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"I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt,
for there I will make you into a great nation. ..."
Genesis 46:3
God gave Jacob His blessing to go to Egypt. There He had plans to make Jacob's family into a great nation.
When we think of a nation we think of lots of unrelated people coming together within borders and under a common government. The United States, especially, is one nation made up of many nations. We have African-Americans, Latin-Americans, Italian-Americans, Irish-Americans... you name it we have it. A recent fad is pursuing genealogy through DNA and discovering what nations your ancestors came from.
But God, He created the nation of Israel from one family. Seventy people in the whole house of Jacob went to Egypt and there, God made them a nation.
It's a wonder to me how personal this all is for God. He didn't just scoop up a handful of disconnected people and call them His. He started with one man: Abraham. Who had one son of promise: Isaac. Who had twin boys: Esau and Jacob. And from Jacob, whom He renamed Israel, God created an entire nation.
Those in the nation of Israel know exactly where their DNA goes back to. Abraham. Isaac. Jacob. For God, it's all about family and relationship. Not government and borders.
From this one nation-family, God blessed all the nations of the world with His Son Jesus. And through His Son, we can all become part of His one family.
...for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
Galatians 3:26 ESV
Father God, how thankful I am You are all about family and relationship,
not rules and regulations. Help me to remember I'm part of Your family
and I can invite others to be a part too, through Jesus.
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