And their father Israel said
to them, if it must be so, then do this. Take some of the best
fruits of the land in your vessels and carry down a present for
the man, a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio
nuts and almonds. Take double money in your hand
and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the
mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight.
Take your brother also, and arise, go back to the man. And may God
Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release
your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved, I am bereaved. So the men took that present
and Benjamin, and they took double money in their hand, and arose
and went down to Egypt, and they stood before Joseph. When Joseph
saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house,
take these men to my home and slaughter an animal and make
ready, for these men will dine with me at noon. Then the man
did as Joseph ordered, and the man brought the men into Joseph's
house. Now the men were afraid because
they were brought into Joseph's house, and they said, it is because
of the money which was returned in our sacks the first time that
we are brought in, so that he may make a case against us and
seize us to take us as slaves with our donkeys. When they drew
near to the steward of Joseph's house, they talked with him at
the door of the house and said, O sir, we indeed came down the
first time to buy food, but it happened when we came to the
encampment that we opened our sacks, and there each man's money
was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. So
we have brought it back in our hand, and we have brought down
other money in our hands to buy food. We do not know who put
our money in our sacks. But he said, Peace be with you.
Do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your
father has given you treasure in your sacks. I had your money. Then he brought Simeon out to
them. So the man brought the men into Joseph's house and gave
them water, and they washed their feet, and he gave their donkeys
feed. Then they made the present ready
for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that he would
eat bread there. And when Joseph came, they brought him the present
which was in their hand into the house and bowed down before
him to the earth. Then he asked them about their
well-being and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom
you spoke? Is he still alive? And they answered,
Your servant our father is in good health, he is still alive.
And they bowed their heads down and prostrated themselves. Then
he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's
son, and said, Is this your younger brother of whom you spoke to
me? And he said, God be gracious to you, my son. Now his heart
yearned for his brother, so Joseph made haste and sought somewhere
to weep, and he went into his chamber and wept there. Then
he washed his face and came out, and he restrained himself and
said, Serve the bread. So they set him a place by himself,
and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with them by
themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews,
for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. And they sat before
him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest
according to his youth. And the men looked in astonishment
at one another. Then he took servings to them
from before him, but Benjamin's serving was five times as much
as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry
with him. Amen. Well, we see the fulfillment
of the dreams that Joseph had in Genesis chapter 37. He had
a dream concerning the sheafs. and the sheafs representative
of his brothers would bow down to him, and then ultimately the
sun and the moon and the stars would bow down to him. We see
that he was promised by God via this dream that he would be exalted.
Well, that happened in a very different way than he probably
would have imagined. It came ultimately through his
brothers having sold him into slavery, and then him having
become imprisoned interpreting dreams of prisoners, and then
interpreting dreams of the Pharaoh, and then being exalted to the
right hand of Pharaoh to orchestrate this particular program where
he is administering the food in this seven years of famine.
And so here in Genesis chapter 43, we see the brothers returning
to Egypt because the food that they had fetched in chapter 42
had obviously run out. So the chapter breaks down into
two sections. First, the second journey to
Egypt in verses 1 to 14. And then secondly, the arrival
in Egypt in verses 15 to 34. We are reminded as to the reason
for the journey in verse 1. Now the famine was severe in
the land. Remember it was a seven-year
period of plenty and then a seven-year period of famine. And so this
was in fact a severe and distressing case and an instance where there
was little to no food in the region surrounding Egypt. Now
certainly there was this present that was put together by Jacob
to send to Joseph, and one probably wonders, well, why didn't they
just eat pistachios and honey and spices and myrrh? Well, they
probably didn't have it in abundance. They didn't have it in enough
quantities to be able to sustain themselves. They needed grain
from Egypt. And so that's the purpose behind
this second return to Egypt. And notice, when they had eaten
up the grain, Jacob said, go back, buy us a little food. And
then the condition for the return is specified there by the brothers
in verses 3 to 10. Notice in verses 3 to 7, Judah
tells Jacob what the particular conditions are. We can't go back
to Egypt without Benjamin. The man of the land demanded
that we bring our youngest brother. Obviously, Jacob does not like
this because Jacob has already lost Joseph, Jacob has already
lost Simeon, and he certainly doesn't want to lose Benjamin.
Remember that Jacob favored Rachel, and as a result, he favored Joseph
and Benjamin over the other sons of Leah and the two maidservants. And so he is very hesitant and
reticent to send his son Benjamin back down or to Egypt in order
to make this a reality. So the necessity to take Benjamin
to Egypt, according to the command of Joseph, is reiterated there
in verses 3 and 5, and it comes from chapter 42. Remember back
in chapter 42 at verse 14, Joseph said to them, It is as I spoke
to you, saying, You are spies. In this manner you shall be tested.
By the life of Pharaoh you shall not leave this place unless your
youngest brother comes here. Send one of you and let him bring
your brother, and you shall be kept in prison, that your words
may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you, or
else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies. So Joseph's not
simply playing his brothers. Joseph is concerned for Benjamin. Remember, Joseph was ill-treated
by his brothers and perhaps suspects that Benjamin might suffer the
same sort of a fate. But as well, Joseph is concerned
to see Jacob. And so all of this is done, again,
not so that he can best his brothers and deceive his brothers and
trick his brothers, but rather so that he can see Benjamin and
he can see Jacob and he can indeed be in this position to provide
for his family. Now, after having stipulated
the condition in verses 3 to 7, Judah then steps up with a
particular pledge in verses 8 to 10. Notice in verse 8, Judah
said to Israel, his father, send the lad with me and we will arise
and go. that we may live and not die,
both we and you and also our little ones. And then in verse
9, if I do not bring him back to you and set him before you,
then let me bear the blame forever. So he makes this pledge, he functions
as surety, but the primary emphasis is simple. This is a necessary
implication that he makes. Let us take Benjamin. Hopefully
Benjamin will be returned. But if Benjamin doesn't go, none
of us will survive. In other words, Jacob, you're
going to have to take a chance on this. Judah is pledging himself
a surety in order to make sure that Benjamin returns, but if
Benjamin doesn't go, they're all going to starve to death,
and that's precisely what he says. Verse 8, "...send the lad
with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not
die." That's the same language that Joseph had used in chapter
42 when he initially sends his sons down to Egypt. In 42, too,
indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down to
that place and buy for us there that we may live and not die."
So Judah takes that language into his mouth to highlight and
indicate the absolute necessity of taking Benjamin down there.
that we may live and not die, both we and you, and also our
little ones." So the sons of Jacob, Jacob himself, and then
Jacob's grandsons. Again, it's impeccable logic.
The implicit argument is that if we risk taking Benjamin, he
may or may not be seized. But if we stay here, every one
of us will perish from hunger. And that's Robert Alter quoting
a Jewish commentator by the name of Rashi. That makes absolutely
positively good sense. If they don't take Benjamin,
they're all going to die of starvation here in the land of Egypt. And
then the recognition by Judah that they needed to get going.
We could have already gone and been back by the time we finished
this particular discussion. That's what he says in verse
10. Now, Jacob authorizes the trip. Notice his response in verses
11 to 13. In the first place, he highlights
this present for the man. This is something that he did
when he met with Esau. Remember, he thought that things
weren't going to go swimmingly with Esau, so he thought he'd
send a little gift ahead to make sure that that would sort of
grease the wheels and hopefully facilitate a good and pleasant
meeting between the two men. Well, the same sort of thing
is done here. He wants to send this present to this vice-regent
in Egypt to facilitate negotiations and to ensure that they're able
to secure food from Egypt. Because again, everything is
riding upon this particular transaction. So he indicates the nature of
the present, and then he tells them in verse 12 to take double
money. take double money in your hand
and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the
mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight.
So they not only have the original money that they took and was
returned, but then double money. Perhaps they were looking to
get double provision, or perhaps Jacob had judged rightly that
the prices had increased. As the famine goes on, I would
imagine the prices go up. You see, Joseph is over the entirety
of the nation, and he's not engaged in freebies. There is monetary
necessity involved, and so Jacob perhaps is understanding of that
and says, take double money to secure for us the food that we
need desperately. And then he grants that permission
for the boys, for the sons of Jacob, to take Benjamin. Verse
13, take your brother also and arise, go back to the man. So Jacob, though he loves his
son, is not a fool. If he doesn't send his son, they're
all going to starve to death, Benjamin included. And then verse
14 is a prayer on behalf of Jacob, and he first of all petitions
for God's mercy, and then he indicates his submission to God's
sovereignty. In verse 14 he says, may God
Almighty give you mercy before the man that he may release your
other brother and Benjamin. So this is good, bathe the mission
in prayer. You're going to Egypt, you're
taking Benjamin, he's going to call out to God Almighty, to
El Shaddai, that God Almighty would give mercy before the man. And then he says, if I am bereaved,
I am bereaved. Now one of the things that's
interesting about Jacob is he's pretty dramatic. And I think
every time that he makes one of these exclamations, he comes
across in this very dramatic way. Now that just seems to be
part and parcel of the way that God made Jacob, but he does seem
to be the sort of guy that sees the glass as half full. He typically
banks on misery coming his way. Some suggest that's sort of the
attitude that he adopts here at the end of verse 14. I think
it's better to see it as a submission to the sovereignty of God. If
in fact I do lose my son or my sons, nevertheless I submit to
the sovereignty of God. And then that brings us to the
arrival in Egypt in verses 15 to 34. There's two parts here. They first meet with the steward
and then they have lunch with Joseph. In the first place, they
arrive, according to verse 15, they took the present, they've
got Benjamin, they have the double money in their hand, they arise
and they go down to Egypt, and then they stand before Joseph. Now Joseph had instructed this
steward, this steward who seems to be basically a right-hand
man to Joseph. I think when the steward invokes
God, we ought to glean from that that Joseph was not one who had
abandoned the faith of his father. In other words, Joseph nevertheless
remained a religious man, a man committed to the God of Israel.
Again, when the steward invokes God, or when the steward highlights
that they have this money because of God, again, he probably learned
these sorts of things from Joseph. Remember, Abraham was noteworthy
because he would teach his family the fear of God. That doesn't
just mean sons and daughters, but it would mean servants, it
would mean stewards, it would be everybody under the control
of Abraham, and it looks as if Joseph is engaged in that same
sort of a religious plan as well. But he gives this particular
steward instructions to A, prepare an animal, according to verse
16, and then B, verse 17, the man did as Joseph ordered, and
the man brought the men into Joseph's house. Now, when the
men come to Joseph's house, they are afraid. And I think they're
probably right to be afraid because it probably wasn't the case that
everybody outside of Egypt who came to Egypt to buy food got
an audience with Joseph in Joseph's house. So they're suspicious
as to what is happening at this particular juncture. In fact,
verse 18 tells us or indicates that they are afraid. Now the
men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph's house,
and they said, it is because of the money which was returned
in our sacks the first time that we are brought in, so that he
may make a case against us and seize us to take us as slaves
with our donkeys. Now that last statement, with
our donkeys, is an interesting one. I don't know how to interpret
that, other than they would take them and their donkeys and make
slaves out of the men and use their donkeys in ways that were
not pleasant to the owners of those particular donkeys. But
the bottom line is, they're afraid. They're suspicious. They don't
know why they've been called into Joseph's house, kind of
like the kid who gets called into the principal's office.
You're never really sure why you're there. You don't typically
think it's because you're getting awards, you think it's probably
because you're in trouble. Or when your mother calls you
and tells you, I need to talk to you. Typically you're not
geared up for, she's going to convey on me great benefits and
riches. No, typically the idea is, I've
done something wrong and I'm going to be called to account.
Well, that's what is flooding these men at this particular
point. Remember back in chapter 42, we know that they have a
guilty conscience. We know that they remembered
what they had done to their brother Joseph. In 4221, then they said
to one another, We are truly guilty concerning our brother,
for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us,
and we would not hear. Therefore, this distress has
come upon us. Now, whether that's the sort
of thing that is affecting them here in Joseph's house? We're
not sure, but we do know that these brothers are certainly
cautious at this particular time in terms of what's going to happen
in their house. They suppose it was the money.
Remember that first trip to Egypt? They bring the money, they pay
the money, but then Joseph has the money put back into their
sacks, and they find it on the return journey, and then when
they're standing before Jacob. So perhaps they're thinking,
Joseph thinks, that they are thieves. And their end game,
their biggest problem, their biggest fear is at the end of
verse 18, so that he may make a case against us and seize us
to take us as slaves with our donkeys. Now notice, the brothers
then tell the steward what had happened. They're basically saying,
we're innocent, we didn't do anything wrong. The wicked flee
when no one pursues. That really does seem to describe
these particular men. The righteous are as bold as
a lion, but the wicked flee when no one pursues. They are beyond
themselves, trying to explain to the steward, prior to the
steward even saying anything to that. So verse 19, when they
drew near to the steward of Joseph's house, they talked with him at
the door of the house, and said, O sir, we indeed came down the
first time to buy food, but it happened when we came to the
encampment that we opened our sacks, and there each man's money
was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight, so
we have brought it back in our hand. and we have brought down
other money in our hands to buy food, we do not know who put
our money in our sack." So again, they fear that this is the issue,
this is going to be the reason why they are seized and put into
slavery here in Egypt. Now interestingly, they will
eventually be slaves in Egypt, but not directly connected to
this situation. Now the steward responds. First
of all, the steward said that God gave them money. Notice what
he says in verse 23. He said, Peace be with you. Do not be afraid. Your God and
the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. I
had your money. Now again, it's not the case
that God put the money in the sack, but this does point to
a larger theme in the Joseph narrative. You'll see it in Genesis
45, and then again in Genesis 50-20. God is overruling all
of these things. God is sovereign in His providence.
The fact that these men had their money is ultimately resulting
from the sovereign power and the providence of God Almighty.
So in that, the steward is correct. But again, he invokes the God,
your God, and the God of your father. So he's speaking about
the God of Israel, the God of the covenant people, the Lord
God Most High. And then notice, then he brought
Simeon out to them. So this is probably an encouragement
for them, that they're getting Simeon back. Remember the initial
plan was that nine would remain in jail and one would go get
Benjamin. Well, Joseph reneged on that
and he only kept Simeon and sent the other nine back to get Benjamin. So now they come, they are standing
in Joseph's house, and Simeon has been returned to them. That
is certainly a turn of events that is for the better. And then
notice, the steward, excuse me, the steward not only said that
God gave them money, the steward returns Simeon, and then the
steward extends hospitality to the brothers. Notice in verse
24, the man brought the men into Joseph's house, gave them water,
and they washed their feet, and he gave their donkeys feed. Then
they made the present ready for Joseph's coming at noon, for
they heard that they would eat bread there. So it's a blessed
thing that God has brought them to this place. Again, we're going
to see in chapter 44 the great reveal when Joseph says, it's
me, and there is this reunification among the brothers. But prior
to that, Joseph is going to continue to keep this in play so that
he can ensure the safety of Benjamin and then ultimately his father.
So notice in verses 26 and following. It says, when Joseph came home,
they brought him the present which was in their hand into
the house and bowed down before him to the earth. So there's
that Genesis 37. There's the dream again. These
men are bowing to Joseph. as Joseph had dreamed in Genesis
chapter 37. They had been so upset when Joseph
told them this dream that that was what predicated their having
mistreated him. So interestingly, in the providence
of God, Joseph gets a dream that he is going to be exalted. He
tells the brothers They get so upset about it, they throw him
in a pit, sell him to Midianite traders, he ends up in Egypt,
and he is exalted to the right hand of Pharaoh, and now these
brothers are bowing down before him. So when all is said and
done, they played a key and instrumental role in the exaltation of Joseph. So you see how the wrath of man
even praises God, according to the psalmist in Psalm 76. Even
the wrath of man shall praise you. So when these men thought
they were doing great harm to Joseph, as Joseph will later
say in 5020, God overruled it for good. And so they present
the present, they bow down to him, and then in verse 27, he
asked them about their well-being and said, is your father well?
The old man of whom you spoke, is he still alive? They answered,
Your servant, our father, is in good health, he is still alive.
And they bowed their heads down and prostrated themselves. Now
it's at this point Joseph sees Benjamin. And this is what Joseph
has been anticipating. This is what Joseph has been
waiting for. Now, at this particular time,
Benjamin is probably about 30 or 32. I think that Joseph was
about eight or nine years older than Benjamin. And so he lifts his eyes, he
sees Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, is this your younger
brother of whom you spoke to me? And he said, God be gracious
to you, my son. Again, he invokes God in an Egyptian's
mouth. It doesn't necessarily mean the
God of Israel. But the fact that this servant
speaks of God and the God of your father would indicate that
Joseph has instructed the steward and therefore Joseph himself
still imbibes the theology of the God of Israel. And here he
wants God's grace upon his brother Benjamin. And in verse 30 it
says, now his heart yearned for his brother, so Joseph made haste
and sought somewhere to weep, and he went into his chamber
and wept there. Now there are several occasions
in the Joseph narrative where Joseph weeps, and I think we
can understand why, because he had a rough life. It was a long
haul getting to this point. It was a long time that it had
taken for him to be exalted in the kingdom, to have this Genesis
37 dream come to fruition, and he has been longing to see his
brother Benjamin. And notice specifically the language.
He saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son. So this isn't
a half-brother. It's not just the case that they
share the same father, but they share the same father and mother.
There is an affinity and a tightness that Joseph has with Benjamin
that he doesn't obviously have with these other brothers, and
that has been displayed in their mistreatment or their maltreatment
of Joseph the many years earlier when they sold him into slavery.
Verse 31 says, he washed his face, came out, he restrained
himself and said, serve the bread. As I said, he weeps on several
occasions as he meets with these various persons along the way.
And then they have this meal together. Go back for just a
moment to Genesis 37. Excuse me, Genesis chapter 37. Verse 23, it came to pass when
Joseph had come to his brothers that they stripped Joseph of
his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. Then
they took him and cast him into a pit, and the pit was empty,
there was no water in it, and they sat down to eat a meal.
So Joseph's in the pit and they're outside the pit sitting down
to eat a meal. I already read for us in Genesis
42 verse 21, then they said to one another, we are truly guilty
concerning our brother for we saw the anguish of his soul when
he pleaded with us and we would not hear, therefore this distress
has come upon us. So they sat at the outside of
a pit eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while Joseph
was pleading for release. I mean, these are truly heartless
men, and now Joseph has brought them into his house, and Joseph
is going to eat lunch with them. Verse 32 tells us that they set
him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians
who ate with him by themselves. So Joseph undoubtedly got his
own table because he was royalty. He was the main man. Under Pharaoh,
he was the second in command over the entirety of the land.
So he gets his own spot. And then he sets the brothers
by themselves, and then the Egyptians who are present, they ate with
him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat food
with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. If you look at 46.34, you see
a similar statement. in 4634, that you shall say your
servant's occupation has been with livestock from our youth
even till now, both we and also our fathers, that you may dwell
in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to
the Egyptians. Robert Alter explains, he says,
both medieval and modern commentators have linked this taboo with an
Egyptian prohibition against eating lamb. a staple of Hebrew
diet. So that's probably, if not the
only thing, one of the reasons why the Egyptians would not eat
with these Hebrews. And then in verse 33, back in
chapter 43, it says, And they sat before him, the firstborn
according to his birthright, and the youngest according to
his youth. And the men looked in astonishment at one another.
Now the way the text reads, it's the oldest to the youngest. And
the way the text reads is that Joseph set them up that way.
I think that's the only way, I mean, one of the ways that
we can understand. At the end it says, the men looked
in astonishment at one another. Why else would they look in astonishment
at one another other than perhaps the scene itself? But was it
the case that Joseph put them where they were supposed to be
via aged order? of seems to go that way, and
that would yield in their hearts an astonishment in terms of,
how does he know the particular order? Remember, the whole thing
hinges upon the reality that Joseph recognizes them. We know
that from chapter 42, but they do not recognize him. So if Joseph
was able to set them up according to age rank, I think that would
yield the astonishment at which they looked at one another. But
either way, they are a bit perplexed at what is happening. And then
in verse 34, it says, he took servings to them from before
him, but Benjamin's serving was five times as much as any of
theirs. I think Poole explains this well.
He says, partly because of his nearer relation and dearer affection
to him. That's a good way to describe
it. His nearer relation, they both shared the same mother,
and dearer affection to him. Benjamin didn't throw him in
a pit. Benjamin didn't sell him to the Midianite traders. Benjamin
didn't cause him to go to Egypt in less than wonderful circumstances. So of course he's going to heap
up an extra serving. Poole goes on, and partly to
observe whether this would raise that envy in them towards him,
which was the occasion of their malicious enterprise against
himself, that he might accordingly provide for his security. So
Sepul suggests he does this to see if the brothers get upset.
And if the brothers get upset, are they going to take it out
on Benjamin? Because the brothers got upset
at Joseph when Joseph had this dream, and it was no doubt evoked
in them a degree of envy, a degree of hatred or malice and such
that they put that horrible ball into motion. So perhaps he's
suspicious that Benjamin might not fare any better at their
hands. And so he heaps up these five servings upon Benjamin. And then the end of the text
says they drank and were married with him. So basically they enjoyed
a feast together with Joseph. This sets the stage for what's
going to follow. Joseph is going to have his particular
cup hidden in Benjamin's stuff, and that's going to be the occasion
for the further dealings of Joseph with these particular brothers.
In terms of themes, again, the one that is most conspicuous,
that comes out entirely in the Joseph narratives, is the providence
of God. It's the case that it's not a
theological treatise, this is not, or these chapters are not
written like, you know, chapter 5 in our Confession of Faith
of God's providence that's just a thick, or a densely argued
piece of theology. It's not like that in these narratives,
but it's just as dense, it's just as heavy, and it's just
as rich with the providence of God as we move through the various
lives of these brothers. We see the interpretation of
the butler's dream as the impetus for the interpretation of Pharaoh's
dream. We see the exaltation of Joseph
as the one in charge of the food. And even in that, Joseph is able
to interpret the dream for Pharaoh, but Joseph has wisdom. God's
not only given Joseph the ability to interpret Pharaoh's dream,
but he's given Joseph the wisdom to be able to give the remedy
for the dream. In other words, there's going
to be famine, there's going to be hardship in the land, and
Joseph makes a recommendation in terms of how to deal with
that. Well, that wins the day with Pharaoh, so Pharaoh obviously
exalts Joseph. And then we have the fulfillment
of Joseph's dreams, specifically Genesis 37, comes to fruition
at this point when the brothers come and bow themselves down
before him. And then we have, in the entirety
of the narrative, is God's provision for his people in a time of severe
famine. If Joseph hadn't been where Joseph
was, then humanly speaking, Israel would have died in the land of
Canaan. you know, know that, or they
could have heard there was corn in Egypt, but if Joseph hadn't
been the one that was the vice-regent, perhaps they wouldn't have gotten
the sorts of benefits and the sorts of provision that they
needed in order to sustain life. So when you read through Genesis,
you ought to think seed, the Lord Jesus Christ, you ought
to think land, because that's what God promises to Abraham,
and you must see providence, because God is at work every
step of the way, bringing things to pass, according to His purpose
and plan in order to secure His people, in order to keep them
together to the fullness of the time when God sends forth His
Son, born of a woman, born under the law. So each of these steps
are absolutely crucial for the overarching narrative of Scripture
that Jesus Christ will save His people from their sins. If God
doesn't exalt Joseph, then humanly speaking, there's not going to
be a Jesus who comes to live, who dies, and who's raised again
the third day in order to save us from our sins. So all of these
things are building blocks upon which the rest of the biblical
narrative proceeds in terms of God's realizing the promise to
Abraham that in him all the nations, no, all the families of the earth
will be blessed through Messiah. Well, let us pray. Our Father,
we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for Your providence,
and it's so obvious and so clear in this book of Genesis. God,
I pray that You'd give us eyes to see and the right understanding
with reference to such things in our own hearts and in our
own lives and in our own happenings. We ask God that you would just
continue to be merciful to each of us, grant us grace to grow
in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, and God help us to
grow in our appreciation for what you've done for us, not
only in the New Testament, but in the Old Testament as well.
All of the steps and all of the parts and all of the pieces go
together perfectly to produce this wonderful plan of salvation
by Jesus Christ our Lord. And we pray in His most blessed
name. Amen.
