READ Gen. 47:27. Feast or famine. Nobody likes times of famine, yet that is when we grow… Ecc. 7:3 a crazy word of wisdom, “Sorrow is better than laughter…”/// Today’s scripture is about famine….
I can’t say famine is good… but in keeping with the caption of the Joseph stories found in Gen. 50:20, good does come out of famine…. Times of famine contains lessons of rigid disciplines, causing a person to sift priorities… 18 years ago Ken R. was dying…., I often visited him. In life he’d always been a huge fan of the Mariners. It was 2001 the year the Mariners won 116 games…an exciting time as the season progressed. How far could they go in the play-offs? Could they win the world series? As Ken’s death looked imminent people though how fitting if he could just hang on to see his beloved Mariners in the World Series. When it looked like he could not last that long the thought was how that was too bad… I talked to Ken about many things including the Mariners. Ken was changing. He still cared about the Mariners, but not really. Talk of the Mariners was a bit hollow. The things of this world began to take on less importance. Ken could talk about the Mariners, but more often , he’d turn the conversation to the things of God. He wanted to talk about the second coming of Jesus Christ. He became animated about thoughts of immortality, the hope of Christ…
I can’t say famine is good… but in keeping with the caption of the Joseph stories found in Gen. 50:20, good does come out of famine…. Times of famine contains lessons of rigid disciplines, causing a person to sift priorities… 18 years ago Ken R. was dying…., I often visited him. In life he’d always been a huge fan of the Mariners. It was 2001 the year the Mariners won 116 games…an exciting time as the season progressed. How far could they go in the play-offs? Could they win the world series? As Ken’s death looked imminent people though how fitting if he could just hang on to see his beloved Mariners in the World Series. When it looked like he could not last that long the thought was how that was too bad… I talked to Ken about many things including the Mariners. Ken was changing. He still cared about the Mariners, but not really. Talk of the Mariners was a bit hollow. The things of this world began to take on less importance. Ken could talk about the Mariners, but more often , he’d turn the conversation to the things of God. He wanted to talk about the second coming of Jesus Christ. He became animated about thoughts of immortality, the hope of Christ…
In times of famine something changes in our spirit… what’s most important rises, emphasizing our soul/ heart. During times of famine life simplifies, priorities change… Famine is a physical and moral waste that can be a potential paradise. Famine is a time of testing, discipline and hardship. The old question is Feast or Famine, but when you are in Christ you can feast during a famine… you can find renewal and hope, joy and satisfaction…emerge from a famine with a strength of the Lord and a joy in your spirit.
People of faith are NOT exempt from famine. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. Evil is real. War ravishes the land. Brokenness takes its toll. Many Psalms question God when faced with hardship and betrayal. Show me a great person of faith in the Bible (or this world) and I’ll show you seasons of famine. Famine is one of those crazy blessings that nobody would ever choose. Or is famine a curse to you? causing you to be bitter, withdraw, trust God less, anger, apathetic… famine is only a curse if that is what you choose…
Look at the Bible. The famine of Egypt grows severe. Gen. 47:13-26 describes the plight of the people of Egypt as a famine drags on and on. Joseph is still in charge of the distribution of the grain. This started back in Gen. 41 when Joseph interpreted a dream of Pharaoh, describing 7 years of abundance followed by 7 years of drought; Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of gathering grain during the abundance and then distributing the grain during the drought (Gen. 41:22-36).
The famine drags on and becomes more severe in Gen. 47:13 READ. As the scripture continues in Ch. 47, the people use all their money and the famine still lingers. “Give us food. Why should we die…” the people cry (Gen. 47:14-15). Instead of giving the food, Joseph takes all their animals as payment (Gen. 47:17). The famine continues. Next they hit bottom and sell themselves and their land (READ Gen. 47:19-21). Joseph gives them seed and charges them 20% of the crops as payment. (not sure why seed was useful since there is a famine… maybe they had a limited irrigation system from the Nile????).
Gen. 47:13-26 establishes the harsh reality of the famine and the people of Egypt. They have food, but they pay a price. Joseph’s family is already in Egypt, the small family has been given the Land of Goshen. Although in Gen. 47:27, for only the 2nd or 3rd time they family is called “The Israelites.” This is the beginning of being transformed from a family into a nation… from a promise to a reality…
The Israelites are part of “all Egypt” including the widespread drought. People of faith are not exempt from drought. The Israelites are living in the same conditions as ALL of Egypt, but there is a great contrast in Gen. 47:27. READ. It’s the same famine, but life in the Land of Goshen has a completely different tone, rhythm….
How do you overcome famine? The simple answer is that you don’t. The better question: How do you respond to the inevitable famine that will visit your life. The Lord exempts no man or woman from seasons of famine, but he desires that we THRIVE… Are you in a famine? Are you having a hard time right now?
Maybe the word THRIVE is too much. Here’s another word that is a good step towards the greater things of God… Remember hurricane Katrina? Year? Months after the monster storm I was honored to go with a team to do a bit of clean up in a little city called Bay St. Louis, Miss. We were walking a block from the beach; I was imagining the place we were walking under 15-20 feet of water during the surge. The block was leveled. Bits and pieces of everything imaginable was scattered in the rubble, personal items, bits of glass. Something caught my eye at my feet. I bit of paper. I unearthed a book ~~ relatively complete… here I am standing in the middle of the aftermath of one of the most destructive forces on earth, holding a book that survived the major storm that had once been in a home. I turn it over to read the title.…. “Aunt Erma’s Cope Book.”
If some days, the only way you can survive famine is to cope, to barely make it through, thank the good Lord that is where you are for this day, COPING is good. But, in time, the good Lord wants more than coping, he wants more than barely surviving, he want us to thrive, thrive in our spirit, grow in our faith, looking to him as our Lord and Savior… You can die by the things of earth and thrive in your spirit all the same time. I saw Ken Roberts literally do that… he was never so alive as when he was dying! You can thrive under harsh conditions. You can be alive in Christ in a wheelchair, with cancer, the storms of life, the peace of Christ that goes beyond understanding…
In Gen. 47:27 Jacob’s family is called a new name: Israelites, the promise of a great nation is taking root… the famine is widespread… while the rest of Egypt is selling their land, the Israelites are acquiring land, and they are fruitful and increased greatly in number. The people of God thrive during the famine…
Famine is certain in the world ~ literally and spiritually ~ the question is how do we respond… The Lord ALWAYS wants us to thrive spiritually even when there is a famine. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Isaiah 35, READ Is. 35:1-6…
Job 5:20 “In famine he will redeem you from death…” Amos 4:6 God is amazed that the famine he sent did not cause the people to return to Him… “I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
My mother says my father used to like the phrase, “The same hammer that shatters glass forges steel.” It’s the same with famine: The famine may shatter you or shape you.
The scripture is a contrast of two responses to famine… the Lord wants us to thrive, to return to him… The Lord doesn’t want us to cope only, barely hanging on (although that is a good thing), he want us to thrive… Respond to times of famine by looking to the Lord…. “The desert and the parched land will be glad.” God’s greatest promise is that for those who seek him, those who look to him, they will thrive during the famine…
Look again at Gen. 47:27. circle a peaceful word. READ. The word: SETTLED. Israel is in Egypt, gripped by a drought, but they are SETTLED. Be settled in the best sense of the word. I agree with Thomas Merton who said, “The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little,” but I am talking about the kind of settled that accepts what is when you cannot do anymore … to find peace knowing you have to stop kicking yourself about yesterday and know God is here today… the world is not perfect yet you can be settled.
There are some questions I cannot answer for you or give you a formula… how do you know when to settle and when to continue asking for a miracle… this is pick on Dennis day ~ at what point does Dennis quit asking for a miracle and find peace with his wheelchair? We’ve all known people who seem to have carried on their unhappiness far too long, years of grief that compromise the present… non acceptance of tragedy, sickness, broken relationships… I can’t give you a formula for the line…
But there comes a time to accept, to thrive in Goshen, to live in peace and assurance that God is here… turmoil comes when we rehash our decisions, make constant exceptions to our commitments… When famine hits, to be able to accept the conditions and be settled in the presence of God, “I’ve done everything I can Lord, I’ve made the best decisions that I’m able, it’s now in your hands.” Israel is settled in Goshen, they find a home in their corner of the world, and they thrive… so much is out of their control, the famine, living in a foreign land, yet they are together… they are settled. And they thrive.
The scripture gives us an example of one of the Israelites that thrives in the famine: Jacob, the namesake of the nation of Israel. He is now a changed man from what he was like in his youth, always trying to win, competing with his brother, a cheat, playing favorites. This is what a person looks like that thrives during a famine: READ Gen. 47:28-31.
#1 He is humble. What a contrast with the old Jacob. He submits to Joseph and trusts Joseph in v. 29. For the first 130 years of Jacobs life few people would have described this man as humble, yet here he is submitting to a son….
#2 He may be settled/at peace in Egypt, but he never lets go of the greater vision. That’s what his desire to be buried where his fathers are buried… accepting whatever the good Lord gives us but desiring the greater promises of ultimate peace are both possible. Keep envisioning God’s greatest promise of wholeness, peace, his soon return to give us the fullness of eternal life…
#3 What’s the person like that thrives in a famine. READ Gen. 47:31. Nothing on earth can stop you from worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ, to give him the glory that his due to him, to recognize his supreme greatness and power, to be amazed by his love, acceptance and forgiveness. I love the picture of old man Jacob, frail, in Egypt, thriving as he watches his family grow in fulfillment of God’s promises, “he worshipped as he leaned on the top of his staff” he is tired, he needs the support, all is not well on earth because there is a famine, yet all is well because God is great.
A person that thrives during a time of famine is settled, they are humble knowing God has greater things in mind, and they worship the Lord for who He is. May the peace of Jesus Christ fill your heart and mind with his peace. Amen.
People of faith are NOT exempt from famine. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. Evil is real. War ravishes the land. Brokenness takes its toll. Many Psalms question God when faced with hardship and betrayal. Show me a great person of faith in the Bible (or this world) and I’ll show you seasons of famine. Famine is one of those crazy blessings that nobody would ever choose. Or is famine a curse to you? causing you to be bitter, withdraw, trust God less, anger, apathetic… famine is only a curse if that is what you choose…
Look at the Bible. The famine of Egypt grows severe. Gen. 47:13-26 describes the plight of the people of Egypt as a famine drags on and on. Joseph is still in charge of the distribution of the grain. This started back in Gen. 41 when Joseph interpreted a dream of Pharaoh, describing 7 years of abundance followed by 7 years of drought; Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of gathering grain during the abundance and then distributing the grain during the drought (Gen. 41:22-36).
The famine drags on and becomes more severe in Gen. 47:13 READ. As the scripture continues in Ch. 47, the people use all their money and the famine still lingers. “Give us food. Why should we die…” the people cry (Gen. 47:14-15). Instead of giving the food, Joseph takes all their animals as payment (Gen. 47:17). The famine continues. Next they hit bottom and sell themselves and their land (READ Gen. 47:19-21). Joseph gives them seed and charges them 20% of the crops as payment. (not sure why seed was useful since there is a famine… maybe they had a limited irrigation system from the Nile????).
Gen. 47:13-26 establishes the harsh reality of the famine and the people of Egypt. They have food, but they pay a price. Joseph’s family is already in Egypt, the small family has been given the Land of Goshen. Although in Gen. 47:27, for only the 2nd or 3rd time they family is called “The Israelites.” This is the beginning of being transformed from a family into a nation… from a promise to a reality…
The Israelites are part of “all Egypt” including the widespread drought. People of faith are not exempt from drought. The Israelites are living in the same conditions as ALL of Egypt, but there is a great contrast in Gen. 47:27. READ. It’s the same famine, but life in the Land of Goshen has a completely different tone, rhythm….
How do you overcome famine? The simple answer is that you don’t. The better question: How do you respond to the inevitable famine that will visit your life. The Lord exempts no man or woman from seasons of famine, but he desires that we THRIVE… Are you in a famine? Are you having a hard time right now?
Maybe the word THRIVE is too much. Here’s another word that is a good step towards the greater things of God… Remember hurricane Katrina? Year? Months after the monster storm I was honored to go with a team to do a bit of clean up in a little city called Bay St. Louis, Miss. We were walking a block from the beach; I was imagining the place we were walking under 15-20 feet of water during the surge. The block was leveled. Bits and pieces of everything imaginable was scattered in the rubble, personal items, bits of glass. Something caught my eye at my feet. I bit of paper. I unearthed a book ~~ relatively complete… here I am standing in the middle of the aftermath of one of the most destructive forces on earth, holding a book that survived the major storm that had once been in a home. I turn it over to read the title.…. “Aunt Erma’s Cope Book.”
If some days, the only way you can survive famine is to cope, to barely make it through, thank the good Lord that is where you are for this day, COPING is good. But, in time, the good Lord wants more than coping, he wants more than barely surviving, he want us to thrive, thrive in our spirit, grow in our faith, looking to him as our Lord and Savior… You can die by the things of earth and thrive in your spirit all the same time. I saw Ken Roberts literally do that… he was never so alive as when he was dying! You can thrive under harsh conditions. You can be alive in Christ in a wheelchair, with cancer, the storms of life, the peace of Christ that goes beyond understanding…
In Gen. 47:27 Jacob’s family is called a new name: Israelites, the promise of a great nation is taking root… the famine is widespread… while the rest of Egypt is selling their land, the Israelites are acquiring land, and they are fruitful and increased greatly in number. The people of God thrive during the famine…
Famine is certain in the world ~ literally and spiritually ~ the question is how do we respond… The Lord ALWAYS wants us to thrive spiritually even when there is a famine. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Isaiah 35, READ Is. 35:1-6…
Job 5:20 “In famine he will redeem you from death…” Amos 4:6 God is amazed that the famine he sent did not cause the people to return to Him… “I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
My mother says my father used to like the phrase, “The same hammer that shatters glass forges steel.” It’s the same with famine: The famine may shatter you or shape you.
The scripture is a contrast of two responses to famine… the Lord wants us to thrive, to return to him… The Lord doesn’t want us to cope only, barely hanging on (although that is a good thing), he want us to thrive… Respond to times of famine by looking to the Lord…. “The desert and the parched land will be glad.” God’s greatest promise is that for those who seek him, those who look to him, they will thrive during the famine…
Look again at Gen. 47:27. circle a peaceful word. READ. The word: SETTLED. Israel is in Egypt, gripped by a drought, but they are SETTLED. Be settled in the best sense of the word. I agree with Thomas Merton who said, “The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little,” but I am talking about the kind of settled that accepts what is when you cannot do anymore … to find peace knowing you have to stop kicking yourself about yesterday and know God is here today… the world is not perfect yet you can be settled.
There are some questions I cannot answer for you or give you a formula… how do you know when to settle and when to continue asking for a miracle… this is pick on Dennis day ~ at what point does Dennis quit asking for a miracle and find peace with his wheelchair? We’ve all known people who seem to have carried on their unhappiness far too long, years of grief that compromise the present… non acceptance of tragedy, sickness, broken relationships… I can’t give you a formula for the line…
But there comes a time to accept, to thrive in Goshen, to live in peace and assurance that God is here… turmoil comes when we rehash our decisions, make constant exceptions to our commitments… When famine hits, to be able to accept the conditions and be settled in the presence of God, “I’ve done everything I can Lord, I’ve made the best decisions that I’m able, it’s now in your hands.” Israel is settled in Goshen, they find a home in their corner of the world, and they thrive… so much is out of their control, the famine, living in a foreign land, yet they are together… they are settled. And they thrive.
The scripture gives us an example of one of the Israelites that thrives in the famine: Jacob, the namesake of the nation of Israel. He is now a changed man from what he was like in his youth, always trying to win, competing with his brother, a cheat, playing favorites. This is what a person looks like that thrives during a famine: READ Gen. 47:28-31.
#1 He is humble. What a contrast with the old Jacob. He submits to Joseph and trusts Joseph in v. 29. For the first 130 years of Jacobs life few people would have described this man as humble, yet here he is submitting to a son….
#2 He may be settled/at peace in Egypt, but he never lets go of the greater vision. That’s what his desire to be buried where his fathers are buried… accepting whatever the good Lord gives us but desiring the greater promises of ultimate peace are both possible. Keep envisioning God’s greatest promise of wholeness, peace, his soon return to give us the fullness of eternal life…
#3 What’s the person like that thrives in a famine. READ Gen. 47:31. Nothing on earth can stop you from worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ, to give him the glory that his due to him, to recognize his supreme greatness and power, to be amazed by his love, acceptance and forgiveness. I love the picture of old man Jacob, frail, in Egypt, thriving as he watches his family grow in fulfillment of God’s promises, “he worshipped as he leaned on the top of his staff” he is tired, he needs the support, all is not well on earth because there is a famine, yet all is well because God is great.
A person that thrives during a time of famine is settled, they are humble knowing God has greater things in mind, and they worship the Lord for who He is. May the peace of Jesus Christ fill your heart and mind with his peace. Amen.
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