, even in the hard times He allows. He has a good and wise reason for it all, even when you can’t see it.

Click here for David’s commentary on Genesis 43

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And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11)

We love the traditional stories about the birth of Jesus, but some of those traditional stories are not biblically accurate. Some of these inaccurate traditions have to do with the wise men from the East.

The Bible never says they numbered three, but we sing the carol “We Three Kings of Orient Are,” and many people assume there were three. The Bible never says they were kings, but that they were an order of Persian wise men – “magi.” Perhaps most importantly, the Bible does not tell us they came on the night Jesus was born, but later – probably when Jesus was in His first year. Seeing the star, the wise men began to plan their journey on the night Jesus was born, and it took them several months to arrive.

We do know this from the Biblical record: they brought at least three appropriate gifts for the Child, gifts also fitting for the Man He would grow up to be.

Gold was a fitting gift for a king. In ancient Persia, whenever one appeared before the king, they had to have a gift of gold. These Persian wise men honored a child as a king. Strange, isn’t it? Children aren’t born kings; they are born princes and later become kings. But this Child was different – He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and will reign from the throne of David, forever and ever.

Frankincense was a fitting gift for a priest. Frankincense is a glittering, fragrant resin that comes from trees. It was used as incense by the priests of Israel and as incense, it is a picture of prayer and intercession in the Bible. This was an appropriate gift for Jesus, our High Priest, and intercessor before God! In Scripture, a priest represents who God is to the people and represents the people before God. Jesus did both perfectly. The Bible says He ever lives to pray for His people.

Myrrh was a fitting gift for someone who would die. Myrrh is a fragrant spice used primarily in embalming. This was an appropriate gift for Jesus, who came to die. Even now, the pale shadow of the cross cast its dark image over the cradle of Jesus; here was a Man born to live, to show us God, to heal, and to teach. But more than anything, He was born to die. On the cross, He bore the judgment we deserved and stood in place for all who would receive Him.

That is a lot for God to put in a cradle – but God did it! We are invited to receive Jesus Christ as our King, our High Priest, and the One who paid the price for the sin we deserve to pay.

Click here for David’s commentary on Matthew 2