Indeed Abraham was to have more
descendants than the stars in the sky and more than sands by the sea. This was
God’s promise to him. Abraham’s son
Isaac, who we also met last week, grew up to have two sons – Jacob and
Esau. Jacob grew up and God changed his
name to Israel – Israel is the nation
we know today. Jacob had twelve sons of
which have been known to be the Twelve
Tribes of Israel. Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son, and because of that, the
older brothers were jealous. They
initially threw him in a well to die, but eventually sold him to some traveling
men who then sold him into slavery in Egypt.
Joseph had been blessed with ability to interpret dreams – part of which
angered his brothers. Joseph was wrongly
accused of a crime in Egypt and was thrown into jail. He was eventually released because of his God-given
ability to interpret dreams of the Pharaoh.
Joseph was removed from jail and put into second command in Egypt under
the Pharaoh! All the while, Joseph never
questioned God and continued to serve Him – even in times a normal person might
despair and question God. The amazing
true story of Joseph did not end with his rule in Egypt. There was a famine in the land that brought
Joseph’s brothers in to Egypt to get food.
They then were re-united with Joseph. Joseph could have done whatever he
pleased out of revenge, but he forgave his brothers, and the whole family – the
children of Israel – came to live in the fertile land of Egypt. Truly, Abraham’s descendants multiplied into
the thousands in Egypt at this point.
All because of Abraham’s – and Joseph’s – faith in God. God also gave us another picture of the
salvation we have in Jesus as his people were saved from death of a famine and
given a great deliverance. Read about this in Genesis chapters 37-45. You are welcome to join us anytime at
Sparks! You can also check out the AWANA program at www.fbc.littletonil.org
Mrs. Jennifer Schroeder, Mrs. Barb
Stein
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