Having to Wait

Exodus 3

So, this chapter is dedicated to what God is explaining what He is going to do through Moses. He is telling Moses that He is going to free the children of Israel from the Egyptians and will make it so the children of Israel come away with some material possessions.

What I take away from this chapter is that the Lord has heard their crying and is seeing their burdens, but has waited to deliver them. Sometimes we are going through some very difficult times, but the Lord waits to deliver us, not out of anger or malice, but out of love. There is some purpose in having us wait. I am not saying that is always going to be the case, but if we are going through a difficult time, and it has been going on for a while, first make sure you are living in accordance to how God wants us to live, but take comfort in knowing that He knows what you are going through, but He has a wise purpose. This is a lot easier said than done.

Hearing our Cries

Exodus 2:23-25

And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt^adied: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage,and they ^bcried, and their ^ccry came up unto God by reason of thebondage.

 And God ^aheard their groaning, and God remembered his^bcovenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

And God looked upon the children of Israel, ^aand God hadrespect unto them.

Even though the children of Israel have not been delivered out of bondage at this point in time, Heavenly Father is listening to their prayers. I can take comfort in knowing that He listens. And because Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross, He knows what it is like to be in any of our situations. This enables Him to comfort us in a way that is personal.

Fear God More Than Man

Exodus 1:

 16 And he said, When ye ^ado the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the ^bstools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.

 17 But the midwives ^afeared God, and did not as the king of Egypt ^bcommanded them, but saved the men children alive.

 18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?

 19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are ^adelivered ere the midwives come in unto them.

 20 Therefore God dealt ^awell with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.

 In this account we see the children of Israel being persecuted by the Egyptians and it got to a point where Pharoh commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill the baby boys. The midwives know God does not like such things, and so they didn't. 

Whenever we are faced with a decision, for most of us it probably won't involve murder, but it may be small things, we will have to know what Heavenly Father expects of us, and do what we know is right and not justify it to get a promotion, or a job, or acceptance into a group. At some point we will be asked to break a commandment by someone who has authority over us, and we can't give in. 

These women didn't give in, and they were blessed for it. They were given houses, and I may be looking too deep into this, but if we are obedient and have integrity our whole lives, I bet we will be given our inheritance in the next life, which as Christ said in the New Testament, mansions. I think I would rather obey Heavenly Father and have a mansion for eternity, than have a temporary raise or being a favorite for a while.

Humility and Repentance

Genesis 50:18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy ^aservants.

So, the whole reason why Joseph is in Egypt and ultimately the reason why Egypt became such a great nation and why Israel and his children and their families were spared because Joseph was sold into Egypt. He became a mighty ruler, and even though Joseph knew what had happened, he stayed humble and faithful the entire time.

Now his brothers realize that they have done an evil. I do not think that they are sorry because of what Joseph has done for them, but they to me seem humble and have repented because they love Joseph. There is an element that they realize that they are at the feet of Joseph's mercy which is why they said we be thy servant. This is could be their realization of the dreams that Joseph had. 

But more importantly than this family dynamics, with the Atonement of Christ, all can be forgiven, and we each have the capacity to forgive everyone who has wronged us.  

The 11 Children Blessed

I want to talk about Genesis chapter 49. This whole chapter goes into Israel blessing each of his children and pretty much talking about the the fate of their tribes or posterity.

Most of us are a part of the 12 tribes because they for the most part have been dispersed and have mingled with others nations. The only people who haven't mingled that much have been the Jewish people. They have gone into other countries, but they haven't had a lot of children with the people of the country the reside in. So, this chapter can be talking about a group or a tribe that we can now identify ourselves with.

In addition, everyone, and I mean everyone, can receive blessings from a worthy priesthood bearer. They can receive guidance and inspiration, as well as comfort and even healing from a priesthood bearer. Just as the patriarchs of old, we can have a similar experience.

Ephraim's Blessing

Genesis Chapter 48

 17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right ^ahand upon the head of ^bEphraim, ^cit displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.

 18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.

 19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be ^agreat: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his ^bseed shall become a ^cmultitude of ^dnations.

So, this is the first mention of the blessings of being in the twelve tribes of Israel. It is is amazing that Jacob (Israel) knew about Manasseh and Ephraim, before he blessed them. The blessing is being fulfilled today, in the sense that there was a lost 10 tribes, and Ephraim was one of them. They are being gathered, and they have truly become a multitude of nations. 

Don't sweat it

This post comes from the entire chapter of 45 in Genesis.

This is the chapter where Joseph reveals himself to his brethren and his family is invited to come into Egypt and live there. Joseph was promised through dreams that his brethren would bow down before him, and essentially that is what is happening. Joseph is ruling over Egypt, with Pharoh only over him.

I could not have imagined a blessing like that coming to life for myself. I think it would be because I would have forgotten it, until is started to come true. But I am not sure if Joseph was constantly thinking about his promise, I think he was just doing what he knew he should be doing. In life I think we shouldn't get so wrapped up in things that have been promised to us, but just be faithful in what we know we need to do and the blessing will come to pass.