Trusting God's Plan in the Waiting: Lessons From the Life of Josephናሙና

JACOB DIES

When we dig deep into the Bible, it’s really fun to see hidden treasures if you stop to ask questions along the way.  When I see a number, a name, or a phrase that sticks out to me, I try to find the importance of it because every word in the Bible was God-inspired and has a purpose.  

Today’s reading starts out with the fact that Jacob lived 17 years after arriving in Egypt. So this 130-year-old man who kept saying “I’m about to die”, managed to live another 17 years. Be encouraged, friend! You haven’t seen your last days! You may feel like there’s nothing left to live for based on how you feel today, but you don’t know God’s ultimate plan for you. You can get a second wind!  Knowing Joseph was alive breathed new life into the old man. Don’t miss Joseph was 17 years old when he was sold off into slavery and God gave Jacob 17 more years with him in his old age. The grace of God and his goodness never ceases to amaze me!

One day Jacob falls ill and Joseph takes his now 20-something-year-old sons, Manasseh and Ephraim to say goodbye. Fatherly blessings are a big deal in Hebrew traditions with the oldest son getting the biggest blessing. In this instance, Jacob purposely blesses the youngest with the bigger blessing. This should remind you of the story of Jacob stealing his own brother Esau’s birthright blessing, but Jacob did it with purpose here. He also makes these two young men officially his children, and they now become part of the 12 tribes of Israel.  

Right at the overly ripe age of 147, Jacob breathes his last in the presence of his sons. Joseph keeps his promise to bury him in Canaan, in the land God had promised Jacob. 

 Questions:  

• How do you see your days?  Your best days are behind you, you are living your best days, or your best days are yet to come?    
• Does it give you encouragement even when Jacob said he was about to die, He was given 17 more years of LIFE?    
• What have you learned about Jacob from Joseph’s story?