Week 37, Day 2: Beginning of a Nation

Today’s Reading:  Genesis 46:1-34

Some thoughts from the reading…

God promised Abraham that He would make a great nation out of him.  Several times, we have seen God repeat the idea to both Isaac and Jacob.  God said that the descendants of Abraham would be innumerable, like the sands of the sea, or the stars of heaven.  That was a bit difficult to believe (at least from man’s perspective) when Abraham didn’t have his son of promise until he was 100 years old!  However, by the time we get to this point in Jacob’s life, we see that his family has expanded to 66 people.  God would now use the time that the people would be in Egypt to grow them into a true nation.  It will be interesting to watch this process, and note some of the tools that God uses to make sure that His people remain His people, and that they are productive and grow quickly.  They will become a huge nation in a relatively short period of time.

We see in this process the fulfillment of God’s promises.  This will also be the basis on which God will fulfill many other promises.  In fact, all three parts of the promise made to Abraham will be fulfilled through this process.  We will see the great nation that comes out of Egypt equipped for the conquering of land–the land of Canaan.  We will also see the blessing of all mankind (the coming of the Messiah) coming through this people who will be kept separate from the people of Egypt, even though they would be living in their land.  God had a plan to bring all of these promises to fruition.  It would be impossible for a man to devise a plan like this, and even if he could make the plan, there is no way that he could cause it to come to pass.  This shows the wisdom of God, His foreknowledge, and the way that He can and does work in the kingdoms of men. Because God can do all of this, we should put our faith and confidence in Him!

Question: What other promises can you think of that were fulfilled by God throughout the scriptures?

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