February 26 (Adar 2) ~ Genesis 47

SOJOURNERS

S - Scripture: Genesis 47:1-31

So Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty; few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have they attained the years that my fathers lived during the days of their pilgrimage." v.9


O - Observations:

Jacob talks about his pilgrimage in his life. The word used here is translated pilgrimage or to sojourn which means to abide, dwell in, dwell with, remain, inhabit, to be a stranger, to temporarily dwell, to wander, a pilgrimage.

Here Jacob moves his family to Egypt and settles in the land of Goshen. Jacob meets Pharoah and blesses him. The famine continues. We don't know what year this was now, but the text tells us all the money was gone from the people and the only way for them to buy food was to trade their livestock for the grain that year (v.17). Once that year was over and all the cattle and herds belonged to Pharoah and Egypt the people needed a way to continue to buy grain so they began to mortgage their land to the government of Egypt (v.20) and the people became slaves to the government and they were instructed to "seed the land" and give 1/5th of the harvest back to the government of Pharoah.

In the meantime Jacob (Israel) and his family lived in the land acquiring property and becoming very numerous. 17 years had come and gone since Israel had moved to Goshen and now Jacob is ready to die with one request that his body not be buried in Egypt and in Chapter 50 we see the family and much of Egypt actually going to bury the 3rd Patriarch, Jacob.


A - Application for me today:

We live or pilgrim in tough times. Some people are around us, perhaps you, are experiencing famine to a degree through difficulty in making payments, to get food or other provisions for your family or through loss of job or decrease in retirement funds.

Here in America we have experienced soaring gas prices, granted now they are better than they were last Fall, but the soaring gas prices affected our food prices which have remained high even though the cost of gas has decreased. We have seen an increase in many of our other cost of living expenses as well.

Many people had or are having trouble making payments on their homes and providing food for their families and because of this the housing market was affected and this has caused banks, mortgage and loan companies, and insurance companies to struggle and some to fail. Because of this these lending institutions, hundreds of companies and businesses have begun closing their doors, or vastly reducing their overhead by laying off workers.

The closing of these factories and businesses have thrown hundreds of thousands of people out of work this past year alone. You don't have to look far to see the times we are living in. This picture are the headlines I saw when I logged into my computer this morning:


In the near past we witnessed the government stepping in to “bail out” or outright “buy out” the banks and other lending institutions in order to save the lenders from financial collapse. Who is going to end up owning everything?

I am not a "self-proclaimed prophetess" or an alarmist trying to compare these times of Egypt with the days we live in, but I do see some definite correlations of the famine and how the government stepped in then and now. Many of us have given all the money we have to "buy grain", we have nothing left but to start selling off our "cattle or herds" to buy food for our tables. How many of us recently have sold something to get a little extra cash to make ends meet? I have ... what's next? When all the "herds" are gone what does that leave but our homes, our land and ourselves ...

On January 28 Obama announced his $825 billion bailout plan. This comes on top of President Bush’s $700 billion bailout of just a few months ago. Where will the money come from? Obama’s bailout plan, added to the FY 2009 budget deficit he has inherited from Bush, opens a gaping expenditure hole of about $3 trillion. Who is going to purchase $3 trillion of US Treasury bonds? Not the US consumer. The consumer is out of work and out of money.

The stock market decline has destroyed about 45% of the IRAs, 401Ks, and other equity investments. Americans are facing tremendous unemployment and hardship.

In ancient Egypt the only way to escape famine and death was to “Go unto Joseph,” Genesis 41:55. Today, the only way to escape what is coming upon the world is to flee to the Messiah, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Yeshua, of whom Joseph was a type. But hurry! As I write time is short “…make your calling and election sure…” 2 Peter 1:10. “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon,” Isaiah 55:6-7.

Certainly I am not saying that coming to Christ will make all your financial problems go away, even Jacob and his family had to go through the tribulation of the 7 years of famine, but when we "go unto Joseph", our Messiah, we can have a certain amount of peace and have HIS Wisdom on what to do and we can know that we are just pilgrims, sojourners, for a short time here, few and unpleasant as they may be. We can watch the news and the things going on around us knowing that we have a place being prepared for us ... this is just a temporary dwelling!

Your statutes are my songs In the house of my pilgrimage. Psalms 119:54


P - Prayer in response:

LORD of my future, I come to you knowing that times are difficult. Each of us are in some way affected by the financial stresses of today. Many of us know of people who have recently lost their jobs and have anxieties about what the future holds. We are or know of those in their retirement years that are struggling and who see their savings being depleted and wonder what their remaining days will be like. Those with young children have concern for their future. These are tough times, but You Oh LORD know the beginning from the end. Let your statutes be my song in my pilgrimage.

Amen & Amen.

Just as Egypt wasn't Jacob's home and one of the reasons he didn't want to be buried there, this world is not our own ... we are going home ...

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All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You without money, come, buy, and eat! (Isaiah 55:1)


Day 18: Love seeks to understand

How blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding. —Proverbs 3:13

TODAY’S DARE

Prepare a special dinner at home, just for the two of you. The dinner can be as nice as you prefer. Focus this time on getting to know your spouse better, perhaps in areas you’ve rarely talked about. Determine to make it an enjoyable evening for you and your mate.