The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness (2 Peter 3:9)

In Genesis 48, Jacob is running on the last few fumes in his gas tank. I, personally, thought that when I would read this chapter, Jacob would come across as bitter, or upset, or disappointed. Why? Because God had made promises to his grandfather (Abram), and his father (Isaac), and to him, but those promises hadn’t yet come to fruition. But, instead of passing on his dying disappointment to his son (Joseph) and grandchildren (Ephraim and Manasseh), he passes on the promise of a great nation arising from the seed of Abraham:

And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance (Genesis 48:5-6)

Thanks to Matthew’s genealogy we can trace Jesus’ lineage and find that God’s promise of a great nation (and a ruler as promised to Judah) come to fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham…And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:7, 29)

Thinking of God’s promises and the length of time between the promise given to Abraham and it coming to fruition in Jesus and the lack of disappointment of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob that they had not yet received the promise should teach us a lesson concerning the return of Jesus: namely, wait for it. From the New Testament, it is somewhat clear that the disciples expected Jesus to return to establish his kingdom in their lifetime (cf. Acts 1:6-7, 2 Timothy 2:18). But we know that he did not and we still await the triumphant return of Christ. Can, we too, wait without wearying of the promise, but pass it on until it is fulfilled in God’s time according to his great pleasure? Pray we may.