Making Major Life Adjustments - Genesis 46 and 47

How often do you stop and realize that the Holy Bible serves us in many different ways? It is our calendar, our measuring stick, time table; it is our planning and operating manual and our dictionary that defines words we do not understand and gives us examples of how to handle every life crises that intrudes our lives. There are literally thousands, yea millions, of us that stumble along through life wondering what to do—when the answer is as close as the Book on the table. Why do people let dust collect on the Holy Word? Pray meaningfully right now that you will be inspired to read it more often.

I can think of no other topic that intervenes in the life of every human alive than does the lesson topic for today—Making Life Adjustments. Just think about it for a moment. One of your most important life adjustments had to be made immediately at the moment you were born. You had been fed intravenously for the last nine months and you had to adjust to being fed orally. Oxygen is absolutely necessary; one can not survive even for a few minutes without its presence in the blood stream. It had been furnished by osmoses and instantly at birth the lungs must take over.

If you live a century, your last days will be filled with life adjustments as you decide on doctors, hospitals, care-giving homes and who will share in your last will and testament—even as to who will conduct your funeral and who will be the six that carries you those last few steps from the hearse. There are ninety-nine years between that are filled with instances where your life adjustments are as vital as life itself. It would literally take pages to list all the new adventures you will undertake. Just a few are; school, college, work, courting and marriage, salvation, church choice, where you will live, and time to move, and finally a retirement plan all of these interspersed with each and every call of the Master on your life.

God gives us one very good example of how Jacob, in old age, nearly blind, and living in Hebron—in the land of Canaan, which was promised to his father and grandfather, is now confronted with the necessity to make another life adjustment. It seems appropriate for us to go back and review the life of this man and at least a few of his many adjustments in order to see what it is that has made it possible for him to endure life and live to be more than one hundred years of age and still have his right mind.

Remember that Jacob was born with his first demise holding to one of his heals. He was the older of the two sons, but soon lost all rights to his birthright and his father’s blessing. He never blamed God and held on to the faith of his father. He was far from a perfect man because he used a scheme planned partly by his mother to cheat Esau out of his birthright and had to escape home to dodge his brother’s revenge.

He soon learned that others could play the cheating game when his father-in-law tricked him into working fourteen years for the wife he desired. You will note that he did not blame God and kept his faith until God started his faith to work again in his favor. He gained in family and goods, until he was able to escape bondage and start his journey homeward.

On his way back to his people we must never forget the one most important night in Jacob’s life. He had hills ahead to climb and knew it, and when God approached him, he held on to god…wrestled with God… all night and refused to let go until God made him promises that He would go with him and help him through the rest of his life.

Let me ask you a personal and very private question. Do not answer to me—but find the answer for yourself and see just how determined you really are to serve God with all your power and might and expect God to keep the promises he has made you through his Holy Word. When you have a serious problem that occurs in your life do you choose to work it out on your own? Do you fight your own battles independently and expect no one to help? Do you face a mad brother or other mad enemy and just handle it yourself? How many times in your life have you been in serious trouble when you went directly to God, and prayed and prayed, and then waited for God to help you through your problem? Jacob trusted God.

I remind all of us again, Jacob was far from being a perfect man, he had some real problems being the perfect father and his gang of evil minded boys proves that. But without failure when his times got rough he tore his clothes, or wept in sack cloth and ashes, sometimes feeling down but never defeated. He never turned his back on the God of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac. Oh, how we need to learn to fully TRUST God every day, all the way!

His family clan has grown to seventy in number and he is still the respected leader of the family. Even the ‘bad boys’ of his family have shown their honor for him and their dependence on him. They have now completed two dangerous journeys to Egypt obeying his commands for them to go. Especially the last time when they knew that Joseph had laid down some hard rules for them to follow. Now they have come to the time when Jacob says it is time for the entire family to leave the Promised Land and move to Egypt and there seems to be no objection coming from the older sons. With all the turmoil that has occurred in this family…how can this father, Jacob, still command such respect from family members that have not always loved him as a father should be loved? There can only be one answer. Jacob has always followed God and God has blessed him for this.

Jacob said, “I am convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” “So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.” Here in the first verses of chapter 46 we find that Israel [Jacob] is still close to God, for God appeared unto him and encouraged him to move on to Egypt. God said, “Go and I will go with you and I will bring you back.” Believing in the promises of god Israel and all that he had loaded into the wagons that Joseph had sent for his use, and they all made one more great adjustment in their lifetime. The remainder of this chapter gives the family tree, 66 in all went to Egypt; Counting Joseph and his family this made a total of 70 in the newly reestablished family.

The reunion in Goshen is one that brought tears of joy to Israel and his son Joseph, and no doubt the rest of the family felt safe and glad to have been led by this great man. There is a beautiful story unfolded in chapter 47. If you will only read it for yourself, you can see how God works in, through and for those he loves.

The famine still had the nations in its grips, but they all survived because of Joseph’s planning and God’s provision. Joseph appealed to the Pharos and his family was granted land in the most fertile part of Egypt. During the last years of the famine all of the Egyptians had to trade their lands and stock for food provisions, so that the Pharos owned all the land. He allowed Joseph to employ his brothers who were good and able workers and the family was soon one of the richest tribes in the land of Egypt.

When the rain returned and crops began to grow, every one was now working for the king and a precedent was set that contends until this day on the rental farms of America. Sharecroppers work the owners land and retain four fifths of the crops for their labor and they pay one fifth of the crop as rent. This is very interesting to me. And one more precedent was also established. The land of the priest did not become Pharaoh’s. In America, the property that belongs to the Church is not subject to government taxes.

Because of the fair deal allowed the Hebrews, they were able to gain wealth, and buy property for themselves, so that they became both the owners of the land and the owners of the land and this brought prosperity. What a beautiful way for Jacob to live out his last days on earth.

When Jacob was 147 years old, he realized it was his time to go home to Glory. His son Joseph promised to take him back to his home and bury him with the older members of this Godly family. Here is proof once more of what we must do to please God and keep his will in our lives. Too feeble to stand alone, Jacob leaned on his staff and spent some of his last moments on this earth worshiping God.

Many of the stories of the Bible, and this has been one of them, are very interesting to read, joyful and uplifting to those of us who believe. But really they are not written for the joy of reading. As the stories are written they continually unfold truths, facts, and plans for us to live by. It is only when we read between the lines…it is only when we make these truths applicable to our lives that we learn how to live with honor, and always pleasing to God. It is in these stories that we find the approved plan that God has to make our lives purposeful.

Never forget that God has a purpose for each of his children. There is a plan of action that will bring that purpose to it’s rightfully conclusion. There is only one place that you will find the guidelines or plans that let you know with assurance that you are on the right road every day. You will find that map in the Bible. Sometimes the road signs are hard to read, and even more difficult to understand and the only way you can make sure that you are not making a mistake is to keep your eye, heart and mind on God. You can see him tomorrow morning when the sun rises in the east, and again when the rain falls, and when the earth turns green in the springtime. You can see him each day you live through a glass dimly, but with absolute assurance when you study his word and apply it to your daily life. Accomplish this and you will be able to make ALL OF YOUR LIFE ADJUSTMENTS WITHOUT FEAR AND YOU CAN KNOW YOUR DESTINATION—hell or HEAVEN.