Archive for January 2024

Genesis 50, Psalm 23, Matthew 10:1-20, Acts 15:1-21 Genesis 50: Genesis closes with death (50:1-3), a land that is still a land of promise (50:24), forgiveness (50:15-21), and a confidence in God’s sovereignty over all human affairs (50:20). Joseph fulfills the promise that his father had made him agree to before he died (Gen. 47:29-31; 49:29-32)—to bury him…

Genesis 49, Psalm 22:12-31, Matthew 9:27-38, Acts 14 Genesis 49: Jacob’s final blessing on his children is a little mixed! If you were asked to “give a blessing” at a meal or to do the benediction as the last part of a worship service, you would be unlikely to use many of the words or ideas found here!…

Genesis 48, Psalm 22:1-11, Matthew 9:14-26, Acts 13:26-52 Psalm 22:1-11: It is the end of Jacob’s life, and so Joseph goes with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to pay his last respects to his father (48:1-2). The whole scene mirrors the similar but different scenario with Jacob’s own father, Isaac, in Genesis 27. Jacob now is also…

Genesis 46-47, Psalm 21, Matthew 9:1-13, Acts 13:1-25 Genesis 46-47: The name “Israel,” the name of promise, is now used more prominently for Jacob, as Jacob comes nearer to the fulfillment of what it is that God had long promised him. Indeed, once again God appears to him and promises to him that in Egypt his people will…

Genesis 44-45, Psalm 20, Matthew 8:23-34, Acts 12 Genesis 44-45: “Do not quarrel on the way” (45:24)! How well Joseph knew his brothers by now! Was this last little statement near the end of these famous and beautiful chapters a final jest between them—remember don’t get into a fight, guys! Or was it a fraternal warning from one…

Genesis 42-43, Psalm 19, Matthew 8:14-22, Acts 11:19-30 Genesis 42-43: The dreams that came to Joseph (Gen. 37:5-11) now began to come true. His brothers are sent to Egypt to buy grain because there is a famine in the land (42:1-5). When they arrive, they are taken to Joseph, but they do not recognize him—though he recognizes them…

Genesis 41, Psalm 18:25-50, Matthew 8:1-13, Acts 11:1-18 Genesis 41: The famous story of Joseph takes another dramatic turn. The cupbearer, prompted by different but equally disturbing dreams of his master the Pharaoh (41:1-8), remembers Joseph, and commends his dream-telling abilities to the Pharaoh (41:9-13). Joseph is promptly called into Pharaoh’s presence, not without first scraping off the…

Genesis 39-40, Psalm 18:1-24, Matthew 7:15-29, Acts 10:24-48 Genesis 39-40: Joseph is now having his character tested, and in the midst of all this, it is being shown to Joseph and to us by the skill of the narrator that the Lord is with Joseph (39:2-3, 21, 23). He is a slave in Potiphar’s house (39:1), and yet…

Genesis 37-38, Psalm 17, Matthew 7:1-14, Acts 10:1-23 Genesis 37-38: And so the dreamer comes! The well-known story surrounding Joseph’s life is filled with intrigue and drama from start to finish. Perhaps rather unwisely, Joseph begins (boldly?) to share his dreams of his preeminence over his brothers with his brothers (37:5-10), and not only that he also shares…