Online Bible Study

A Joseph Spirit – Lesson 21

OVERRULED

We sat in the car for a long time without starting it. Speechless, tears running down our cheeks, with Austin buckled in the backseat. The doctor’s diagnosis left his mommy and I in shock. The physician’s pronouncement was beyond comprehension. Underdeveloped optic nerve. Possible visual impairment. Leaving us nearly paralyzed with fear, we reached out to the One we knew to be our Strength. We cried out to our Maker even before we headed back home. Then we asked others to pray. Our church, our worship team. Friends and family across the country. His daddy played the piano over him constantly and even wrote a song about his healing. The physician said it would be a waiting game before we’d know for sure. So as Austin grew, we thanked God for little victories. When he picked up a cheerio from the tray on his highchair, we voiced our praise to God. When he recognized his daddy from across the church lobby, we nearly jumped for joy in celebration. When he chose a crayon color his sisters named, we literally cheered. Somehow a miracle was happening before our eyes.

“I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right. My mouth utters a word that will not be revoked.” God’s words will not be revoked. We had heard words of defeat, but God overruled them. Today, our grandson is reading fluently and doing exceptionally well in school. There’s no evidence of visual impairment as was originally diagnosed. How could we forget to thank God for this miracle!  A reversal of destiny. Diagnosis OVERRULED!

Has the Lord ever overruled your circumstances? He can, you know. I believe there’s power in praying His Word over your family and circumstances. His Word is truth and God says His Word will never return empty or void. Praying words from the Bible is not a magic formula; but it is a powerful tool in prayer. Try inserting family names in particular verses as you pray. Believe the promises of God, and trust Him to overrule what the enemy means for harm.

Read Genesis 47:26-31

1. What is significant about Jacob wanting to be buried back in Canaan?

Read Genesis 48:1-7

2. What happened to Ephraim and Manasseh that caused Joseph to receive double of the promised land?

Read Genesis 48:8-22

3. How was the custom of blessing the firstborn son overruled? (note the confusion over the right and left).

4. What three titles of God did Jacob use in blessing Joseph and his sons? (see verse 16). How are these names significant to your life today?

5. What two events from Jacob’s personal history also preferred the younger over the older?  (see Genesis 17:19-35 and Genesis 29:16-30).

Jacob longed to be buried beside his fathers, Abraham and Isaac, so he asked Joseph to promise him just that. But before he died, he wanted to bless his descendants. It’s interesting that Jacob adopted Joseph’s two sons as his own, which gave Joseph a double inheritance of the promised land. Usually, the oldest son was given the preferred blessing. But Jacob had already experienced two previous reversals of that custom. So the aging Jacob knew what he was doing when he crossed the position of his right hand toward the head of the younger boy, Ephraim. Joseph didn’t understand what his father was doing until Jacob explained that the younger would be stronger than his brother. This kind of solemn blessing was as binding as a last will and testament back then and even included a prediction of future prominence. Ephraim’s descendants eventually became the most powerful tribe in the northern kingdom of Israel. God’s will always overrules man’s customs and traditions. Even if it was always done that way, God is Sovereign. He will do as He pleases. And we can always trust that our Father in Heaven knows best.

 

 

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