Associate Producer

The Associate Producer for this episode is Ann Sarmiento. Thank you for your support, Ann!

Podcast Introduction

Today we’re going to complete the book of GENESIS 48-50.. 

Comments on Genesis 48-50

In chapters 48 and 49 we saw the last days of Jacob, and the first half of Chapter 50 deals with the days between Jacob’s death and burial. The last half of the chapter tells us two things. 

The first was that Joseph’s brothers were afraid that, now that Jacob was dead Joseph would punish them for how they treated him. I’ll get back to that in a moment.

The close of chapter 50 tells us about Joseph’s death at the age of 110 years.

Now back to Joseph and his frightened brothers. Of course, from a human perspective Joseph had every reason to want to take revenge on his brothers. They sold him into slavery, after all. But he was able to look back over his life, how God had been with him through every hardship and throughout his time at Pharaoh’s second-in-command. And he said to this brothers, “You planned to harm me. But God planned it for good.” 

Note that: God planned it for good. The Hebrew word there is chashab. Let me tell you the literal meaning of the word: to weave. 

I often think of our lives as a tapestry. Have you ever looked closely at a tapestry? When you get up close, very close, close enough to see the individual threads, all you see are the threads. From that vantage point, it doesn’t look like much. It might not have any beauty at all. You don’t see the design because you’re too close. But the one who wove that tapestry had a specific design in mind. And through careful planning and execution, the finished product is a work of art. When you stand far enough away from it to see the whole tapestry, it’s beautiful.

We can only see our lives from very, very close up. We only see the threads. We can’t see the finished product like God can. He has a specific design in mind for you and for me. He takes the things that happen in our lives and weaves them into a beautiful finished tapestry. 

Romans 8:28 says it a bit differently: And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 

When I look at my life from a one-day perspective, when that’s all I look at, depending on how the day is going, I might think I’m on top of the world, or I might be discouraged beyond measure. But from my perspective as a 67 year old man, if I look back over the years, I can easily see how God has “chashabbed” my life. I don’t know if that is proper Hebrew, but you get the idea. God has woven the days of my life into a tapestry that I hope will be beautiful when it’s finished. I must say, I’m happy with it so far. And with Him as the artist, I’m confident that it will be just what He planned.

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 48 NKJV, Ch. 49-50 NIRV

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