Let the Blessing Come

September 22

“With the precious things of the earth and its fullness, and the favor of Him who dwelt in the bush, let the blessing come on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers." Deuteronomy 33:16.

Why did God choose to honor Joseph above his brothers? Essentially, it was because he was separate from his brothers in that he alone remained faithful to God. Hebrews 11, the ‘faith chapter,’ does not mention Reuben, Judah, Dan, Gad, or any other of Jacob's sons while verse 22 emphasizes Joseph's faithfulness:

Here it says, "By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones" (see Genesis 50:22-26).

When his brothers discovered the true identity of their Egyptian host, great fear of retribution and revenge came upon them, but Joseph explained his understanding that God had placed him in power in Egypt "to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by His great deliverance" (see Genesis 45:7).

To his dying day, Joseph never broke faith with his brothers: As recorded in Genesis 50:20-21, he reassures them of their safety and well-being after their father's death: “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.”

Nor did he ever break faith with his God. Dying, he reminded his brothers that God would bring their posterity out of Egypt, restoring them "to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob" (see Genesis 50:24).

In this day of anxiety on every hand—fear of terrorist attack, fear of world-wide pandemics of colossal proportions, increasing lawlessness on every hand, abdication of moral commitments by unbelievers and believers alike—can we rise to the level to which Joseph arose when the unthinkable was perpetrated against him?

Can we love and forgive and pray for those by whom evil is perpetrated and by whom injustice comes as Joseph did or will we succumb to the human invective for retribution? To the degree we can be as Joseph was, to that measure we may anticipate the help of God upon our lives and within our circumstances.

To the degree that we love and forgive, to that measure, we are evidencing the Christ who sacrificed Himself that we might be free to strive for the glorious attributes of Heaven to govern our being rather than the failed characteristics of the world.