For most of my life, I have been a good sleeper. Unlike some when I went to bed, I usually was able to sleep at least eight hours. However, I noticed my sleep pattern has changed for the past year, and I find myself waking up anywhere between 1 and 3 a.m. no matter what time I go to bed.
I believe that this occurrence is happening in the lives of many believers. At first, many of us probably tossed and turned, trying to go back to sleep but failed. After a while, some of us gave up trying to go back to sleep, got up, and started doing chores. If you were like me when this event began to happen consistently, I realized, though I prefer to be sleeping, I am awake for a purpose. Yes, God is causing me to wake up because He wants me to pray. This, I am sure, is part of His kingdom assignment for believers to have dominion and subdue the earth. As I pray, watch, decree, declare, pull down strongholds and pray in the spirit (to name a few of the methods I utilize), I am advancing God’s kingdom.
In the past, when I woke up in the night, I prayed randomly; however, recently, I was reminded of the eight prayer watches about which people have written books and articles. If you are interested in more information on this topic, I recommend you google it, and you will receive a host of useful information and instructions. For now, I will share only a smidgen to whet your appetite, and since I am sharing the night watches, I will also include information on the day watches.
Initially, there were only three watches in Old Testament times: beginning watch, middle watch, and morning watch. Each watch covered a four-hour period, which started at 6.p.m. and ended at 6.a.m. In AD70, when the Roman Empire ended the Jewish occupation of Israel, times were changed to adhere to the Greco-Roman style, and the times were decreased to three-hour periods. Please note following God’s plan found in Genesis 1:6, “And the evening and the morning was the first day,” so the first watch starts in the evening with the sun setting.
The First Watch is from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. This is a time to reflect on your day and thank God for what He did throughout the day. Also, pray for direction for tomorrow.
The Second Watch is from 9:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. This is the time to discharge warring angels to set up ambushes against the enemy’s diabolic plans that he will orchestrate on the morrow.
The Third Watch is from 12:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. These are the hours of greatest spiritual activity and warfare. Pray against the plans of witches and warlocks, and the satanic cult, over people and places. Pray for exposure of their plans and the breaking of their strongholds. Furthermore, speak peace, guidance, and release for those that need deliverance from this cultic bondage.
The Fourth Watch is from 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. This is the last watch of the night, and it is believed that the demonic host is reporting back to their home base. In this time, pray and cancel all the weapons attempting to form. Also, pray to dismantle the enemies’ footholds.
The Fifth Watch is from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. This is the time of commanding, equipping, and strengthening people for the challenges of the day. Pray for traveling mercies and protection as adults and children leave their homes for work and school. Additionally, pray for guidance for the day and the seven spirits of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2) to rest on believers.
The Sixth Watch is from 9:00 a.m. to 12 p.m. These hours are believed to be the brightest time of the day. It is time to pray for God’s promises to be fulfilled in our lives.
The Seventh Watch is from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. These hours represent rest. Thank God for His secret place, His banner over you of love, for His daily provisions, and the ability to cast your cares on him.
The Eighth Watch of the day is from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. This is a time of dying to self and praying for the deliverance of mind, spirit, and body. During this time, thank God for keeping you alive to begin another day.
Once again, I reiterate what I said above; for those who want more detailed information on the watches, google “The Eight Prayer Watches,” and you will receive many articles on this topic.
Finally, just in case you’ve forgotten, I must say it is so amazing that we all live in many different time zones in our world. Therefore, multitudes are praying in each one of these watches, hitting the necessary targets, all day long, and I say, “Hallelujah” to that. I recognize that this is God’s design to have believers as a corporate body praying without ceasing.
During the months of September, October, November, and December, I wrote a series on the life of Joseph. Since completing that series, I have reflected on some of the events that happened to Joseph, and in this blog, I am going to share a key point that all of us need to understand.
All of his youth Joseph was pampered by Jacob, his loving father. Jacob gave Joseph a special coat to wear and made him report his brother’s activities, which caused his brothers to react negatively to him. Also, Joseph shared two dreams with his family in which he was exalted over them. These dreams helped influence his brothers in their desire to rid themselves of him, and when the opportunity arose to do so, they sold Joseph into slavery,
Joseph was taken in chains down into Egypt, where he was sold to Potiphar. He lost his freedom and privilege lifestyle; however, I concluded Joseph adjusted to being a servant from reading about his time in Potiphar’s household. The spirit of excellence rested on him, and he found favor with Potiphar, who elevated him to the position of overseer.
Unfortunately, he was falsely accused of assault by Potiphar’s wife, and he ended up in prison. While there, he displayed that same spirit of excellence he had in Potiphar’s house, which resulted in him being put in charge of the prison’s affairs. An opportunity arose for him to interpret two of Pharaoh’s staff’s dreams, which he did, and Joseph requested one of them to tell Pharaoh about him; however, it took two years for that request to come to fruition.
When he was finally released and standing before Pharaoh, he did not request Pharaoh to send him back home to his homeland and father. Instead, he willingly accepted the position that Pharaoh assigned him. He undoubtedly realized this change was in line with the dream he had in his youth, and he accepted the fact God altered his path. Additionally, from reading his words in Genesis 41:51, “For God hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house,” it appeared Joseph had obliterated his family out of his future, and he made himself content and satisfied where he was placed.
Joseph was made a servant, and from servanthood, he became a leader. Though the bible does not record Joseph’s everyday experiences, I am sure a portion of it was not pleasant. Despite his desire to be released from servanthood ahead of time, God kept him in it. In that position, God allowed him to develop skills to be utilized in the future, and at the appointed time, God caused him to be released and flourish as a leader.
This is an excellent lesson for all of us to learn. Servanthood is not comfortable, but the end product is rewarding. Furthermore, while serving, do it with excellence and gain skills for future use.
Ten years ago, if someone told me that I would be living in such a time like this, I would say to them they were joking. I would probably do this because I did not realize the magnitude and extent of the trouble that the world would be in, as foretold in Matthews 24.
Our world is in turmoil, and our country may be on the brink of a civil war. I surely did not think ten years ago that American citizens would storm into the national capital building looking to capture and assassinate elected officials while many others defaced the building. I did not think a domestic terrorist would be planning an armed protest at all 50 state capitols in the days before January 20, 2021. I did not believe American citizens would go to the upcoming presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C., with evil intent. Most of all, I would not think the United States president over his four-year tenure would radicalize his most fringe supporters.
This is the times in which we live. Consequently, for peaceful citizens, these happenings and the fall-out from the pandemic has caused many hearts to fail. I wish I could say things will get better, but I know according to the times in which we live, it won’t.
Matthew 24:8 in three different translations states as follows:
All these are the beginning of sorrows. (KJV)
All these are the beginning of birth pains. (NIV)
This is how the first contractions and birth pains of the new age will begin. (TPT)
In the verses before this one, Jesus told His disciples about the signs of end-time events, and then in verse eight, he lets them know that similar to birth pains these events will become more frequent and painful. Unfortunately, the Word stated that these are only the beginning of suffering. So dear fellow believers, buckle up, make sure you have a right relationship with God, and get in the Word, for they will be the only things that will sustain you during the times in which we live.
After blogging consistently throughout 2020, with my last blog being part of a series on Joseph’s life, I decided to take a sabbath for several weeks over the Christmas holiday and return to blogging and posting on January 9, 2021.
It has been my practice to start working on my blog during the week and then post it to my blog site on Saturday. However, this week I did not follow my usual routine because I was caught up in the monumental events happening in our nation. Besides the daily escalating death of people due to COVID-19 and the negative results of this pandemic to our world, I also became focused on two more significant events.
On Tuesday, January 5, 2021, we had an election in Georgia that resulted in two Democrats being selected to fill seats in the U.S. Senate. On Wednesday, January 6, 2021, Congress met in a joint session to formally count and tally the votes submitted by each state’s Electoral College. On this same day, President Trump’s supporters gathered in Washington, D.C., for a rally to show their support of President Trump and his message of a fraudulent election that he has been increasingly declaring since his 2020 presidential election loss. After the rally with the president’s encouragement, the crowd marched to the capitol building, where a mob broke into the building and wreaked unbelievable havoc. Seeing the scenes of the mob walking through the halls of the capitol building and boldly doing damage was disheartening. Plus, since that time, it has been reported that five people died due to this event.
Now days later, as I prayed, I thanked God that this month thousands of people around the world are in a time of fasting and consecration. We are seeking God for many things, but I believe most of all, we are requesting His divine intervention in our lives in these turbulent times. Though the spirit of fear is trying to grip our hearts as we watch and hear the events happening in the world around us, the consecration is causing our spirit man to be lifted with hope.
Additionally, I found myself meditating on two songs: “We Need You Lord” and “If We Ever Needed The Lord Before, We Sure Do Need Him Now.” These songs expressed my present sentiments, and I want to share portions of them with you.
We need You Lord, we need You Lord, right now. We need You Lord, we need You Lord, right now. We lift our hands and bow our knees and worship at Your Throne. We need You Lord, we need You Lord, right now
I need You, Lord. I need You Lord, right now. I need You, Lord. I need You Lord, right now. I lift my hands and bow my knees and worship at Your Throne. I need You, Lord. I need You Lord, right now
and
If we ever needed the Lord before, We sure do need Him now. Oh, we sure do need Him now. Oh, Lord, we sure do need Him now. (Oh, glory) If we ever needed the Lord before, We sure do need Him now. We need Him every day and every hour
On July 25, 2020, I posted a blog titled “We Need You, Lord,” and in it, I voiced some of the sentiments that I still feel six months later. We need God in this chaotic world. So, it is my prayer that as we humble ourselves before God, seek His face and obey His Word, we will be strengthened, prosperous, and kept in 2021.
The last chapter of Genesis shared the royal funeral of Jacob and the death of Joseph. After living in Egypt with his family for seventeen years, Jacob, the patriarch, died, and his son Joseph kept the oath he made to bury him in the land of Canaan in the burial tomb of Abraham and Isaac.
God granted Joseph and his brothers the privilege of being present at Jacob’s passing from life to death. Out of the twelve sons, Joseph was the only one to have an outward display of emotions, for he fell upon his father’s face, wept, and kissed him. Furthermore, Joseph ordered the physicians to embalm his father, and they took the allotted time of forty days to embalm and thirty additional days of mourning. After which, Joseph requested Pharaoh’s permission to fulfill the oath he made to his father to bury him in the land of Canaan.
With Pharaoh’s approval, the three-hundred-mile journey to Canaan for Jacob’s burial was taken by Joseph, his brothers, their children, their household servants, the servants of Pharaoh, all the Egyptian elders, horseman, and chariots. When this great company of mourners reached the threshing floor of Atad in Canaan with a great expression and lamentation, they mourned seven more days. The Canaanites noted the royal company, the pomp, and mourning and assumed the funeral was for royalty. Joseph and his brethren continued to the Machpelah burial cave and laid their father to rest.
Apparently, after all these years, the guilt over their attempt to get rid of Joseph still lingered in the minds of the brother, and now, they were afraid with the death of their father that Joseph would no longer be kind to them. Therefore, after returning to Egypt, they sent him a message suggesting their father wanted him to forgive them. This saddened Joseph and made him weep. His brother followed up by going to see Joseph, and once again, the brothers prostrated themselves before him. Joseph kindly and reassuringly said to them, “Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones.”
Joseph lived fifty-four years more after his father’s death, and he was able to share his life with his sons, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. As his death drew near, Joseph reassured his family that they would return to Canaan, and he made them pledge to take his bones with them when they departed Egypt. The last verse in the book of Genesis, which chronicled the end of Joseph’s life, states, “So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.”
As I end this thirteen-blog series on the life of Joseph, I pray the teaching, nuggets, and points that I’ve made has aided you in your Christian walk. I close as I did in the previous blogs of this series with a few nuggets that I think are helpful for all of us to remember:
- Saying farewell to a loved one can be extremely emotional.
- People handle death differently; don’t expect the same emotions from everyone.
- When able follow a person’s burial instructions.
- When people respect and appreciate you, they will grant your request.
- Don’t forget or neglect your duties after periods of mourning.
- Guilt sometimes lingers even after receiving forgiveness.
- Guilt is not easily erased.
- Guilt makes you question the actions and motives of others.
- When you are guiltless, you can be fearless.
- When you have truly forgiven someone, you do not plan retaliation.
- Let brotherly love transcend revenge.
- What the enemy meant for your destruction God will use for your good.
- The purpose and plan of God will prevail.
- When you can bless your family, do so.
- Share your burial instructions with persons who are capable of honoring them.
Genesis 48 and 49 share the story of Jacob’s patriarchal blessings that he gave his family members before his death, and the following is a summary of how those events occurred.
Joseph was informed that his elderly father was ill, so he visited him and took his two sons with him. Upon his arrival at his father’s abode, Jacob sat up in his bed and recounted to Joseph his encounter with God at Luz. He shared the words God spoke to him, “Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.” Additionally, Jacob told Joseph he would adopt Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, into his family, and they would share in the covenant blessings bestowed on his sons.
Suffering from blindness, Jacob was unable to see his grandsons clearly, so he requested them to come closer to him that he would be able to bless them. Moreover, Jacob lets Joseph know how happy he was to be reunited with him and able to get acquainted with his grandsons.
When Jacob blessed his grandsons, he crossed his hands, which caused his right hand, which signified birthright inheritance on the younger brother. Seeing what happened, Joseph attempted to correct the hand placement; however, Jacob stopped him and said, “I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.”
In this chapter’s closing remarks, Jacob invocated the blessings of the covenant, shepherd, deliverer God on Joseph and his sons. Jacob said, “God, before whom my father’s Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my father’s Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” Also, he bequeathed Joseph the Shechem property, which he took from the Amorites, and reassured him that God would be with him and bring him back to the land of Canaan.
In chapter 49, Jacob gathered all of his sons to his bedside and prophecied to them from the oldest to the youngest. When he got to Joseph, he talked about God making him a fruitful tree and allowing him to expand beyond their household despite the hatred and the many attacks of the enemy on his life. He ended proclaiming victory and rich blessings on Joseph.
So, once again, as I did in the previous blogs of this series, I will close this blog with a few points that I think are helpful for all of us to remember:
- When your parents are ill, and you can visit them, do so.
- Blessings come from God.
- Some blessings are not just for you but also your descendants.
- Your birth order does not matter when God has a blessing for you.
In Genesis 46, in his last communication with his brothers, Joseph instructed them what to say about their occupation when introducing them to Pharaoh. However, in Genesis 47, when he took five of his brothers to meet Pharaoh and Pharaoh asked them their occupation, they did not follow Joseph’s instruction. The brothers told Pharaoh what they were instructed not to say,” Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers. For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants’ dwell in the land of Goshen.” Pharaoh responds by reiterating his offer of residency in Goshen’s land and employment positions of overseeing his cattle.
Next, Joseph brought his father Jacob to meet Pharaoh and Jacob greeted Pharaoh with a blessing. Jacob shares with Pharaoh a bit of his pilgrimage, which he describes as “Few and evil,” and Jacob again blessed Pharaoh before departing.
As the famine years progressed, the Egyptians spent all their monies purchasing corn, then sold their cattle for corn, next they sold their land to buy corn, and finally sold themselves into slavery for food. Except for the land where the priest resided, Joseph was able to obtain all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, and he moved the people into designated cities. When the famine ended, Joseph gave the Egyptians seeds that they could grow the crop. He taxed them one-fifth of their increase and allowed them to keep the remainder for which they were thankful and willing to do.
The chapter ends by disclosing that the Israelites grew and multiplied exceedingly, and Jacob lived in Egypt, enjoying his fatherly relationship with Joseph for seventeen years. As he got close to death, he made this request to Joseph, “If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt: But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place.” Joseph complied, and satisfied Jacob bowed his head in worship.
So, once again, as I did in the previous blogs of this series, I will close this blog with points that I think are helpful for all of us to remember:
- When someone who is informed about a situation shares relevant information with you, listen
- Do as you are instructed.
- In times of famine, God blesses His people with housing, provision, and employment.
- One of the honors you can bestow on someone is a blessing.
- Some hardships that we experience in life are self-imposed.
- God will cause great men to favor you.
- Countries suffer during times of famine.
- A famine can cause you to lose everything that is important to you.
- One man’s loss is another man’s gain.
- Don’t touch the priest stuff.
- When able give to the needy.
- Be thankful when people are kind to you.
- Taxation was implemented in the days of Joseph.
- God’s plan is for His people to grow and multiply.
- Give instructions for your burial to a responsible person.
On his journey from Hebron to Egypt, after traveling about a week, Jacob arrived at Beersheba, where he offered sacrifices to his forefather’s God. Additionally, God spoke to Jacob in a night-vision and assured him not to fear, He would be with him in Egypt, his family would become a great nation, that he would return to Canaan, and Joseph, his beloved son, would be present at the time of his death.
Furthermore, chapter 46 revealed the sixty-six family members who accompanied Jacob down into Egypt, and it shared the names of Jacob’s wives, his wives’ handmaidens, his sons, daughter, grandsons, and granddaughter. The families rode in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent for them, and they took their cattle and goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan with them.
After twenty-two years, the long-anticipated reunion between father and son took place in Goshen, the Nile delta’s fertile northeast section. Joseph’s strong affection for his father was displayed as he copiously wept on Jacob’s neck. Happy to be reunited with his son Jacob said, “Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.”
Finally, knowing the Egyptians disdain for all sheepherders, Joseph instructs his brothers to say to Pharaoh when they met with him, “Thy servants’ trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers.”
So, once again, as I did in the previous blogs of this series, I will end this blog with points that I think are helpful for all of us to remember:
- When given the opportunity, offer sacrifices to God.
- Listen for the voice of God even in the night season.
- Invite the true God of your father to also your God.
- Your best assurance in life is knowing God will be with you; thus, you do not have to fear.
- Don’t go anywhere the presence of God is not.
- Please don’t leave any family behind; take them with you to the place of provision.
- A forerunner’s responsibility is to lead you in the right direction.
- It is a wonderful and emotional event to reunite with a person you know loves you dearly.
- A wise person will instruct others about offensive things.
In Genesis 44, Joseph’s brothers passed the test, with Judah being their spokesperson sharing their true sentiments about their father and brother Benjamin. Feeling satisfied with their response Joseph who was overcome with emotions, revealed to them his true identity. Wanting this to be a private moment between him and his brothers, Joseph sent his attendants away. However, before he could tell them who he was, he allowed his years of pent up emotions to be displayed in a time of crying, after which he shared his identity and asked an important question, “I am Joseph; doth my father yet live?”
Since he talked to his brothers in their native tongue without an interpreter, at first, they were surprised and then terrified with this announcement. Joseph continued to speak to them and calmed their fears with words of truth, encouragement, comfort, hugs, kisses, more tears, and reassurance. Joseph realized his role was to preserve lives, and he shared this fact with his brethren; he told them, “And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.”
Meanwhile, the bible never revealed if Pharaoh knew Joseph’s history, but when he heard Joseph’s brothers was in Egypt, he was excited and happy for Joseph. He confirmed Joseph’s words to them about moving, and he invited them to move to Egypt, where they would be amply cared for while residing in Goshen, which was located in the easterly province of Egypt near the Arabian Gulf.
Following Pharaoh’s instructions, Joseph gave them wagons to transport their families back to Egypt and provisions of corn, bread, and meat to eat along the way. Additionally, he gave each brother changes of raiment; but he gave five changes of clothes and three hundred pieces of silver to Benjamin. His final admonishment to his brothers before they departed was, “See that ye fall not out by the way.”
When the brothers returned home, they shared the news of Joseph and his desire for the family to move to Egypt with their father. At first, Jacob did not believe their words; however, when he saw the wagons with all the provisions, he said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.”
As I did in the previous blogs of this series, I will end this blog with points that I think are helpful for all of us to remember:
- Some family discussions and revelations should be done in private.
- When emotions have been pent up for a long time, the final release of them can be explosive.
- Priorities are revealed in conversations.
- In God’s time, the full meaning of dreams will be revealed.
- For His people, God has a plan of preservation and posterity.
- You know you are free when you can love the people that offended you.
- Sometimes your offender has difficulty accepting the fact that you have forgiven them.
- Guilt can hold people in bondage.
- When you are happy, people that care for you will be pleased for you.
- Divine connections can benefit your future.
- In your move, God can provide you with new stuff.
- It is easier to blame than to take responsibility for your negative actions.
- Move forward and don’t look back.
- God can restore that which was lost.
- When God gives you a Word it will come to fruition.
In Genesis 43, Joseph had the second encounter with his brothers, which ended with them dining with him at his house. At first, the brothers were apprehensive about meeting with Joseph, who still had not revealed his identity to them, but they were all amiable by the end of the unstinted meal.
Even though he sometimes became emotional while listening to his brothers talk about the past, before revealing his true identity to them, Joseph decided to test their loyalty to their brother Benjamin and concern for their aged father. Therefore, before the brothers left his house, Joseph once again tells his steward to fill their sacks with the monies they brought to purchase the corn and place his silver cup in Benjamin’s sack.
When the brother reached a short distance out of the city, Joseph sent the steward after them to accuse them of theft. When confronted by the steward with the robbery of Joseph’s silver cup, which was known for use by the Asiatics in divination practices, the brothers vehemently denied doing so. They replied, “Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing: Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold? With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen.” However, the steward told them only the guilty person would be retained, and he proceeded to search their sacks from the oldest to the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. In dismay and not knowing how the cup got into Benjamin’s sack, the brothers ripped their clothes and gathered their things to head back to the city.
When they arrived at Joseph’s house where they met him, they prostrated themselves on the ground. Joseph accused them of stealing, to which Judah replied, “What shall we say unto my lord? What shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found.” But Joseph said, “God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.”
This forty-fourth chapter of Genesis ends with Judah rehearsing the exchange between him and their father Jacob before the brothers came to Egypt for the second time. He tells Joseph their father would die of grief if the brothers returned home without Benjamin; therefore, he was willing to take Benjamin’s place and suffer whatever consequence would befall Benjamin.
As I did in the previous blogs of this series, I will end this blog with points that I think are helpful for all of us to remember:
- In life, people will test you (set you up) to see how you respond.
- When people set you up, they do it strategically.
- When you are charged with a crime for which you are blameless, you will proclaim your innocence.
- Not knowing Joseph’s cup was placed in Benjamin’s sack, the brothers said to the steward, “With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen.” Be mindful of the words you speak, for you may regret them in the future.
- When the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack, the brothers rent their clothes. The possibilities of the unknown can cause you to grieve prematurely.
- In The Living Bible, Genesis 44:16 states, “And Judah said, Oh, what shall we say to my lord? How can we plead? How can we prove our innocence? God is punishing us for our sins. Sir, we have all returned to be your slaves, both we and he in whose sack the cup was found.” Some people think that they can sin without consequences; however, your sins will eventually find you out.
- Some tests reveal your priorities.
- Some tests reveal your character.
- Some tests make you remember things that you wanted to forget.
- When you are fighting for your life, be careful how you frame your words.
- Due to the information presented to Jacob, he thought a wild animal killed Joseph. Deception can cause you to conclude wrongly.
- Jacob’s life was bound up to Benjamin, whom he thought was the only surviving child of Rachel. Grief is real. The loss of a child can cause pain and suffering that some parents never recover, and some even die from grief. Also, grief causes people to be scared of losing other love ones.
- Knowing their father would grieve over his absence, Judah was willing to be a scapegoat so that Benjamin could return home. Does your life matter to someone enough that they would make a sacrifice of their life for yours?
The Teacher's Pick 