Month: February 2023

The last chapters of Jacob’s life were important and they were about not about him, but the next generation! The last chapters were about his authority before God, no longer physical strength.

The Lord kept the best wine until the last, contrary to the ways of this world. John 2:10

³ Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me ⁴ and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will … give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’ Genesis 48

We looked at this yesterday, but Jacob began the meeting with Joseph and his two young sons by recounting his experience with God at Luz, present day Bethel. God promised Jacob that He was going to ‘make him fruitful and increase in numbers’ and Jacob then spoke that same blessing over both boys. God puts things in us and life teaches us lessons that we can pass on to the next generation if we’re willing. Kjell, the Swedish man with whom I travelled to the nations, was blessed as an infant by Smith Wigglesworth in his parent’s home.

¹⁵ Then he blessed Joseph and said,

⁵ “Now then, YOUR TWO SONS BORN TO YOU IN EGYPT before I came to you here WILL BE RECKONED AS MINE; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. ⁶ Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. Genesis 48

Joseph, the de facto ruler in Egypt, came for his elderly father’s blessing for his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. He valued Jacob’s blessings for his two boys, but a couple of unusual things happened when they met. Jacob declared that the two boys, born to Joseph while he was alone in Egypt, would be reckoned as his sons. They would be grafted into the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God had sent Joseph to Egypt and so the two sons born to him there were to be numbered with God’s people. I see this as a Picture of Salvation, God chooses men and women and says, from this time forward you will be known as mine!

¹³ And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him. ¹⁴ But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

Jacob had just declared the boys were his and now he reversed Joseph’s order for their blessing. He put his right hand on the head of the younger, Ephraim, and blessed him above his brother. Jacob spoke into the destiny of the two brothers, blessing both, but in different measure.

²⁰ He blessed them that day and said,

So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

God can break into our lives at any moment and speak out a new direction and destiny for us from that time on.

¹⁹ So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him AND THREW HIS CLOAK AROUND HIM. ²⁰ Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.”

“Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?” 1 Kings 19

God told Elijah to anoint two men as Kings and ‘Elisha to succeed him as prophet’. There was no warning, the Call came suddenly and it was up to Elisha to accept or not. We know that he slew his oxen and burnt his plough, no going back for him.

Jesus called disciples from fishing in the Galilee and Levi from collecting taxes Mark 2:14.

We are living in important days and God is Shifting the order of things for His purposes. His Call will always involve challenges, but His grace will accompany the Call. Hallelujah

Immanuel, Stay Strong, God is with us.

 

 ²⁵ SO KEEP UP YOUR COURAGE, MEN, FOR  I HAVE FAITH IN GO THAT IT WILL HAPPEN JUST AS HE TOLD ME. ²⁶ Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.” Acts 27

²⁵ So keep up your courage, men, for I believe God and have complete confidence in Him that it will turn out exactly as I have been told; ²⁶ but we must run [the ship] aground on some island.”

We, especially Anne, have just been through a short but intense storm. There were some early warnings, but suddenly it was upon us and we had to look for help/safe ground. It’s always better to get out of the storm if we can.

So Paul warned them, ¹⁰ “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.” ¹¹ But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. ¹² Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, THE MAJORITY (the Majority didn’t hear from heaven!) decided that we should sail on, …

Paul warned them in advance but they didn’t heed him and found themselves at sea in hurricane force winds and they couldn’t cope. God will sometimes warn us by His Spirit, or people around us, of impending storms, but we don’t often heed the warnings given us.

³ The prudent see danger and take refuge,
    but the simple keep going and pay the penalty. Proverbs 22

It’s always better to avoid storms, because as Paul told the 276, Acts 27:37 people aboard the ship, there was going to be great damage. He also warned the centurion that they all had to stay together on board the ship or they would perish. God had given them an escape plan, but the sailors wanted to take their chance without the ship’s company. Standing together can sometimes be a matter of survival.

³⁰ In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. ³¹ Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.” 

The ship was ultimately destroyed, but as the angel had told Paul, all on board were saved and ended up on the island of Malta. If we’re in a storm today, seek the Lord and stay with it unless He tells you to change course.

Immanuel, Stay Strong, God is with us.

Fathers Love Ministry welcomes your support today. Please donate at our website;

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We are available to seek personal words of encouragement and to counsel those who wish it online, contact us on our website above.

³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6

THE LORD IS NO ONE’S DEBTOR, HALLELUJAH.

 

¹⁰ Then Jacob blessed/said farewell to Pharaoh and went out from his presence. Genesis 47

Jacob acknowledged Pharaoh and lived in his land, but Jacob didn’t come under the Pharaoh regime and that’s very important for God’s children today.

²⁰ So Joseph BOUGHT ALL THE LAND IN EGYPT FOR PHARAOH. The Egyptians, one and all, SOLD THEIR FIELDS, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, ²¹ and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, (SLAVES who owned nothing and worked the land for Pharaoh) from one end of Egypt to the other. 

There were just two groups of people who didn’t come into slavery.

²² However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. (Pharaoh looked after the occult, the power of the enemy behind his throne)That is why they did not sell their land.

God’s prophet Elijah, ‘confronted the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table on Mount Carmel’. 1 Kings 18 Jezebel sustained and supported a demonic power base in Israel, but God used Elijah to overthrow it, in a demonstration of Kingdom power. Moses eventually did the same in Egypt.

²⁷ Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. THEY ACQUIRED PROPERTY THERE AND WERE FRUITFUL AND INCREASED GREATLY IN NUMBER. Genesis 47

Israel acquired property when everyone else lost their land to Pharaoh. Israel increased greatly in number, while others were on survival rations, with only enough to survive.

THIS IS THE WORLDVIEW OF THE ENEMY FOR THE EARTH TODAY, IT HASN’T CHANGED. A ruling elite (Pharaoh), a slave underclass, kept subservient on meagre rations and a demonic power base, with occult worshippers.

The only people in Egypt who flourished outside this demonic structure were Jacob and his family. They alone worshipped the true God and He protected and blessed them in the heart of that whole system. We mustn’t think that there is any alternative to these two regimes, everyone will be forced into one or other camp. When we don’t walk with the Lord the power of the enemy’s system will seek to rule over us as his slaves.

²⁸ Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, (12 years after the famine) and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven. ²⁹ When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, ³⁰ but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.”

Jacob remembered his meeting with God at Luz Genesis 28 and knew that one day God would give his descendants the whole land of Canaan. He’d told Pharaoh that he was, ‘on Pilgrimage’, Egypt was never his permanent home. We have a better Covenant through the blood of Jesus. We have our own callings to fulfill here on earth and right now God is demolishing the demonic power structures that have kept this world in bondage for so long.

Immanuel, Stay Strong, God is with us.

³ Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?”

“Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.” Genesis 47

We said yesterday that Joseph could have been a shepherd just like his family, but God had blessed him with other gifts and removed him from his family. God may not want us to follow the traditions of our family, He may have a different path for our lives. It may take strength and determination to walk our own paths!

⁷ Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed (or greeted) Pharaoh, ⁸ Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?”

⁹ And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.”

When we get older and perhaps no longer work, we may graduate to the next question people ask, ‘How old are you?’ Pharaoh asked Jacob his age and told Joseph to, ‘settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen’.

¹¹ So Joseph SETTLED his father and his brothers in Egypt and GAVE THEM PROPERTY IN THE BEST PART OF THE LAND, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed. ¹² Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household WITH FOOD, ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF THEIR CHILDREN (there was enough food for all of them, even in the famine).

Jacob and his family were not Egyptians, it wasn’t their land and never would be, YET GOD GAVE THEM THE BEST OF THE LAND. God brought them down to Egypt in a hard time when many were short of food and other necessities and blessed them. We should take note of this today, we believers are only passing through this world, but our God is well able to keep us and bless us here!

The land became Pharaoh’s, ²¹ and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other. 

The whole population of Egypt became serfs to Pharaoh (didn’t own anything, just worked the land for Pharaoh) but God’s people prospered in Goshen, the place set apart for them.

²⁷ Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.

God’s people were never meant to be slaves and God severely punished those who enslaved them. The Pharaohs of this time had better watch out, God sees and knows everything that’s been done to His children.

²⁴ “‘“The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
²⁵ the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
²⁶ the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.”’

²⁷ “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” Numbers 6

Immanuel, Stay Strong, God is with us.

²⁹ As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time. Genesis 46

Joseph was the ruler of Egypt and of Pharaoh’s palace, a highly responsible position. God had given him grace to carry that role, yet when he met his father, ‘the floodgates opened’ and all his pent-up emotions poured out. People carry many hidden things which may deeply affect their lives and dispositions. Joseph obviously functioned perfectly well in his daily work, but somewhere deep within missed Jacob, his father. Some people may lose a parent early in life and it can affect their whole lives.

³⁰ Israel said to Joseph, “Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive.”

Jacob in turn exhibited relief at meeting his son, whom he’d been told was dead. Jacob felt he was, ‘now ready to die’ after meeting Joseph again.

People may be carrying hidden things in their lives that only God knows about; a good reason to ‘walk softly’ around those we meet, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ.

³³ When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴ you should answer, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, JUST AS OUR FATHERS DID.’

Joseph accurately predicted the course of Pharaoh’s conversation with his brothers. Not so different from today, ‘what’s your job?’ A common question when people meet for the first time and try to get the measure of those they’re talking with.

Joseph ‘should have been’ a shepherd, but God had given him a different gifting, which initially caused problems within his family. Genesis 37:11 states that when Joseph shared his dreams, ‘his brothers were jealous of him, BUT HIS FATHER KEPT THE MATTER IN MIND. (Abraham Lincoln, didn’t fit well in his community, but like Joseph he rose to become president of his nation.) A serious question, has God gifted you, naturally and spiritually, for a very different role than you’re in right now? ‘Career Change’ is a major topic today, moving on to something very different in the next phase of life. A FATHER, NATURAL OR SPIRITUAL, MAY HELP YOU DISCERN IF GOD HAS SOMETHING NEW AND VERY DIFFERENT FOR YOUR FUTURE.

Joseph could probably have lived as a shepherd, but he was never called to be one and that’s why God removed him from his family environment. God may be calling someone reading this today to a radical change of life.

Immanuel, Stay Strong, God is with us.

 

²⁸ Now Jacob (Father) sent Judah (Line of Messiah) ahead of him to Joseph (Ruler) to get directions to Goshen. Genesis 46

We have three key figures in this one verse, all three pivotal in the plans and purposes of God for Israel and far into the future.

God had spoken to Jacob at Beersheba and reassured him about going down to Egypt. God had also provided carts from Pharaoh for the elderly Jacob along with women and children to make the journey.

I’ve heard a number of prophetic voices recently speak about Goshen, so I believe ’Goshens’ will appear again in these present times. It was a place of Protection and Provision. It was also a place of Light, where people could function normally while others couldn’t see to do so. Goshen did not come under any of the judgments or plagues which eventually struck Egypt, God made a distinction between the righteous and the ungodly.

The verse above speaks about the coming of Jacob and his descendants to Goshen. He ‘sent Judah ahead of him to get directions’ from Joseph, the one who’d been sent ahead by God. Judah means Praise, and he was the one sent to find the way! Jacob had the carts and a personal word from God, but to finally enter into what God had prepared, he had to ‘Send Praise’ ahead. Praise and worship will be important keys to entering into a place of Refuge and Provision for the times ahead.

¹⁷ You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.

²¹ After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

In the days of the good King Jehoshaphat, Judah faced invasion by a powerful enemy, but God rescued them as they took their stand and praised Him.

¹⁸ The Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of God. They said, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Benjamites?”

The Lord replied, “JUDAH SHALL GO FIRST.” Judges 20

At the time of the sorry conflict with the tribe of Benjamin, God told Israel that Judah should go first.

We can all be thankful to God for His goodness to us and praise Him in these days. Our deliverance may depend on it.

Immanuel, Stay Strong, God is with us.

Fathers Love Ministry welcomes your support today. Please donate at our website;

fathersloveministry.co.uk

We are available to seek personal words of encouragement and to counsel those who wish it online, contact us on our website above.

³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6

THE LORD IS NO ONE’S DEBTOR, HALLELUJAH.

¹⁵ I AM WITH YOU AND WILL WATCH OVER YOU WHEREVER YOU GO, and I will bring you back to this land. I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU until I have done what I have promised you.” (A LIFE PROMISE FOR JACOB) Genesis 28

We saw yesterday that God’s Provision was there for every stage of Jacob’s journeys – even after death his body was carried back to Canaan, God’s Promised Land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Jacob didn’t only receive God’s Provision, but he had Encounters with God and/or angels AT STRATEGIC TIMES. God reassured Jacob in person of His commitment at each stage of his journey. (On a personal note, I also received the above promise Gen. 28:15 at our wedding; my late wife is now with the Lord.)

GOD OFTEN MEETS US AT IMPORTANT TRANSITIONS TO REAFFIRM HIS PROMISES AND ASSURE US OF HIS PRESENCE WITH US!

³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “GO BACK (NEW PHASE OF HIS LIFE’S JOURNEY BEGINS) to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I WILL BE WITH YOU.” Genesis 31

¹⁴ Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate? Genesis 31

Rachel (named first) and Leah confirmed Jacob’s Change of Direction and that’s important confirmation for their lives would be changed forever. GOD ONLY SPOKE TO JACOB and he in turn told the others what God had told him.

32 Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. ² When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.

Jacob had faced the threat of Laban coming behind him, now he had to meet his estranged brother Esau with 400 men coming to meet him.

²⁴ So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Genesis 32

Jacob wrestled with God and received a name change to signify his struggle. So he crossed back into the land in pain from his hip and with a new name, Israel, the name of God’s coming people.

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel AND SETTLE THERE AND BUILD AN ALTAR TO GOD, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” Genesis 35

God told Jacob where to live in the land, GOD HAS A PLACE FOR EACH OF US IN THESE DAYS.

¹¹ And God said to him, “I am God Almighty (El-Shaddai); be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. ¹² The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.” 

AFTER JACOB HAD BEGUN TO MOVE DOWN TO EGYPT, God again reassured him that He was with him and would bless him. GOD WILL CONFIRM HIS DIRECTION AND PURPOSES FOR OUR LIVES AS WE STEP OUT IN FAITH TO OBEY HIM.

² And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

³ “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nationthere. ⁴ I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”

Immanuel, Stay Strong, Almighty God is with us.

¹⁵ I AM WITH YOU AND WILL WATCH OVER YOU WHEREVER YOU GO, and I will bring you back to this land. I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU until I have done what I have promised you.” Genesis 28

God is Faithful at every stage and every step of the way on our life’s journey!

Over many years and in different circumstances God was Faithful to Jacob.

¹⁰ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I HAD ONLY MY STAFF WHEN I CROSSED THIS JORDAN, but now I have become two camps. Genesis 32

Jacob’s first journey was alone with only his staff, he walked from Beersheba to the land of his uncle, in the north. He was a young man and God met with him at the beginning of his journey and gave him His Promise to go with him.

Twenty years later God spoke to Jacob and told him to return to the land of Canaan.

¹³ I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.’ Genesis 31

¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. ¹⁴ So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I MOVE SLOWLY AT PACE OF THE FLOCKS AND HERDS BEFORE ME AND THE PACE OF THE CHILDREN, Genesis 33

Jacob was no longer a young man, alone and moving quickly, now he was constrained by children and livestock, he moved more slowly, though he was making the same journey in reverse. Time changes the way we undertake the stages of our journey.

³ “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. ⁴ I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”

⁵ Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Israel’s sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives IN THE CARTS THAT PHARAOH HAD SENT TO TRANSPORT HIM. Genesis 46

Jacob was 130 years old when he met Pharaoh in Egypt, now an old man. Genesis 47:9 But the God of his fathers who appeared to him at Beersheba, provided the older Jacob with transport for the long trip down to Egypt.

God also promised Jacob that, ‘Joseph would close his eyes’.

²⁹ When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, ³⁰ but when I REST WITH MY FATHERS, CARRY ME OUT OF EGYPT AND BURY ME WHERE THEY ARE BURIED.” Genesis 47

The final journey of Jacob’s life was also marked by God’s provision, he was brought back to the land of his fathers. WE SERVE A FAITHFUL GOD, EVEN AFTER OUR LIVES ARE OVER.

IMMANUEL, Stay Strong, God is with us.

² And God spoke to ISRAEL in a vision at night and said, “JACOB! JACOB!”

“Here I am,” he replied. Genesis 46 

(It’s interesting that the Bible addresses him by both names, his birth name and God given name)

We said yesterday that Joseph’s last word to his brothers was, ‘Don’t QUARREL on the way!’ Guard your mouths and return to our father in harmony. Don’t attack one another with your mouths, be of one accord. God’s Spirit hates conflict and strife!

²⁵ So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. ²⁶ They told him, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.” Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. Genesis 45

Initially Jacob couldn’t take in the news that his favourite son Joseph was alive and ruler of Egypt. HOW MANY TIMES DOES GOD WANT TO TELL US THINGS THAT WE CAN’T BELIEVE? Jesus often addressed His disciples, ‘O you of little faith’.

²⁷ But when THEY TOLD HIM EVERYTHING JOSEPH HAD SAID (Ear Gate) to them, and when HE SAW THE CARTS (Eye Gate) Joseph had sent to carry him back, THE SPIRIT OF THEIR FATHER REVIVED. ²⁸ And Israel said, “I’m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” Genesis 45

JACOB HEARD AND SAW things by his natural senses which convinced him that Joseph was alive and, ‘his spirit revived’. The good news brought Jacob a new lease of life.

²⁵ Like cold water to a weary soul
    is good news from a distant land. Genesis 25

Of course, ‘The Good News’ of Jesus sacrifice in our place is the ultimate JOY BRINGER. ‘Jesus lover of my soul, Jesus I will never let you go.’

46 So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, HE OFFERED SACRIFICES TO THE GOD OF HIS FATHER ISAAC.

² And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

Jacob/Israel had another encounter with God as he left the Land of Promise once again, just as he’d done when he had the dream of the angels on the ladder to heaven at Bethel.

Jacob had been convinced by his sons that everything was going to be alright, BUT AS THEY SET OUT ON THEIR JOURNEY, HE SACRIFICED TO GOD. HE INVITED GOD INTO THEIR JOURNEY. We may be convinced of the path we’re embarking on, but be wise like Jacob and INVITE GOD’S PRESENCE TO GO WITH US. If we’re uncertain that God is with us, then we should pause and  wait until He speaks to us. God was with Jacob, now an old man and would be with his descendants.

Immanuel, Stay Strong, God is with us.