Omniscient Provision

January 27

Genesis 47-48

Psalm 17:1-5

Proverbs 3:19-20

Matthew 17

Omniscient Provision

“So 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 Pharoah had commanded.  And Joseph provided his father and brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to their little ones.”  Genesis 47:11-12 LSB

The story of Joseph is truly amazing.  From Genesis 37-50, we read about a man named Joseph that God used to save His chosen people.  Many years before it happened God saw that there was going to be a famine in the land.  He raised up a boy named Joseph and worked out the circumstances of his life in a way that would bring him to Egypt as a slave.  While he was in Egypt, through a series of seemingly random events, God positioned him as the second in command of all the land.  God gave Pharoah a dream that Joseph interpreted explaining that there was going to be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine.  Pharoah instructed Joseph to prepare for the famine during the seven good years so that they would be able to survive when the seven bad years came.  The famine was fierce and stretched all the way to Canaan where Joseph’s father and brothers lived.  They heard that there was food in Egypt so the brothers travelled there in hopes of buying some for their family.  When they arrived, Joseph recognized them but they did not know who he was. After determining their motives and finding out that his father was still alive, he brought them all to Egypt, gave them land and provided everything they needed during those difficult years.  God was also preparing Joseph’s heart during this time to forgive his brothers and restore their relationship.  Years before anyone had any idea that there was going to be a famine, God set in motion a series of events that would save His people.  He did the same thing almost 400 years later when he raised up a boy named Moses to deliver His people from bondage.  Long before His people cried out for Him to save them from their Egyptian slave masters, God put a Hebrew baby into the house of Pharoah to prepare him to be their deliverer. 

We cannot know what the future holds.  No matter how hard we prepare and plan for the future, we have no way of knowing what will happen.  Thankfully, we know Someone who does.  God is perfectly omniscient.  He knows everything past, present and future.  Because He can see the future, He is able to lead us to make decisions that will enable us to deal with whatever is coming our way.  We don’t always understand why He allows circumstances to happen to us.  Joseph couldn’t possibly understand why God allowed his brothers to sell him, or why he sat in jail for years for a crime he didn’t commit.  But God used each of those things to put Joseph in exactly the right place to accomplish His plan.  He does the same thing in our lives.  He is at work, even when we don’t understand what He is doing.  We can trust Him to take care of us just as He took care of Joseph and the children of Israel.