The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 18 November 2020 – Fulfilling Of Prophecy Ignited
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Topic: Fulfilling Of Prophecy Ignited
Read: Genesis 46:26-34 (NKJV)
- All the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt, who came from his body, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, [were] sixty-six persons in all.
- And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt [were] two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy.
- Then he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out before him [the way] to Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen.
- So Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; and he presented himself to him, and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.
- And Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you [are] still alive.”
- Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and those of my father’s house, who [were] in the land of Canaan, have come to me.
- ‘And the men [are] shepherds, for their occupation has been to feed livestock; and they have brought their flocks, their herds, and all that they have.’
- “So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’
- “that you shall say, ‘Your servants’ occupation has been with livestock from our youth even till now, both we [and] also our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd [is] an abomination to the Egyptians.”
THE MESSAGE:
In today’s reading, Israel arrives Egypt with all members of his household, fully prepared to take permanent residency, a development which essentially marked the beginning of the fulfilling of the divine pronouncement in Genesis 15:13-14. He dispatches Judah – the fourth of his children – to announce their arrival and to inquire from Joseph the way to Goshen. This was a leadership responsibility that should have traditionally fallen on Reuben. But it does appear that Judah had previously asserted himself. Jacob’s meeting with his favourite son who had been formerly declared dead was a testimony so touching that Jacob would declare his readiness to die, not in the sense that he had become tired of life itself but as a tacit declaration of his satisfaction with the miracle of having a lost treasure restored to him.
Worthy of note in this passage also is Joseph’s wise scheme to ensure that Israel settled in Goshen, distinctly separate from their hosts. Three things would be achieved: They would settle in the choicest part of Egypt; they would enjoy relative freedom to exercise their faith, and would not be tainted by the idolatrous posture of their hosts, as should be the case with all children of God.
PRAYER: Grant, Oh Lord, that I shall live to see your goodness in the land of the living.
