Genesis
Foundation Book of the Bible
Jacob's Prophecies
Estrategia pedagógica
The focus of this lesson is to review the closing actions of Jacob and Joseph’s life. Of special note in this lesson is how we can look at their lives as examples of faith in action.
Resultados del aprendizaje de los estudiantes
- Know: Understand God’s actions to maintain His faithfulness to His promise of a Messiah.
- Feel: Appreciate God’s faithfulness.
- Do: Seek to live faithfully to God’s will.
Cuerpo de la lección
Preguntas de discusión
A continuación se sugieren preguntas para utilizar durante la parte de debate guiado de la lección. También se sugieren respuestas a las preguntas para ayudar a los alumnos a comprender los distintos conceptos. Se proporcionan para ayudar al debate y no se consideran respuestas "correctas o incorrectas".
It was a way to provide them with direction and perhaps encouragement and warning for their lives.
It is possible that they could change their lives. Someone once said we are the sum of all of our decisions and certainly some of Jacob's sons had chosen to take a path in life contrary to God's will. Yet God also gives us the ability to choose. If we see that our lives are not going in a direction God wills, then we should take action to change the direction. We have to deal with the consequences of bad choices, but we can also resolve to not repeat those actions. This is at the heart of our repentance as we strive to please the Lord.
He was ensuring that he would be returned to the land promised by God. This closed the life that at times was marked by weak faith but in the end, Jacob put into place actions indicating his obedience to God.
Perhaps they were looking at the situation from how they would have reacted. They did not recognize, even after all this time, that Joseph was not a vengeful man and that he had indeed forgiven them. Joseph recognized that the actions they had taken had actually allowed God's will to occur (vs 20).
It was a statement of faith that God would fulfil His promise of a land for Israel. His faith was strong enough that he wanted to be buried with his ancestors and those who would come after him.
We sometimes look at life from the perspective of what is happening in the moment and not recognizing God working His will over our lifetime. This is seen in the many lives of the characters in Genesis. We must deal with the immediate, but we should also keep an eye on the larger picture of a lifetime of service to God.
If someone has not begun their life journey under God's will, then now is the moment to change their direction. As Paul would state in Philippians 3:13-14, "Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (ESV)