Rejected (Genesis 35-37, Psalm 12, Mark 14)

As we read through Genesis (and in fact the rest of the Bible), its helpful to ask where are we in relation to the promise God made to Abraham. In Genesis 12 we saw God promising to make Abraham into a great nation (people), give him a land to live in (place), and bless him and through one of his descendants to bring blessing to all nations.

As we reach Genesis 37, where are we? Given that Abraham was 75 when the promise was first made and the promised child did not arrive for another 25 years, things are going pretty well! Abraham had a son Isaac, who had 2 sons Jacob and Esau. The promise carried through the line of Jacob, who then had 12 sons, and a daughter. Hardly a great nation, but it’s going the right way! They are in the land of Canaan, which is the promised land, but remember God promised that they would spend 400 years out of the land (Genesis 15:13) so watch this space. And what about blessing?

Well the brothers can’t even get on with each other, nevermind bring blessing to the nations! And yet, even though they intend evil as they reject and betray Joseph by selling him as a slave to the Ismaelites, God was going to use this action to bring blessing to the nations…again watch this space!

Our gospel reading reminds us that Jesus was also betrayed and rejected by one of 12 (not brothers, but disciples), and Jesus would face far worse that Joseph, but the Lord was going to use this descendant of Abraham to bring blessing to all nations.

What a God we serve, a God who works out His plans over thousands of years, and uses even the worst things to bring about the good of blessing to all nations. If you are included in that blessing through faith in Christ then spend some time worshipping Him now. If you’re not yet included in that blessing, come to Christ, confess your rebellion and you will find He is ready to forgive and pour out His blessing upon you. You will find that although you may still face many trials in this life, you will be able to count them as light and momentary in comparison to the weight of glory that is coming your way.