Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 45:1-13.  Let’s go!

Genesis 45:1-8 (NIV)
1  Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.
2  And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.
3  Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.
4  Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!……

On verses 1-8:  Touched by Judah offering himself as a slave in place of Benjamin, Joseph can hold his secret in no longer.  With everyone else outside the room, Joseph reveals his true identity to his brothers.  Joseph tells his brothers not to be distressed or angry with themselves for selling him here.  The reason is because God had a bigger purpose in allowing it to happen: it was so that Joseph could be sent ahead to save many lives, including his own family.  Notice that three times Joseph says that God has “sent” him ahead (v5, 7, 8).

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 44:1-17.  Let’s go!

Genesis 44:1-17 (NIV)
1  Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house: “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man’s silver in the mouth of his sack.
2  Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” And he did as Joseph said.
3  As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys.
4  They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, “Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?……

On verses 1-17:  Here Joseph plants his own silver cup into his brother Benjamin’s sack without Benjamin knowing.  Then after sending the brothers off, Joseph gets his men to chase after the brothers, alleging that one of them had stolen his silver cup.  It turns out that Joseph, a son of Jacob the original trickster, has a trick up his own sleeve.  Yet we will see that Joseph ultimately had a good intention by playing this trick on his brothers.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 41:37-57.  Let’s go!

Genesis 41:37-44 (NIV)
37  The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials.
38  So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?”
39  Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.
40  You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”
41  So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”
42  Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.
43  He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.
44  Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.”

On verses 37-44:  Joseph goes from a prisoner to being put in charge of the whole land of Egypt.  For the first time since he was a child, Joseph is even given a robe that speaks of his favoured status (v42).  What a promotion.  You could make the argument that God was preparing Joseph for a role like this his whole life, whether Joseph knew it or not.  Before God promotes a person, He prepares them.  

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 40:1-23.  Let’s go!

Genesis 40:1-7 (NIV)
1  Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt.
2  Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,
3  and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined.
4  The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them. After they had been in custody for some time,
5  each of the two men–the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison–had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.
6  When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected.
7  So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so sad today?”

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 39:1-10.  Let’s go!

Genesis 39:1-4 (NIV)
1  Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
2  The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.
3  When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did,
4  Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.

On verses 1-4:  Joseph, the favoured son of Jacob, is sold as a slave to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.  Because of God’s favour (“The Lord was with Joseph” – v2) and presumably because Joseph did his best to be faithful with what was entrusted to him, Joseph was promoted to be in charge of Potiphar’s entire household (v4). 

What can we learn from this?  Just as cream tends to rise to the top, so you can put a guy like Joseph in a difficult situation and with God’s help he will find a way to rise and to prosper.  Like Joseph, be faithful and responsible with what God gives you and, sooner or later, God will make sure that you are promoted.