Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life!
Help us now to hear and obey what you say to us today.
Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
—based on John 6:68
It seems that many people in the Bible could have said, “But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” It could have been Noah - deliverance came through the line of one of his three sons. It could have been Abraham – deliverance came through the line of one of his many sons. It could have been Isaac – deliverance came through the line of one of his three sons. But this quote is Genesis 45:7, and Joseph said it to his brothers in Egypt. God will take this remnant of 70 people, the families of the 12 brothers, and bring deliverance ultimately to the whole world. In 400 years even this small group will be upwards of one million people! (And get ready – those 400 years are done by tomorrow’s reading.) We will see it in the prophets also that no matter how bad things get for God’s people, God always preserves a remnant on the earth in order to save lives by a great deliverance.
My favorite verse from today's reading is Gen. 49.10:
ReplyDelete"The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
until he to whom it belongs shall come
and the obedience of the nations shall be his."
I know that guy!