CHAPTER NINE

GOD’S HISTORY IN TIME 
(FROM THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE 
TO THE FINAL JUDGMENT 
AT THE GREAT WHITE THRONE—
GENESIS 1:1—REVELATION 20:15)

(8)

WORKING ON HIS ELECT 
FROM ABRAHAM TO JOSEPH

(4)

WORKING ON ISAAC AND JACOB WITH JOSEPH

(2)

Scripture Reading: Gen. 32:24-32; 35:1-15; 47:7, 10-12, 27-31; 48:8-9, 15-16, 20; 49:28; 41:39-44, 55-57

OUTLINE

2. Working on Jacob with Joseph:
   3. Having destined him to live a struggling life all his days:
      8. To escape from his uncle Laban according to the indication of the complaint of Laban’s sons and the attitude of Laban, and according to God’s instruction—Gen. 31:1-21.
      9. To face the trouble of Laban’s pursuing and overtaking him while he was under the secret care and protection of God as the Angel of God—Christ (vv. 10-13)—vv. 22-55.
      10. To face the trouble of his brother Esau’s dealing with him—32:1-23; 33:1-16.
      11. To wrestle even with God, who changed his name from Jacob to Israel, indicating that God would transform him from a supplanter (Jacob) to a wrestler with God, or a prince of God (Israel), and who made him limp—32:24-32.
      12. To face the trouble of the case of his daughter Dinah—ch. 34.
      13. To be purified with his family from the foreign gods and their ornaments that they loved, according to God’s commandment, so that they might serve God with an altar built at Bethel, where God changed his name from Jacob to Israel and promised him that:
          1. He as the All-sufficient God would make him fruitful and multiplied; a nation and a company of nations would come from him, and kings would come forth from his loins.
          2. He would give to him and his seed the land He gave to Abraham and Isaac—35:1-15.
      14. To take care of the burial of Deborah, his mother Rebekah’s nurse, without seeing his mother—v. 8.
      15. To suffer the death of Rachel at the birth of Ben-oni (“the son of my sorrow,” named by Rachel while dying at his birth), Benjamin (“the son of the right hand,” named by Jacob the father)—vv. 16-20.
      16. To suffer his son Reuben’s incest with his concubine Bilhah—v. 22.
      17. To suffer the loss of his beloved son Joseph—ch. 37.
      18. To suffer the danger of losing his son Simeon and his youngest son Benjamin—42:18—43:15; 44:9-34.
   4. Releasing him from all his sufferings:
      1. To see his beloved son Joseph again in his honor and glory—45:1—47:12.
      2. To enjoy a rich and peaceful life with the worship to God at his old age—vv. 11-12, 27-31.
   5. Causing him:
      1. To be transformed from a supplanter (Jacob) to a prince of God (Israel)—35:9-10.
      2. To be matured to bless all people whom he contacted:
         1. To bless Pharaoh—47:7, 10.
         2. To bless Joseph with his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh—ch. 48.
         3. To bless all his twelve sons—49:1-28.
   6. Causing him, with Joseph:
      1. To go through a long period of suffering—37:4-36; 39:1-23; 40:12-15, 21-23; 41:9-37.
      2. To be exalted as the sovereign ruler—vv. 39-44:
         1. To rule over all of Egypt—45:8b-9a.
         2. To supply all the earth with food—41:55-57; 42:5-6.