January 11th Devotion

Genesis 26:1-2 (NIV)
1 Now there was a famine in the land--besides the earlier famine of Abraham's time--and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar. 2 The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live.

Compare the above passage with this one.

Genesis 42:1-2 (NIV)
1 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you just keep looking at each other?" 2 He continued, "I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die."

God told Isaac not to go to Egypt during a famine, yet allowed Jacob to send his sons, and ultimately go to Egypt himself. Sometimes God forbids us from something and yet seems to allow it to someone else. This can be confusing. I do not have the answer to our dilemmas, but maybe this will help.

In between these two incidents, Jacob’s son Joseph was sold into slavery and wound up in Egypt. After many hardships, and jail time, God brought Jacob to the second highest position in Egypt. It was after this that Jacob sent his other sons. It is important to know that Jacob had no idea about Joseph. In fact, he believed that Joseph had been kill by a wild animal.

Anyway, you can look at the situation like this. God had not prepared Egypt in Isaac’s time. However, He fully prepared Egypt for Jacob. To continue the story; Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, and his descendants lived as slaves for four hundred years, before Moses led them out of Egypt and the became a great nation.

A lesson to learn here is, “Don’t worry about anyone else. Do what God tells you to do, when He tells you to do it.”

Love, Pastor Don