Reformed Devotionals Daily Podcast

• The Upside Down Promise

  There’s something powerful about the last words of someone’s life. When someone is on their deathbed and they call the family together because they know their time is short, everyone waits with bated breath. They know what is about to be said is going to be important. That this will show what matters most to the dying person. Often these last words will set the course of a person’s life. And so as Jacob comes to the end of his days, he passes on blessing. And as we look at these words we should realise that what mattered to him was covenant promises. Let’s have a look.Genesis 48:1–22 (ESV)After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.’Jacob is weak and dying and he knows it. But when Joseph enters with his sons, Jacob musters the strength to sit up and speak. But do you see what he says? What is the one thing on his mind with these last words of his? They are the covenant promises of God. He does not seem to care about his accomplishments in life, he doesn’t bring up the hurts of his past, he seems to ignore his regrets in life. As a man dying he cares about only one thing: God’s promises. That is what he clings to. Notice too the name he uses: “God Almighty.” El Shaddai. The God of power who keeps His promises. That is where Jacob’s hope lies at the end of his life. Is that where your hope lies?And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”Here Jacob adopts Joseph’s sons as his own. Now because we don’t live in ancient Israel we don’t realise just how big of a thing this is. These two Egyptian-born boys are now counted among the tribes of Israel. The nations are again being blessed through Israel. God’s covenant promises are playing out in this adoption. And it reminds us that God’s family is open to outsiders. You don’t have to be an Israelite to be part of the family. Of course in Jesus that adoption goes much much deeper. We are adopted not into the family of Israel. No we are adopted into the family of God as sons and daughters in Christ Jesus. When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.” Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. And Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.If this was a movie, this would be the scene where the people in the theatre start tearing up. Deeply emotional music would be playing in the background. You would be hearing the snuffles behind you as you try to hide your own tears. Here we see Jacob unable to see. But he knows the boys are there. He hugs them and his words are full of amazement at what God has done for him in the end. “I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” This is the God we worship. A God who gives generously, who can do immeasurably more than we can hope or imagine. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). And he blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”Jacob crosses his hands. The younger Ephraim receives the greater blessing. It looks upside down, but this is God’s way. Again and again, He chooses the younger, the weaker, the unexpected. Why? Because in our weakness he is most glorified. He shows and teaches us again and and again, that his blessing is never about our strength or our status, but always about his mercy and grace. And notice how Jacob describes God “the God who has been my shepherd all my life long.” The same Jacob who once said, “Few and evil have been my days,” now looks back and sees a Shepherd who redeemed him from all evil. When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.Joseph is unhappy with the blessing going the wrong way around. It doesn’t make sense to him. But Jacob insists “I know, my son, I know.” This is a father who has experienced God’s upside down ways and knows that that is just how things work. It is not for us to decide how God works. Blessing falls where God puts it. But that is good news for us. Because it reminds us that we are not chosen because we are worthy. None of us are. Our election is because of God’s sovereign purposes and his sovereign grace. Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. Moreover, I have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”Jacob ends his life weak in body, but strong in faith. He tells Joseph “I am about to die, but God will be with you.” That’s the heart of covenant faith. Even as life slips away, Jacob clings to the promise of God’s presence. He may die in Egypt, but God will bring His people home.And this is the hope we have in Christ. Death does not have the last word. Our Shepherd has redeemed us from all evil, and He will bring us safely into our true home. Just as Jacob could look beyond his death to God’s promises, so we, in Christ, can face death with confidence, knowing that He is with us and will not forsake us.PrayerFather, thank You for the testimony of Jacob’s faith at the end of his life. Thank You that You are the Shepherd who has carried us all our days, redeeming us from evil and blessing us with grace we don’t deserve. Help us, like Jacob, to die clinging to Your promises and to trust that You will bring us safely home in Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Get full access to Reformed Devotionals Daily at reformeddevotional.substack.com/subscribe

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• A True And Better Country

  Have you ever noticed that when you are away from home for a long time you eventually feel a bit cabin-fever-ish? I remember going on holidays with my family for a month once, and towards the last week, I just could not wait to get home. While the trip itself was fantastic, there’s a deep human longing in our hearts to know where we belong. To have and to be home. That’s what this passage is all about.Genesis 47:27–31 (ESV)Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.Now notice the contrast from the passage we looked at yesterday. The Egyptians, whose land this was, have just lost everything. They gave up their money, their livestock, even their land and freedom to Pharaoh so that they could survive. But Israel had settled in Goshen, and there they grow and multiply. Of course this is not some random luck that they had. This was God’s covenant playing out. He had promised Abraham that his descendants would become a great nation, and here in Egypt of all places that promise begins to take visible shape. In the land of foreign gods, in the middle of a severe famine, God’s people flourish. And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years.Seventeen years. That’s how long Jacob gets to live under Joseph’s care in Egypt. Do you remember how old Joseph was when he was torn away from Jacob when his brothers sold him into slavery? Seventeen. Now in God’s goodness, he gives Jacob those years back. Often God in his goodness restores to us what we have lost. Sometimes it happens in this life, but always it happens in eternity when we are fully restored in Christ. And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.” And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.Here Jacob looks death in the face. He knows his time is near. But what matters to him most is not the wealth of Egypt, not the comforts he now enjoys, but the covenant promise of God. He says, “Don’t bury me here. Take me back to the land God promised.” I think this is a beautiful picture of a man who had a difficult life, clinging in faith to the covenant promises of God. He knows Egypt is not the final home of God’s people.That is faith playing out. Even in his dying breath, Jacob rests on the promises of God. Hebrews 11 tells us that Jacob and the patriarchs all “died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar.” That’s what we see here. A man who had lived a hard life. Remember he described his years as “few and evil”. But this is a man who dies in hope, trusting that God would keep His word, even after he died.This is the type of faith we should strive to have. Jacob’s faith was in God’s promise, which in his eyes looked like the land of Canaan. But we don’t just look to a piece of land in Canaan. We look to a better country, a heavenly one. Jesus has gone ahead of us to prepare that place. And just like Jacob wanted his bones laid in the land of promise, so we set our hope not in this world but in the resurrection to come. We know our true home is with Christ.PrayerFather, we thank You that Your promises are sure, even when our days are few and our years are hard. Like Jacob, we confess that this world is not our home. Help us die in faith, trusting not in the riches of Egypt but in the covenant promises You have kept in Christ. Fix our eyes on our true home, the better country You have prepared for us. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Get full access to Reformed Devotionals Daily at reformeddevotional.substack.com/subscribe

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• Sin Bankrupts Us

  Because we live in a prosperous capitalist world, money is often the source of our security. When we have it, we feel safe, we feel more courageous, we are more willing to take on risks and so on. But when we don’t have it, the lack of money becomes a source of fear. We feel exposed, we feel as if we need to find some way to provide for ourselves. But what if there was a greater source of provision? That is what this passage teaches us. Eventually all human resources will run dry. It is at these times that we realise that God is the only true provider. Genesis 47:13–26 (ESV)Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.So the famine gets worse and then as the famine worsens ordinary people’s money dry up quickly. Every coin in the land eventually finds its way into Pharaoh’s treasury. Now the point here is not so much that we should be frugal with our spending (although we should), or that this teaches us the prudence of saving for lean times (although of course that is true too). The point is that the people who once thought their wealth would cover them and protect them quickly find out that they can’t eat money. That is as true today as it was back then. So spending our lives chasing security in our possessions and our wealth really isn’t worth it. When real need comes, things like sickness or death, money cannot save you.And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year.It is amazing to me how quickly meaningful things become meaningless when we are faced with death. All of a sudden these people are willing to part with their last possessions, their livestock, so that they can have food. Death is the great equaliser, the great humbler. Why is this? Because deep down we know that once we die, we will face our maker. This terrifies most people. But not the Christian. We know death is but a doorway to joining our Saviour forever.And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.” So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. For all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh’s. As for the people, he made servants of them from one end of Egypt to the other.Here the crisis reaches its lowest point. The Egyptians hand over themselves. Money, livestock, and now their very lives. They all belong to Pharaoh. They have nothing left. It’s sobering to see how suffering strips us of everything we think we own. It forces us to face the truth: we are not in control. But as we will see, even in this, behind the scenes, God is still working. Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land. Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s.Notice that Joseph here is merciful and prudent. He could have let them starve, but he was a good and merciful man. God had restored him out of his poverty and slavery and he now treats the people with similar mercy. He gives the people seed to plant crops. He provides a way for them to live. Sure, they are Pharaoh’s servants now, but they have a way forward because Joseph provided it. Now we should be careful here because Joseph is not Christ, and Pharaoh is not God. But we should note that this story does point us forward to Jesus. Our sin and idolatry are like a spiritual famine, and it leaves us spiritually bankrupt. It sucks us in and keeps sucking the life out of us. We spend all we have spiritually trying to save ourselves, and still we come up empty. But Jesus makes a way. He redeems us, not like slaves, but as adopted children. And while Joseph gave seed for food, Christ gives us Himself as our daily bread. In a sense he is the true seed who fell into the ground and died, that He might bear fruit and give us life forever.And that gives us far better security than money.PrayerFather, we confess how often we trust in money, possessions, and control to keep us safe. But like Egypt in famine, we find that it all slips through our fingers. Thank You that in Christ we have a greater security, one that cannot be taken away. Help us live humbly, dependently, and gratefully, knowing that You have provided the true bread of life. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Get full access to Reformed Devotionals Daily at reformeddevotional.substack.com/subscribe

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• Sorrow and Suffering is the Soil

  Asking for help is a humbling thing. We live in a world where we value independence and a “I can do it myself” attitude. But sometimes we find ourselves at the end of ourselves and we realise we have to ask for help. Even that realisation itself can humble us. Well that is where Joseph and his family find themselves. The famine in the land is so severe that they have to give up Canaan, the promised land, and move to Egypt. They need Pharoah, the king’s mercy. But God provides. Let’s have a look.Genesis 47:1–12 (ESV)So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen.” And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were.”Now remember in the passage just before this one, we read that the Egyptians despised shepherds. They saw them as an abomination. For in Egypt power and might was valued. And so when Joseph brings his brothers before Pharoah, he leverages that occupation and he presents them to Pharaoh honestly but also strategically. Part of what it means to be human is that we have this trait called “impression management”. This is the amount of energy and effort we put into presenting ourselves before other people. We want to manage their impression of who we are, so that we can feel safe and secure, knowing that they think well of us. But that’s not what happens in this text. The brothers don’t try to puff themselves up, they don’t try to pretend they are more than they are. “We are shepherds,” they say. And that’s risky. In Egypt, shepherds were despised and so they did not manage their impressions well. But God honours their honesty and they come before the king just as they are. Sometimes (often) just telling the truth as it is, really is the best thing.They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. And now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”Now to sojourn is to travel through and stay temporarily in the land. The brothers ask for a place to sojourn, a temporary place to let their flocks eat because the famine is so bad. But Pharaoh gives them much more than that. He opens the best of the land to them. And not only that, he gives them the responsibility to look after Pharaoh’s own livestock. We can’t help but see God’s hand in this. Yes Egypt may despise shepherds, but shepherds are still needed to feed the people. It is not for nothing that scripture calls Jesus “the Great Shepherd of the sheep” in Hebrews 13:20. These shepherds would one day produce the shepherd.Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.What a scene. Pharaoh is the most powerful man in the world. But here comes Jacob, Israel, frail and weary and stands before him and blesses him. We should not miss what is going on here. Remember the covenant promises that God had made to Abraham? That he would make him into a great nation, that he would give him a land to call his own, and that all nations would be blessed through him. This is what is playing out in this scene. Even though Jacob’s words are painfully honest: “Few and evil have been the days of my life.” He doesn’t pretend otherwise. His life has been full of sin, loss, and sorrow. Yet here he is, alive, preserved, carried into safety by God’s mercy. His years may have been hard, but God’s covenant has not failed him. Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents.We finish this passage with the beautiful picture of God’s provision for his people. The covenant people were under threat. The famine endangered them. But for all the evil the brothers tried to do to Joseph, God was still working behind the scenes. He used the evil to make it turn out for good. And now the stage is set for the nation of Israel to truly grow. This should encourage us, because all the sorrow and suffering of our own lives are often the soil in which God grows good things. PrayerFather, our days too are often marked by sin, sorrow, and weakness. Like Jacob, we confess that life feels short and full of struggle. Yet You have been faithful. Thank You that in Christ, You provide for us far more than we deserve. Keep us humble, keep us trusting, and help us rest in the bread of life that never fails. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Get full access to Reformed Devotionals Daily at reformeddevotional.substack.com/subscribe

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• Father comes home

  A number of years ago as a family we faced a decision. Do we stay in Tasmania so I could become the pastor of one of the Tasmanian Reformed churches, or do we move back to Melbourne, back home, but without any surety of a call to any congregation. After much debate we decided to move back to Melbourne, even though I had no immediate pastoral prospects and my wife was pregnant with our first because we believed that God was not calling us to stay. It was a major change that filled us with both fear and a bit of hope. That’s what I think Jacob feels in Genesis 46. He is about to leave the land of promise and go down to Egypt. Not that I think Tassie is the land of promise (although I am sure some of you reading this disagree!). But for Jacob it would have felt exciting because his beloved son Joseph was alive, but it would also be terrifying. He is leaving the promised land. What would happen to God’s promises now? Let’s have a look.Genesis 46 (ESV)So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph's hand shall close your eyes.”So Jacob is old, and the thought of leaving Canaan must have felt like leaving behind God’s covenant. After all, Jacob inherited the Covenant promises “I will give you a land, I will make you into a great nation, I will bless all the nations through you”. Sure he had a good beginning on a great nation (12 sons and many grand children), but now he was giving up the land, and who knew how the blessing to all the nations would play out? But the Lord speaks directly to him: “Do not be afraid.” Why? Because God promises that “I myself will go down with you.” And He promises His faithfulness to his covenant promises. He will bring the Israelites back to this land again. God will be with his people wherever they go, and this will not undo his covenant promises.Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters. All his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.The whole family moves to Egypt, along with everything they had. Nothing is left behind. The proto-nation of Israel, seventy people in all, go down to Egypt. Now this might feel odd, but God would use this move to bring about a great salvation. This group of 70 would become 1 million within a relatively short amount of time. This small group is just God is planting His people in a foreign land, where they will grow into a nation. Sometimes we have to be transplanted into new soil to grow.Now these are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons… (insert a long list of names you are welcome to read for yourself here)…All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.I have come to really appreciate the lists and genealogies in the Bible. Even though they don’t mean much to us today, they nevertheless remind us that God knows every family, every child, every household. To us, it might read like a genealogy to skim over, much as we have, but to God’s people it is a record of His covenant faithfulness. Every name in this list would have played a part in setting up and becoming the nation of Israel.He sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ When Pharaoh calls you and says, What is your occupation?’ you shall say, Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”After decades of grief Jacob sees Joseph alive and now he is ready to die. The hug is long, the tears are many. Jacob says, “Now I can die, since I have seen your face.” It’s the sigh of a man who finally has peace. Yet even here, the story points beyond Joseph. One day, we too will see the face of the greater Son, the risen Lord Jesus. One day we will be reunited with the ultimate Father, and let out a sigh of relief as he says “Well done, good and faithful servant”. I long for that day. Do you?PrayerFather, thank You that You go with us into every unknown. Thank You that You keep Your promises, even when we feel small or afraid. Forgive us for doubting You, for clinging too tightly to our own plans. Teach us to trust that Your presence is enough. Give us hope as we wait for the day when we see the face of Christ and are finally home. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Get full access to Reformed Devotionals Daily at reformeddevotional.substack.com/subscribe

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