Ephraim

Genesis 48:9 Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.” And he said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.” 

Some detailing in the book of Genesis attracts our attention and God has messages teaching to us through them. One incident is the choice of Ephraim over Manasseh. Since Jacob had strengthened himself and got up from his bed, we can read the importance of the message he is about to convey to his son. This message is an important revelation from God.

Jacob starts the message with the incident at Bethel which God had promised to give to his sons. But he substitutes Rueben and Simeon with Ephraim and Manasseh as he thought that the first two had disappointed and so, Ephraim would inherit Bethel. This inheritance is the best as we read how the tribe of Ephraim grew up really well in the time of prophets and the kings. The larger northern kingdom was referred to as the kingdom of Ephraim a lot of times (Is 7:17). We also read that Jacob mentions that he has a place on the way to Bethlehem where Rachel was buried. This place could have been Jerusalem which became the capital of Israel. Ephraim had grown well but because of his self-centeredness, Ephraim was completely lost with the other ten tribes of Israel. Some people claim that Ephraim became England and Manasseh became USA. Even though these are theories, we can take them as prophesies fulfilled in Jeremiah 31:20.

When the first two sons sinned, the sons of Joseph who were brought up in Egypt are substituted. This is the eternal wisdom of God which still fulfills Abraham’s promise through us as we become his seed through Jesus. Also, the second is blessed more than the first son which removes the seniority in the church. We depend on Jesus completely and exalt him alone. God is very specific to remove the status of being the first born.

When blessing the lads, Jacob uses three terms which are God before whom the patriarchs walked, the God who had fed them and the Angel who redeems which also points to the Holy Trinity. The blessing “let my name be upon them” explains that the name of Joseph should not be upon them as the kids were brought up in a different environment. Joseph initiated this as he mentions “the sons God gave in this land”. God in the three forms has to come together to remove this Egyptian identity and make us children of promise.

Now, our lesson is how God yearns and has wonderful plans for exalting us and we fail because of selfishness.  When Jacob said that children born after them shall be Joseph’s, Joseph could have tried to build his legacy in Egypt. But Joseph knew that Israel only is honor and he did not have any more children there. This is why we read that there was a Pharaoh who did not know Joseph in Exodus 1. But despite all these efforts, somehow Bethel was completely lost in history. The first king of the northern kingdom, Jeroboam was from Ephraim, but just because he wanted to be against Rehoboam and the house of David, he introduced idol worship in Israel so that the northern kingdom would worship calves and not go to Jerusalem. Every opportunity given was torn apart and lost.

We should follow Christ’s example here instead of Ephraim. When authority was given, the tribe used this authority for taking honor to itself and not God. But Joseph an image of Christ was willing to shed away all the honor he had so that the children would be Godly. Jesus was the ultimate in this sacrifice where he put His life down so that the people under the authority would be saved. We have to remember that this authority given to us was because of another person’s sacrifice and another tribe being substituted instead of us. All we have to do is hold this authority with reverence and not lose Bethel the house of God.

Amen.

Money and Seeds

Genesis 47:23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.”

The wisdom of Joseph which was given by God and appreciated by Pharaoh is seen in this portion of Genesis 47:13-26. This wisdom is executed in three phases when people come for food. People, in the end had sufficient food, but did not own anything. Joseph did not freely distribute food because he knew the actual problem of the people and wanted them to realize what is important. People saved money during prosperous times and did not save grain which is the actual need. In 47:15, we read the phrase “when money failed” and not “when money ran out”. The meaning and value of money was lost. The Bible warns us in many verses on how our attitude towards money should be. One important example is Mathew 11:5 where the answer to poverty is hearing the gospel and not money. As per Mathew 6:24, if we honor and love money we will start to hate God. The verse says that if we serve money, we will eventually love it and hate God and if we serve God, then we will love Him and hate money.

This is the reason why Joseph had to ensure all money comes to Pharaoh and it had to be suppressed and value lost before the next stage of development comes. God wants us to serve Him in order to live a successful life. Money given to God is always an investment but our failure comes when we give money to God. One important verse that explains about giving to preachers is Galatians 6:6 where the teacher should be given a share in all good things the person who is taught has. But the next verse wants us not to be deceived which means that we will unknowingly share money so that our money will multiply. The verse continues that God will not allow Himself to be mocked which shows how our giving to God should be. If we sow something so that we will gain wealth, we are mocking God. It is even harder for the teacher if he promotes money. Verse 8 says that if we sow to the flesh, we will reap corruption.

Back in Genesis 47, we can see first people asking for grain in exchange of money and when they had lost all money, the stupidity has increased as they were buying bread from Joseph in exchange of livestock. But when they had lost their livestock also, it was time to realize their actual need and were asking for seeds. If we consider livestock as our properties, cars and things that make us proud, God wants us to lose them also so that we may live. We can see “bread for a year” in verse 17 which shows they were doing business with Joseph and not obeying. But when the livestock also is gone and there were no bread, they had now come to Joseph and said “We surrender, give us seed”. There are no terms and conditions here. Now, the same land produced and there were harvests. The only problem with all of us is that we are bad owners to ourselves and are sold to money and greed. If we know that there is no life in all materials, we would have asked for seed earlier.

We need seeds from God and not bread or grain alone and especially not money. In Mathew 17:20, Jesus says that we need faith in the size of a mustard seed and not just mustard. The primary job of a seed is to sprout and grow. If that fails, it is not a seed anymore.  There are many references to seeds and sowing in the Lord’s parables. We are not expected to consume grains from God, but let them grow up to fulfill God’s divine plan in us. Every word that is bought in the Church or by any other revelation is not food, but seeds. Now, whatever Joseph is giving to people is actually useful to them.

Next as in Mathew 13:23, the land needs a better owner that is Joseph in order to produce. The same land when in our hands was full of rocks and unmaintained. But when a good owner has come in our Monelife, the same land is producing well and profits for both the owner and the servant. This should be the role of God in our lives. The land has to be transferred to God’s hands completely if we want Him to start working. It is very hard for us to accept that we are bad owners and that self-justification is only causing us to fail indefinitely in our race. We also read that the priests had rations and did not that have this opportunity to excel. But those who gave their lands to Pharaoh could prosper. All we have to do is accept that it is safe and best in God’s hands.

Amen.

Joseph - An Image of Christ

Acts 7:13 “And the second time, Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh.”

Comparing Joseph with Christ is a very common meditation topic and we have many hints to learn from this historical incident. The first lesson here should come from Stephen’s narration of the incident. Stephen does this in a very personal way (verse 9) mentioning that it was the patriarchs or our fathers who had sold Joseph into Egypt. This is told in a way that it is your habit that you will kill or humiliate your own brother out of jealousy. But Joseph is very polite and mentions that it is God who sent him earlier to preserve life (Gen 45:5). We see Christ doing the same in John 6:58 when people wonder how to eat Jesus, He says that I am bread which has come down. We are expected to look at Jesus in that context only just like Joseph’s trials being a foundation for a greater salvation. The urge of jealousy and murder is natural and it is important for all to realize the loss before understanding and receiving Christ.

The most important lesson is that Joseph was introduced to them a second time just as to most of us. We did not know the caliber of Jesus and had insulted and had thrown Him away. But this rejection has made us understand our actual state and His glory (Luke 17:25). It is required that we reject the image of Jesus which is weak and not useful. It happened only when the whole set of brothers realized that they had rejected Joseph and had repented, he revealed himself. This second introduction is very important in salvation for all Christians as most of us spend the whole of our lives without this revelation. This introduction only will bring life into us and will change the way we pray, worship and meditate.

In Gen 45:6, we read that the trouble before our encounter with Christ was just the beginning and there will be an even worse time ahead which needs divine support and encouragement to survive. So, as in 45:9, do not tarry. A small delay in understanding our opportunity will make us lose our interest and indefinitely wait for nothing. In Luke 19:5-6, we read Jesus asking Zaccheus to hurry and take Him to his house. If Zaccheus had said that Lord let me go clean up my home or bury my father as in Mathew 8:21-22, we will lose it. When God gives us an understanding of our hunger and opens up an opportunity, it is required that we hurry and come to Christ just as we are.

In 45:12, Joseph wants them to see and acknowledge that Joseph wants them to come to Egypt because this call is directly from his own mouth. Jesus is calling us to come to Him with all His heart. This is not somebody else preaching for emotions and encouragement. The hope Jesus gives is not that we will succeed according to our own will, but according to His will and plan and he has called us with a Holy Calling (2 Tim 1:9). This call is holy, gracious and with a divine plan. We see in Gen 46:3, God assuring Jacob to go ahead to Egypt and I will be with you. This submission to God towards holiness is very much required in us. In Acts 7:18 we read that there was another Pharaoh who did not know Joseph in around 300 years. This is the difference between us and Egyptians. Egyptians had received only food and had survived a famine through Joseph, but the call to Israel was very high and divine.

The next area of failure is when we receive cart loads of grain from Joseph, we become satisfied and stay. We should remember that those gifts are given to us for the way forward and not to sit back. These gifts are sometimes material wealth, sometimes spiritual gifts like the tongues, prophecy, ability to preach etc. It would have been pathetic if those brothers had compared their gifts with those of Benjamin and complained within themselves. All of us have opportunities to come and inherit which is nowhere close to what we can gain by ourselves. If we tarry, the grain will be consumed and it will become impossible for us to come to Christ.

Our call is not just come and live, the call is that our brother is made Lord of all Egypt and is victorious. All we have to do is go and share the victory. Our re-encounter with Christ should be in this fashion or otherwise, we will keep failing and looking for forgiveness every day. In Gen 45:24, Joseph says that see that you do not be troubled along the way. This is because he knew how hard the way forward is. But the path of Joseph was the impossible and he had completed it well. But it really concerns Christ that this path will trouble us who are weaker.  We have to hold the hope well and live with the gifts that were given to us.

Amen.