Death To The Promise

I restarted last month reading through the bible chronologically in a year. I just finished Genesis and it made me a little sad. I always find myself wanting more. One more chapter or 10 more chapters! What happened between Genesis 50 and Exodus 1? I just want to know. I need to know!

To quench my sadness, I reread chapter 50 this morning. The beautiful thing I saw this time was that although it ends in death, it also ends with a promise. Sometimes death is necessary to advance the promise.

In Genesis 50 Jacob has just died and by the end of the chapter, Joseph as well. It can seem a bit depressing at first glance. Two powerhouses have just passed on. However, like I previously mentioned, this chapter ends with a promise.

Genesis 50:24-25 says, '“Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers, “but God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath, and he said, “When God comes to help you and lead you back, you must take my bones with you.” '

Nearing death Joseph prophesied Israel's future deliverance from Egypt. Since he believed what he spoke, he told them to take his bones with them back to the Promised Land. Sometimes it's difficult to understand why things have to die or leave; people, relationships, desires, things, but if they don't go the promise doesn't come either.

Jesus also reiterated this concept. In Matthew 16:21-23 it says, 'From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead. But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!” Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”'

The disciples did not want Jesus to leave them and if the roles were reversed, I'd probably be hoping the same. How can we survive without you Jesus? How can the 12 remain and exist without you? However, Jesus explained to them these things have to happen. His death was necessary to usher in everything that would follow; healing by His stripes, victory over death, cleansing of sins, our reconciliation to God, the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, just to name a few. If we only view it from man's perspective, then we miss the bigger picture and plan of what God was going to do. None of that could take place until Jesus went through suffering and died. But remember, He rose again!

In Genesis 50 it seems like death to Israel as a nation. What would happen without Jacob, a physical tie to the promise? What would happen without Jospeh, Israel's physical guarantee of provision and safety in Egypt? Israel would survive, thrive, and eventually leave Egypt, but they had to let Jacob and Jospeh go. There are things we need to let go of and as long as we hold to them we can't see God's bigger picture. As long as we hold on for dear life to what God is saying to release, we can't see His plan. We can't see past ourselves.

There's a phrase "Let go and let God." I'm not one for overused or cheeky sounding phrases, but this one fits perfectly here. Let go and let God. Let go of it and let God work. Let go of thinking you know best. Refute the need to hold on to this person, this thing, this ideology. Let God do what He needs to do to get you where you need to be. Trust Him that even through death, physical or symbolic, the promise you had still stands. Let go and let God.