RTW 2024

Then Joseph said to the people, “Look, today I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh. I will provide you with seed so you can plant the fields. Then when you harvest it, one-fifth of your crop will belong to Pharaoh. You may keep the remaining four-fifths as seed for your fields and as food for you, your households, and your little ones.”

“You have saved our lives!” they exclaimed. “May it please you, my lord, to let us be Pharaoh’s servants.” Joseph then issued a decree still in effect in the land of Egypt, that Pharaoh should receive one-fifth of all the crops grown on his land. Only the land belonging to the priests was not given to Pharaoh.

Meanwhile, the people of Israel settled in the region of Goshen in Egypt. There they acquired property, and they were fruitful, and their population grew rapidly.
Genesis 47:23-27

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And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s entire family, “I will go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘My brothers and my father’s entire family have come to me from the land of Canaan. These men are shepherds, and they raise livestock. They have brought with them their flocks and herds and everything they own.’”

Then he said, “When Pharaoh calls for you and asks you about your occupation, you must tell him, ‘We, your servants, have raised livestock all our lives, as our ancestors have always done.’ When you tell him this, he will let you live here in the region of Goshen, for the Egyptians despise shepherds.”

Genesis 46:31-34

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• Joseph is given more time in Genesis than any other character.
• The rest of Scripture gives more time to the Patriarchs than to Joseph.
• What does the Joseph account help us learn about God?
• Genesis records Creation, the Fall, and the promise of Redemption.
• The promise of Redemption comes through covenants.
• Genesis also records a series of threats that endanger the covenant line…whether by survival or purity.
• Family division and violence threaten the seed’s survival. Genesis 37
• Unrighteousness and intermarriage with other nations threaten the seed’s purity. Genesis 38
• Global famine endangers the covenant line. Genesis 42
• God uses Joseph to resolve each of these recurring problems in Abraham’s family.
• Instead of revenge, Joseph reconciles with his brothers and restores the family by extending forgiveness.
• Joseph settles his family in Goshen, shielding them from cultural influence and intermarriage.
• Joseph preserves his family from famine.
• Through Joseph, God is unraveling the curse.
• The story of Joseph isn’t about how Joseph fulfills the promises of Abraham, but how God keeps His covenant promises through a flawed family.
• God can do the impossible through flawed humans.

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Remember that Joseph’s story is the story of the Bible…and the story of life. Glory through suffering. Exaltation through humiliation. It’s the story of life lived between the cross and the crown.