50 day journey to Christ - Day 10

Daily Reading
Genesis 46

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

46 Israel set out with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba, and he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. ² That night God spoke to Israel in a vision: “Jacob, Jacob!” He said.

And Jacob replied, “Here I am.”
³ God said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. ⁴ I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you back. Joseph will put his hands on your eyes.”
⁵ Jacob left Beer-sheba. The sons of Israel took their father Jacob in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him, along with their children and their wives. ⁶ They also took their cattle and possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan. Then Jacob and all his children went with him to Egypt. ⁷ His sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters, indeed all his offspring, he brought with him to Egypt.

⁸ These are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt:

Jacob’s firstborn: Reuben.
⁹ Reuben’s sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
¹⁰ Simeon’s sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.
¹¹ Levi’s sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
¹² Judah’s sons: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.
Perez’s sons: Hezron and Hamul.
¹³ Issachar’s sons: Tola, Puvah, Jashub, and Shimron.
¹⁴ Zebulun’s sons: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
¹⁵ These were Leah’s sons born to Jacob in Paddan-aram, as well as his daughter Dinah. The total number of persons: 33.
¹⁶ Gad’s sons: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
¹⁷ Asher’s sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah.
Beriah’s sons were Heber and Malchiel.
¹⁸ These were the sons of Zilpah—whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah—that she bore to Jacob: 16 persons.
¹⁹ The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
²⁰ Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. They were born to him by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, a priest at On.
²¹ Benjamin’s sons: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
²² These were Rachel’s sons who were born to Jacob: 14 persons.
²³ Dan’s son: Hushim.
²⁴ Naphtali’s sons: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
²⁵ These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel. She bore to Jacob: seven persons.
²⁶ The total number of persons belonging to Jacob—his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons—who came to Egypt: 66.
²⁷ And Joseph’s sons who were born to him in Egypt: two persons.
All those of Jacob’s household who had come to Egypt: 70 persons.

²⁸ Now Jacob had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to prepare for his arrival at Goshen.When they came to the land of Goshen, ²⁹ Joseph hitched the horses to his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel. Joseph presented himself to him, threw his arms around him, and wept for a long time.
³⁰ Then Israel said to Joseph, “At last I can die, now that I have seen your face and know you are still alive!”
³¹ Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and inform Pharaoh, telling him: My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. ³² The men are shepherds; they also raise livestock. They have brought their sheep and cattle and all that they have. ³³ When Pharaoh addresses you and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴ you are to say, ‘Your servants, both we and our fathers, have raised livestock from our youth until now.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen, since all shepherds are abhorrent to Egyptians.”

Key - Purple text = words of God,  Bold = Verse of the Day

Think about the reunion of Israel with his son Joseph.  The amount of joy and elation that was felt between both of them as they embraced after being a part for many, many years.  A father reunited with his son after thinking he was dead.  A son, reunited with his father after not knowing if he would ever see him again.  

Discussion Question:  Have you experienced the joy that comes from an unexpected reunion?  What about the feeling when reunited with your heavenly Father after a season of doubt or sin.  

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Prayer - Father in heaven, we come to you today in humilty and rememberance, remebering the day we were reuntied with you!  We thank you for your Love and Mercy and for the fact that you never gave up on us.  Teach us to be like Judah and to go ahead and prepare the way for your reunion with our other brothers and sisters.  In Jesus name we pray.  Amen.


Image Credit - http://heartofwisdom.com/homeschool/?p=3026

Day 6 In Our Reading Plan

Genesis 22

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

The Sacrifice of Isaac

1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he answered.

² “Take your son,” He said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

³ So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.” ⁶ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac.In his hand he took the fire and the sacrificial knife,^[a] and the two of them walked on together.

⁷ Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.”

And he replied, “Here I am, my son.”

Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸ Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together.

⁹ When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.

¹¹ But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

He replied, “Here I am.”

¹² Then He said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me.” ¹³ Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. ¹⁴ And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said: “It will be provided on the Lord’s mountain.”

¹⁵ Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶ and said, “By Myself I have sworn,” this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, ¹⁷ I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies. ¹⁸ And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed My command.”

¹⁹ Abraham went back to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham settled in Beer-sheba.

²⁰ Now after these things Abraham was told, “Milcah also has borne sons to your brother Nahor: ²¹ Uz his firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel the father of Aram, ²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³ And Bethuel fathered Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.²⁴ His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Footnote: Read Genesis Ch. 21

Artwork: Abraham and the Sacrifice of Isaac, by Henry Seabright, 1964

Day 5 In Our Reading Plan

Genesis 15
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

The Abrahamic Covenant

1 After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:  Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield;  your reward will be very great.

² But Abram said, “Lord God, what can You give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”^[a] 3 Abram continued, “Look, You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in^[b] my house will be my heir.”

⁴ Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body^[c] will be your heir.” ⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”

⁶ Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.

⁷ He also said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

⁸ But he said, “Lord God, how can I know that I will possess it?”

⁹ He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

¹⁰ So he brought all these to Him, split them down the middle, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut up the birds. ¹¹ Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. ¹² As the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.

¹³ Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be foreigners in a land that does not belong to them; they will be enslaved and oppressed^[d] 400 years. ¹⁴ However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions. ¹⁵ But you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age. ¹⁶ In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

¹⁷ When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring, from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River:^[f] 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰ Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, ²¹ Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”