Genesis 46-47
Differential Blessings
and Flat Tax
Psalm 9:1-8 The Just Judge Does What's Right
1.”I will give thanks to Yahweh with my whole heart. I will tell of all Your marvelous works.2.I will be glad and rejoice in You. I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.3.When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish in Your presence.4.For You have maintained my just cause. You sit on the throne judging righteously.5.You have rebuked the nations. You have destroyed the wicked. You have blotted out their name forever and ever.6.The enemy is overtaken by endless ruin. The very memory of the cities which you have overthrown has perished.7.But Yahweh reigns forever. He has prepared His throne for judgment.8.He will judge the world in righteousness. He will administer judgment to the peoples in uprightness."Application
Rejoice in God's past, present, and future judgment.
Prayer
O Most High God, help me view right and wrong through Your eyes, so I can trust and rejoice in Your justice. Amen.
Proverbs 3:9-10 Honoring God in Giving
9.“Honor Yahweh with your substance, with the first fruits of all your increase:10.so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine."Observations
3:9.Our giving should honor God. The verb “honor” is a Piel Imperative, meaning it's a command stressing the intentional act of honoring or glorifying, or making Him seen as great. Giving God the first of our increase acknowledges that all we have is His. God doesn't need our stuff, but we need to give it to Him.
3:10.
The consequence of placing God first in our giving is that He blesses abundantly, giving us more than we need, so we can be even more generous with others, resulting in even more praise being given to Him.
Application
Does your use of money honor God? See Giving to God.
Prayer
Giver of all that is good, may You be honored and glorified by my giving of what You've given to me. Amen.
Genesis 46-47 Differential Blessings and Flat Tax
Genesis 46 Israel and Sons Protected and Prospered
1."Israel traveled with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac.2.God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” He said, “Here I am.”3.He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation.4.I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph will close your eyes.”5.Jacob rose...sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.6.They took their livestock, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt—Jacob, and all his seed with him.8.These are the names of the children of Israel, who came into Egypt...26.All the souls who came with Jacob into Egypt, who were his direct descendants, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were sixty-six.27.The sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, who came into Egypt, were seventy.31.Joseph said to his brothers, and to his father’s house, “I will go up, and speak with Pharaoh, and will tell him, ‘My brothers, and my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.32.These men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.’33.It will happen, when Pharaoh summons you, and will say, ‘What is your occupation?’34.that you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers:’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”Observations
46:2.God confirmed the change of direction and location. In Gen 35:1 He had told him to stay in the land. Now God is clearly giving him new marching orders. It is impossible to miss the will of God if you're seeking God.
46:34.
Note how God is using what could be viewed as difficulty and discrimination to preserve and protect His people from becoming unholy (which would set them up for judgement rather than blessing). Egyptians considered the bull sacred, and sheep can destroy cattle pastureland. Besides, what use is a wool sweater in Egypt?
Application
Don't doubt in the dark what God has shown you in the light. We frequently find ourselves in situations not to our liking. But if you've prayed for, and God has guided you to your present situation, don't leave unless you are totally convinced His will for you has changed. You might be missing out on blessings.
See: Will of God in TOYL and Will of God Part 1 and Part 2 (the best one), all on Truthbase.net.
Prayer
Giver of all that is good, I thank You that I can trust You for clear guidance on what You want me to do. Help me avoid the sin of presumption. Amen.
Genesis 47 Flat Tax=20% Clergy Exempt
3."Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers.”4.They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as foreigners in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks. For the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”5.Pharaoh spoke to Joseph...Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”7.Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.8.Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?”9.Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”10.Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.11.Joseph placed 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 Pharaoh had commanded.12.Joseph nourished his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.13.There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe...14.Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan...and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.15....all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money fails.”16....I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone.”19.Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh.20.So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh...21.As for the people, he moved them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end of it.22.Only he didn’t buy the land of the priests, for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them.23.Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.24.It will happen at the harvests, that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own...25.They said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”26.Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth. Only the land of the priests alone didn’t become Pharaoh’s.27.Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got themselves possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly.28.Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years.29.The time drew near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don’t bury me in Egypt,30.but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place.” He said, “I will do as you have said.”31.He said, “Swear to me,” and he swore to him. Israel bowed himself on the bed’s head.'Observations
47:1-13.You'd have to be as blind as a mummy to not see the contrast between the prosperity of the seventy member Israelite clan, (living in the best land, management jobs, food in the midst of famine), and the Egyptians (selling their land and themselves as slaves for bread, impoverished, and starving). Why the difference? God is fulfilling His promise to bless.
47:9-10.
Jacob views life as a sojourn or pilgrimage; he's just passing through. After Jacob blesses him, Pharaoh winds up owning all of Egypt, lot, lock, stock, and bodies.
47:29.
Jacob is still mindful of the promise God made to Abe in Genesis 15 and him later, that Israel would go back to the promised land.
Application
If we're following God both we, and those around us will get blessed, regardless of the outlook.
Prayer
God who keeps His promises, I praise You that I can trust You to protect and prosper me, even though I live in troubled times. Amen.
Digging Deeper
God in a nutshell: He communicates His will so we can obey it; He blesses His people, frequently at the expense of those who don't worship Him.
Us in a nutshell: We need to be in a place of blessing, and stay there until God moves us; as we follow God, we might be considered an abomination (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) to those who don't follow Him; God uses His people to bless others.
Where to go for more
Truthbase.net
Will of God in TOYL in Truthbase
Will of God Part 1 Part 2 (best one)