The Children of Israel were Fruitful and Increased Abundantly: Exodus 1:1-22

Exodus 1:1-22: "1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). 6 And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. 7 But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them. 8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, 'Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; 10 come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.' 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. 13 So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage--in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor. 15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; 16 and he said, 'When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.' 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, 'Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?' 19 And the midwives said to Pharaoh, 'Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.' 20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. 21 And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them. 22 So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, 'Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.'"

God causes the descendants of Israel to increase and multiply so that they filled the whole land. This fulfills the promise that was made in the book of Moses, commonly called Genesis. A couple things should be pointed out, one, the names of the sons of Jacob are listed according to their mothers, from first born to last born. The sons of the two concubines are listed after these names. This is why Benjamin, even though the last overall born, is listed seventh in the list, and not twelfth. The second thing is that Joseph is not listed in the names of the twelve sons. There are a couple of reasons for this, one, he was already in Egypt and this list lists the names of the sons of Jacob who came with him into Egypt from Canaan. Second, Joseph's sons, as we learn from Genesis 47, supplanted Joseph as sons of Jacob. Therefore he is not listed among Jacob's sons.

It is from these sons, that Jacob, who was renamed Israel, is given by God an abundant family. The English doesn't quite capture the nuances of the Hebrew. To "increase abundantly" in the Hebrew means "swarmed." The idea portrayed in the word, is that the descendants of Israel were everywhere. This fruitful increase is a blessing of our Lord God. It is part of the blessing that God made upon all creation when He first created it, when He said, "Be fruitful and multiply." It should be pointed out, since the English language doesn't carry the full wait of what our Lord God is saying through Moses, that this increase of offspring was not just the normal increase that one would see from twelve families having children and their children having children and so forth. This increase was a super-abundant increase, meaning more offspring than was usual. This is why the word "swarm" is used in the Hebrew, for it brings to mind a swarm of bees or locusts or cockroaches. They had so many offspring they filled the whole land.

Well, this becomes a problem for a Pharaoh of a generation long after when Joseph lived. And so he enslaves them, so that they become too weary to fight back, or overthrow their oppression. But again we see our Lord God's abundant grace, for even in the midst of this slavery that basically works the Israelite nation to the bone, the people of Israel still increase abundantly in producing offspring. One has to wonder when they had the time or energy to produce this amount of offspring. It reminds one of the pastor who was a tireless work-aholic, but had a dozen children, and when asked when he found the time, he responded, "A little here, a little there."

Pharaoh it seems is at a loss, for he tries to slow down the producing of offspring by hard labor, but that doesn't work, so he tries another way. He goes to the midwives, who were in charge of assisting with labor of the Hebrew women, and tells them to kill the male children, so that they will eventually not be able to produce as many offspring. However, this also backfires on Pharaoh, for the midwives worshipped the One True God, and followed His commands rather than Pharaoh's and spared the male children. When this plan of Pharaoh's doesn't succeed, he puts the announcement out to all Egypt, that every male child shall be cast into the river. This sets us up for the birth of Moses and the Exodus of the people of God.

We see in this narrative, from a spiritual standpoint, the devil attacking the Church of God on earth. Pharaoh represents the devil, who seeks to destroy and kill the Church, however, our Lord God, despite the devil's best efforts, still increases His holy Christian Church on earth, giving it an abundant increase, so that it swarms over all the world. We can see this especially in the Church's history when it grew exponentially in the first few centuries despite the onslaught of the devil through martyrdom and persecution. The holy Christian Church grew into a great holy nation, through its twelve fathers, the holy Apostles.

We are a part of this family, this Church, and even though the devil still continues to make our lives burdensome and toilsome, so that we face the rigor of sin, death, and the devil, our Lord God still increases His holy Church on earth by granting us new sons and daughters through the birth of Holy Baptism. And someday, our Lord God, will lead us out of this world, this land of Egypt into the promised land of Canaan, that is, Heaven. A land flowing with the pure milk of His holy Word, and the honey of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

May the Lord God ever keep you in His grace.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

And He Blessed Joseph: Genesis 48:1-22

Genesis 48:1-22: "1 Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, 'Indeed your father is sick;' and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And Jacob was told, 'Look, your son Joseph is coming to you;' and Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed. 3 Then Jacob said to Joseph: 'God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, 4 and said to me, "Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession." 5 And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. 6 Your offspring whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 But as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).' 8 Then Israel saw Joseph's sons, and said, 'Who are these?' 9 And Joseph said to his father, 'They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.' And he said, 'Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.' 10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, 'I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!' 12 So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near him. 14 Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 And he blessed Joseph, and said: 'God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, 16 the Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.' 17 Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. 18 And Joseph said to his father, 'Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.' 19 But his father refused and said, 'I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.' 20 So he blessed them that day, saying, 'By you Israel will bless, saying, "May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!" And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, 'Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.'"

Today, Jacob blesses Joseph his son. He does this by blessing Joseph's two sons, Ephraim, the younger, and Manasseh, the older. However, Jacob, who is also called Israel, blesses Joseph's sons in the same way that he was blessed, for Jacob also was the younger son, whom his mother helped to deceive his father, so that he might be blessed before Esau. This displeases Joseph, for he wanted his first born son to receive the greater blessing.

But God's ways are not our ways. The lesser becomes the greater. The greater becomes the lesser. Ephraim receives the greater blessing, his older brother, the lesser. But why? We come to this section, and think, "Why is Moses relating this narrative to us?" It's not simply to explain why Ephraim and Manasseh are counted among the twelve tribes of Israel, and Joseph is not. Although, this certainly explains why that is. And as a side note, we can see how much Jacob loved Joseph, for he gets a double portion of the inheritance of Jacob through his sons. But there is another reason for this narrative, and it has to do with prophecy.

Ephraim was a mountain country just north of Judah. When the two kingdoms split into Israel and Judah, Jereboam made his own altar in Shechem which is in Ephraim. Therefore, Ephraim became synonymous with the northern kingdom. It was really a by-word, much in the same way that Jews viewed Samaritans. But, Jacob, is here predicting that Ephraim will become a great nation, that is, the Northern kingdom. Ephraim means, "doubly fruitful." And it would seem that he became doubly fruitful in the possesion of the land of Israel, for not only did he have is own land and tribe, but his name was also used to refer to the Northern kingdom.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

The Famine Was Severe Upon Them: Genesis 47:1-31

Genesis 47:1-31: "1 Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, and said, 'My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in the land of Goshen.' 2 And he took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. 3 Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, 'What is your occupation?' And they said to Pharaoh, 'Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.' 4 And they said to Pharaoh, 'We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.' 5 Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, 'Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.' 7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, 'How old are you?' 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, 'The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and 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 So Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh. 11 And Joseph situated 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 Then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with bread, according to the number in their families. 13 Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. 15 So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, 'Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For the money has failed.' 16 Then Joseph said, 'Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if the money is gone.' 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18 When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, 'We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may live and not die, that the land may not be desolate.' 20 Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh's. 21 And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end. 22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands. 23 Then Joseph said to the people, 'Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.' 25 So 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 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh's. 27 So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly. 28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob's life was one hundred and forty-seven years. 29 When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, 'Now if I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.' And he said, 'I will do as you have said.' 31 Then he said, 'Swear to me.' And he swore to him. So Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed."

This evening's reading relays the narrative of Jacob and his sons settling in the land of Egypt, and the increase of the famine that caused them to be there. Joseph makes Pharaoh a very wealthy man. It was because of the dream of Pharaoh that Joseph knew about the coming famine, and was able to prepare for it. However, the famine lasted such a long time that not only did the bread run out in Canaan, but it also ran out in Egypt. When in did, the people of Egypt did not have anything to eat, therefore they were forced to give all their money to buy food, so that the Pharoah had everyone's money. Having given all their money to Pharoah for bread, they had nothing with which to buy food to eat, so Joseph agrees to exchange bread for their livestock, so Pharaoh had everyone's livestock. Then, having given up all the livestock they could spare, they didn't have any thing to buy bread, so Joseph agrees to buy their land in exchange for bread, so that Pharoah, now owned all the land. So Joseph made Pharaoh a very rich man, because he had all the money, all the livestock and all the land of Egypt.

Joseph was then able to even supply workers to work the fields of Pharaoh, that is, the people who sold their land. They would be allowed to work the land, and would be allowed to keep 4/5 of was grown from the seed that Joseph gave them. They only had to give Pharaoh 1/5 of what was grown on his land by their hands.

This is more than just an informative narrative about Joseph's dealings with the Egyptians during the famine. This whole pericope, including Jacob and his whole family settling in the land of Goshen, and the indebted servitude of the people of Egypt, sets up the Exodus. For eventually it would be the Jews, who would grow into a large nation, that would end up in slavery and working in Pharaoh's fields, and building his cities. The sad thing about all of this, is that Joseph, a Jew, sets up Pharaoh to be a very wealthy man, and by all of his dealings with the people, does great things for Pharaoh. But, a Pharaoh arises who does not remember all that Joseph did for Egypt, and Joseph's kindness is repaid with harsh labor and enslavement.

Today, through this reading, we stand poised at the cusp of our Lord God's deliverance. He reveals to us how He sets things up for us, so that He may deliver us, just like He delivers the Israelites from slavery and bondage. He delivers us from the slavery and bondage of sin and death. Our Lord is not slow in fulfilling His promises, as some would count slowness, but instead is patient, waiting for all things to be fulfilled in their proper time, so that we might have a more abundant harvest.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas