Day 97 – Genesis 47:7-10
Jacob Blessed Pharaoh
Scripture Reading – Genesis 47:7-10
And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
Genesis 47:7 KJV
And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?
Genesis 47:8 KJV
And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
Genesis 47:9 KJV
And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
Genesis 47:10 KJV
Scripture Review
Joseph presents Jacob to Pharaoh, and Jacob blesses the king. Pharaoh asks his age, and Jacob answers that the days of his pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years, few and evil compared with the years of his fathers. Then Jacob blesses Pharaoh again before leaving.
Jacob stands before the world’s powerful ruler as an aged pilgrim. He does not boast about an easy life; he has known conflict, loss, fear, and grief. Yet he still speaks blessing. Pain has not removed his ability to testify as a man passing through under the promise of God. Pharaoh possesses Egypt, but Jacob understands that life is a pilgrimage and that the covenant reaches beyond the room.
Pharaoh meant to meet Joseph’s father and learn the age of the old man whose family he had welcomed.
God meant to place a covenant pilgrim before Pharaoh as a witness and make Jacob a speaker of blessing rather than a beggar without hope.
What this asks of me
My testimony does not require me to call every year easy. I can tell the truth about hard days and still bless others from a heart anchored in God’s promise. Titles and possessions do not determine who has something eternal to offer in the room.
Consider
- Can I speak honestly about hardship without allowing bitterness to become my whole testimony?
- Whom can I bless even though that person appears to possess more earthly power than I do?