Skip to main content

Daily Devotion: Genesis 43:1-5

By

Genesis 43:1-5    "And the famine was sore in the land. And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food. And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food: But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you."

After the brothers returned to Israel, he would not relent and allow the brothers to take Benjamin and return to Egypt. All this time, Simeon was a prisoner. Surely, Israel must have been in constant turmoil. If he did not send his youngest son, Benjamin, then Simeon would remain a prisoner. 

While this inner struggle was taking place, the land continued to suffer under a great famine. There was nothing to eat there, and the corn they had brought out of Egypt was about to run out. Their families were again facing starvation. The only place to turn was the place that Israel was trying so hard to avoid.

There came a point when he had to make the decision to send his sons back into Egypt to get just a little food. However, Joseph had made it clear that they would not see his face until they obeyed his command to bring Benjamin with them. If they did not see his face, then they would get no corn. Judah finally told his father that they would not attempt to go back without Benjamin.

Sometimes, we can be like Israel. We will sit in turmoil rather than be obedient to what our Governor (Jesus) has said. We resist until it becomes evident to us that we are going to starve without what He has to give us. Even then, we often attempt to do things our way and get “a little food.”

Dear ones, know this. Our Governor has a storehouse of plenty. He is worthy of our obedience, even when it seems hard to our natural way of thinking. We do not have to settle for a little food when we come obediently to the Lord’s bountiful hand!


Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Daily Devotion: Psalm 88:1-4

By
Psalm 88:1-4  A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. "O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:  (2)  Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;  (3)  For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.  (4)  I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength" I've said this before and I will say it again (and probably more times before we get to the end of the Psalms) - I love the Psalms because I can surely identify with them. Most Psalms start in a low place and as the writer expresses his thoughts, the Lord begins to lift him up out of that dry place.  Though this entire Psalm is a fervent cry unto the Lord, the Psalmist tells us specifically in three verses that he cried daily unto the Lord. Just a few Psalms ago, we were reminded that God always hears our prayers. ...
Read more

Daily Devotion (Video): I Will Fear No Evil - Psalm 23:4

By
Read more

Daily Devotion: Knowing God By Bearing Fruit

By
Some will notice the title is not “Bearing fruit because we know God,” so to avoid getting sidetracked with that, we can start with the fact that we won’t bear any godly fruit unless our heart has been changed and the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Also, to avoid confusion, I’ll be using the terms “bearing fruit,” “good works” and “service” interchangeably.  I took this article’s title from Part 7, of John Piper’s “Look at the Book” session on Colossians 1:9-12. I greatly encourage you to view that short video to get his excellent exposition on this subject.  When I saw the title of the video earlier this year, I got kind of excited because that’s the direction my thinking has gone in the past several years. My thinking was founded Biblically with verses on good works like Matthew 5:16 – “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father, who is in heaven.” But I couldn’t expand it to expla...
Read more