When Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden God started the process of reconciling mankind to himself. He made himself know to Abram and God made a promise to him that was repeated to Abram’s son Isaac (Gen. 26:1-5), and Isaac’s son Jacob (Gen 28:10-16). “The Lord said to Abram: Go forth from your land, your relatives, and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will find blessing in you (Gen. 12:1-3).” It is this promise of which we are now beneficiaries through Christ Jesus.
Jacob, Isaac’s son, had 12 sons who became the heads of the 12 tribes of Israel (Gen 49:28). Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob, was sold into slavery by his brothers out of jealousy when he was 17 years old (Gen. 37). But God had a plan for Joseph and through the interpretation of a dream he ended up in charge of Pharaoh’s household and all of Egypt (Gen 41). There was a great famine throughout the world and because of Joseph, Egypt was the only place that had grain. Joseph’s brothers came down to Egypt to buy grain during the famine (Gen. 42). Joseph and his family reconciled (Gen. 42-45). Jacob and his 70 direct descendants migrated to Egypt (Gen. 46, Ex. 1:1-5). Over 400 years they grew into a vast number (Ex. 1:7) and the current Pharaoh had forgotten what Joseph had done for Egypt; “Then a new king, who knew nothing of Joseph, rose to power in Egypt. He said to his people, “See! The Israelite people have multiplied and become more numerous than we are! Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase; otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemies to fight against us, and so leave the land.” Accordingly, they set supervisors over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor (Ex. 1:8-11).” Pharaoh also ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill the male babies at birth (Ex. 1:15-22). Moses was not killed at birth. He was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter and raised in Pharaoh’s household (Ex. 2).
Almighty and omnipotent God, we know that nothing can thwart your plans for us regardless of the stumbling blocks that are put in our paths. Help us to love you more each day as all things work for good when we love you. Help us to be grateful for all you give us as you grant us only those things that will help us along the road to our salvation. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Reference:
Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, & Roland E. Murphy, (Eds.). (1990, 1968). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentis Hall, Inc.
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