“Glory to the Precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ”

Isaiah 44: 21, 22 “Remember these, O Jacob, And Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me!

I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen

Hallelujah

Obedience to the Word of God - will be the reason for Godly fear and eternal salvation

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the past days we saw how God reveals himself to Israel, which he shows through Joseph as a pattern and how in our lives the sins and iniquities that we have done,  all these should be confessed to God and we must receive forgiveness, repent and when we get baptized God reveals himself to us. We meditated on the word of God in the past days regarding this. If God is revealing himself in this manner, we must receive salvation from God. The salvation that we have received, we must protect it daily and we must obey God always.  That is what, in Hebrews 5: 7 - 10 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,”

From this, what we must know is that we, who have taken a covenant with Christ should walk with great godly fear and obedience and if we will offer supplications to God all those who obey will be able to attain eternal salvation.

In Joseph's life, his wife, the daughter of Poti-Pherah, Asenath bore two sons Manasseh and Ephraim to Joseph. The elder one was called Manasseh and the younger one Ephraim.

When Jacob and all his family were leaving Beersheba and were going to Egypt, in order to tell Joseph to come to Goshen to meet him, Jacob sent Judah before him to Joseph,  And they came to the land of Goshen. 

So Joseph made ready his chariot and climbed on it 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.

Genesis 46: 30 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?’ 

Genesis 46: 34 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.”

In this manner, Joseph went and told Pharaoh just like what he had told and told him that his father and brothers are in the land of Goshen and he took his five brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.

Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, that they are shepherds, and they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”

Then Pharaoh agreed to it and told Joseph Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land;  let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.”

When Jacob and all his family were coming to Egypt, he stayed in the land of Goshen and from there he sent Judah to Joseph and we see that he tells him to came to the land of Goshen to meet him.

Jacob and his children, who are the father's of the eleven tribes are leaving from Canaan and going to Egypt because Joseph sent him carts we see that Jacob goes with satisfaction. But they go till Goshen. From there, he sends Judah and we see that Joseph comes to meet Israel, the church. We come to know that the reason Israel, the church goes to Egypt is because of the injustice done to Joseph and for the promise that God gave Abraham, to be fulfilled. Once we become Israel, if we will do injustice towards God, God will send us also in this manner to Egypt. 

But in the life of Egypt, the reason for calling him to the land of Goshen is those who they disrespected, in order to see him and in order for Jacob to see him alive, God gives him the grace. Also he is granting them mercy in the eyes of Pharaoh and he prepares the best of the land in Rameses for them.

In the same way, if we are a Christian just for name sake like Jacob then one day he will call and take us to judge us but we will not know that, but in our eyes it will look like it is a blessing. Our God will give us punishment for the sins that we have done and will correct us and he is the God who delivers us from the hands of the enemy. In order to show this, he takes them to Egypt and shows them as if it is good and there he will reveal the resurrected Christ and through him in order to establish the church, the body of Christ, God shows this as a pattern through Joseph.

Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?” And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” Genesis 47: 10 So Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

And Joseph situated his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 

Then Joseph provided his all his family with good food and took care of them well.

This is because when pressures come due to the food they eat now, this food, that is the word of God will be useful then and God is showing this as a pattern. We must think why those who were in Canaan came to Egypt. How many of us has God taken and kept us in Egypt? The meaning of this is when we do things which are against God's will, our spiritual eyes are closed and we will do the deeds of Egypt. We must realize that the reason for this is us.

 This is because in Deuteronomy 28: 58 If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, The Lord your God.

In Deuteronomy 28: 68 And the Lord will take you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, ‘You shall never see it again.’ And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.

This is what happened to the generation of Jacob, the tribe of Israel. There they underwent tribulations for many years and when they cried out to God, God heard the voice of their cry. We see these things happening after Joseph died and another king arose in Egypt. God gives such a tribulation and from that he gives us a chance to worship in the church and does according to his plan. Now let us think how many of us are doing the deeds of Egypt and are undergoing tribulations from God.  God is showing us these things as a pattern to teach Israelites obedience and prepare the people for eternal salvation and guide us in God's good path. Those who do not obey, those who do not have Godly fear, those who murmured are destroyed. Therefore, we who are God's children, should listen to God's voice daily, obey and serve God with Godly fear, and fight the good fight with faith and let us  all come forward to protect the eternal life.

Let us pray. May the Lord bless you all.

 - To be continued