A Big Mistake!

A Big Mistake! After reading the legendary account of Joseph’s life (Gen. 37-50), I can’t imagine Egypt ever allowing a king to rise to power “who did not know about Joseph” (Ex. 1:8 NIV). Think about it for a moment: one of the greatest nations of all time - with highly developed governmental, technological, cultural and educational systems - allowed a king to rise to power who had no clue as to one of its greatest heroes. What a mistake! Can you believe that this king didn’t know that Joseph had interpreted an earlier king’s dreams and then developed and managed Egypt’s famine-preparedness program. Egypt could have been wiped out by a devastating seven-year famine. Instead, because of Joseph, it not only survived, but actually grew stronger by helping other nations. I used to feel sorry for the Israelites because the new Egyptian king (mentioned in Exodus 1) had turned them into slaves. But after reading this month’s features, I now feel sorry for the Egyptians; they forgot how Joseph’s God had saved them from famine and blessed them for generations to come. And forgetting God always leads to trouble. It has been said that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. In Egypt’s case it might be more accurate to say that those who forget the past are doomed to suffer for it. Egypt’s past was full of God’s blessing through Joseph. When they forgot him they also forgot his God, who eventually made Himself known again through a series of plagues that decimated them, making them a second-rate power. Life could have been really different for the Egyptians had they remembered Joseph - and his God. No plagues. No death. No humiliation. And some day we might be saying the same thing about our own nation - if we allow those around us to forget our God and all that He has done. Ours is a God of good news (the gospel) and great blessing. Forgetting Him is always bad news -- and always a big mistake. By Larry Ondrejack