Day 124 – Genesis 50:22-23
Joseph Saw Ephraim’s Children
Scripture Reading – Genesis 50:22-23
And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father’s house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.
Genesis 50:22 KJV
And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph’s knees.
Genesis 50:23 KJV
Scripture Review
Joseph lives one hundred ten years and sees Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children of Machir, Manasseh’s son, are also brought up upon Joseph’s knees. The young man carried away from his father now becomes the aged father surrounded by descendants. God gives him years not only to rule Egypt but to know a growing family.
This quiet scene is part of what God meant for good. The story’s great reversals can make me overlook ordinary mercies: children nearby, time to hold them, and a household continuing. Joseph’s public usefulness will end, but God’s promise does not depend on his office. The next generation comes into view before his final words turn their eyes toward the exodus.
Joseph meant to receive and care for later generations of his family through the long years God gave him in Egypt.
God meant to make Joseph fruitful in his household as well as in his office and let him see evidence that the covenant family would continue.
What this asks of me
I should not become so occupied with public accomplishments that I miss the quiet mercy of people at my knees. A lasting influence is often carried through ordinary attention to the next generation. I want to give them more than a memory of my work; I want to give them a clear confidence in the God whose promise continues.
Consider
- Which quiet family mercy have I overlooked because it seems less dramatic than public success?
- What faith am I intentionally placing within reach of the next generation?