Genesis 50:24-25 NIV
”Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.”“
INSIGHT
–Bone in Hebrew is written as etsem and it describes the structure and frame of a human being. Joseph knew the covenant that his fathers and forefathers had with God and was not ignorant of the facts therein. Having faith in the eternal truths of God and His faithfulness, he did not want his bones to be left in a foreign land but rather chose to make an oath with his brothers that they would move him. Exodus 13:19 describes these events saying, “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.” We are therefore called to look to the things above and hold on our faith in Jesus Christ having hope in the eternal inheritance.
PRAYER
Almighty Heavenly Father, we exalt Your Holy and mighty Name, for You are worthy to be praised and worshipped. We lift You high and enthrone You above all. Dear Lord Jesus, may You forgive our sins and purify us by Your precious blood. May You come to our aid and remember us where we deeply need You oh Lord and save all people from destruction by the floods. May You visit Your people with Your mighty right hand and bring healing to the sick, provision to the needy, strength and comfort to the bereaved and salvation to all. Thank You Lord for You are God and Your mercies are new every morning and faithfulness endures forever. Thank You for Your great love and Your goodness oh Lord. Thank You for all You have done for us and even now for hearing our prayer, for we know that You will do it according to Your most perfect and divine will for us in our lives. May You guide us throughout this week and make a way even where there seems to be no way. We pray this in Jesus Name, Amen.
Further reading: Joshua 24:32, Titus 1:2-3
Psalms 34:19-20 NIV
”The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.“
INSIGHT
-We have the assurance that our God is the unfailing deliverer of the righteous, and that He holds the wicked accountable for their hostility towards the righteous. Even though the righteous go though trials and tribulations, their bones are not broken, but they experience the protection and preservation of the Lord. John 19:36 tells us that none of Jesus’ bones were broken even when He was crucified, but the legs of the two thieves beside Him were crushed. Let us then be encouraged to hold on our faith in Christ Jesus, for we will never be disappointed but have the assurance of protection and eternal preservation now and forever more.
PRAYER
I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from. My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Lord You will not let my foot slip, You who watches over me will not slumber. You who watches over Kenya will neither slumber nor sleep. You Lord watch over us by Your mercy and grace. You are our shade at our right hand, the sun will not harm us by day, nor the moon by night. The rains shall not cause harm upon us nor the flood lead to calamity during the day nor the night. We praise You Lord for You have heard our cry for mercy and will deliver us from all our troubles, trials and tribulations. Lord You are our Strength and Shield, our hearts trust in You for our help comes form you Lord our God. Our hearts leap for joy and with song we praise You. Lord You are our Strength, a fortress of salvation for Your anointed ones. Save Your people and bless Your inheritance, be our Shepherd and carry us forever. Lord may You keep us from all harm and watch over our lives, our children, families and fellow citizens. May You watch over our coming in and going out both now and forevermore. Amen.
Further reading: Psalms 121:1-8, Hebrews 13:6
Proverbs 16:24 NIV
”Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.“
INSIGHT
-Often times have we observed bosses who thrive in uttering abuse and discriminating language to their employees. They bash their workers with continuous rebukes at the workplace. This causes demotivation by their employees leading to low or poor productivity and general performance. The Bible reminds us that words filled with grace are as sweet as the honeycomb and they cause healing to the bones. Also, light in a messengers eyes bring joy to the heart and good news give health to the bones (Proverbs 15:30). We are all called to edify one another with words that yield life and shun away from speaking words that lead to death to a person, family, workplace, community or nation. Ezekiel was told to prophecy to dry bones and they lived, and they stood like a great army. As we begin this new month of grace, mercy and favor, let us remember to ask for God’s mercy and grace amidst the floods, in our work, families, ministries, nation and nations of the world. Let us declare that we shall eat the fruit of our labour; blessings and prosperity are ours according to Psalms 128:2.
PRAYER
Dear Lord Jesus we thank You for this wonderful day that You have enabled us to see. Thank You for Your goodness, mercy, grace and favor upon us. We humbly ask You forgive all our sins, iniquities and transgressions that we have committed though our words, thoughts, deeds, in our nation and all the earth. May You remove all accusations against us dear Lord Jesus and cause us rest amidst the floods and world wars. May You calm every storm in our lives, jobs, businesses, economy, churches, nation, nations of the world and grant us rest. We humbly ask that You shall grant us success and victory in our work and open up new opportunities for us to prosper. We pray that every delay or failure in our lives, jobs and businesses be removed now in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. We prophesy and declare that every dry bone will live in our lives, families, businesses, schools, hospitals and nation, according to Your grace and mercy Lord Jesus. May the rains cause productivity and fruitfulness in our land rather than floods and destruction. May You remember all those who are jobless that You may grant them meaningful jobs merciful Father. May You bless the work of our hands and make us fruitful, multiply us and enable us to fill the earth according to Your divine blessings. We declare that we shall eat the fruit of our labour; and inherit blessings and prosperity that come from You Abba Father. Our wives are like fruitful vines and our children like olive shoots in the might name of Jesus Christ. We are the blessed of the Lord and we shall live to see our children’s children. We are the blessed of the Lord and shall inherit the earth through faith and inherit the kingdom of heaven according to Your grace and mercy, dear Lord Jesus. We honor You Lord and give You praise, and it is Jesus mighty name we pray believing and trusting. Amen
Further reading: Micah 6:2, Psalms 128:1-6
Ecclesiastes 11:3-5 NKJV
”If the clouds are full of rain, They empty themselves upon the earth; And if a tree falls to the south or the north, In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie. He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap. As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.“
INSIGHT
–God’s sovereignty is evidenced through His power and works in His creation and the natural environment. God causes a child to be conceived in his/her mother’s womb and bones to form, which is a great thing and a mystery. Psalms 139:13 discloses that God formed our inward parts; and covered us in our mother’s wombs. It is only by God’s mighty works that He forms all human beings in His image and likeness. Even though we were conceived in iniquity from our mothers wombs, it by grace that He saved us and none should boast. The author also reports that God causes rain to fall on the earth, winds to blow and trees to fall down. Sometimes the rains abound and form the floods that lead to destruction of property and human lives as we have witnessed recently in various parts of the world. God calls us to exult Him and worship Him always for He is the Creator of all. To also seek His mercy and grace even as we ask Him to calm the excess rains that cause death and destruction.
PRAYER
How marvelous is Your name in all the earth Abba Father. How marvelous are Your works of creation that none can comprehend them all apart from You Lord. Your power and sovereignty extends beyond the universe. Almighty Heavenly Father we come before Your throne of grace and mercy this day with gratitude and thanksgiving in our hearts. Father we thank You for You knew us even before we were conceived in our mother’s womb. May You help us to achieve the purposes for which You formed us and intended for us at Your perfect timing. Remember Lord all married couples that You may grant them children dear Father. Be with all pregnant women that You may keep them safe together with their children. May You bless all those who unmarried dear Jesus and unite them with their spouses. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven dear Lord Jesus. May You forgive us and cleanse us from all evil we have done as a people and nation, all forms of corruption, idolatry, bloodshed, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual immorality, gambling, social media abuse and other vices. May You sanctify us and wash us with Your precious blood dear merciful Savior. May You heal our land and deliver us from the destructive floods our Good and Faithful God. May You rebuild and restore our nation and expand our businesses and economy. May You grant all our leaders wisdom so that they may always do Your will. May You bless all our fellow citizens to follow You and Your path of life. May Your revival reach every soul and transform every hearts so that all may be incline to You dear Lord Jesus and Your will. We pray all this believing and trusting in Jesus mighty name. Amen
Further reading: Isaiah 58:11-13, Micah 6:1-16
Matthew 23:27-28 NIV
”Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.“
INSIGHT
–Jesus critiques and teaches the Pharisees and teachers of law, who only focused on externals and practiced their faith for show thus misleading their followers. He gives the analogy of the tombs which are white and beautiful from the outside but inside they hold bones of the dead. Like the grave yards that are so lavishly decorated but inside the human flesh rots. Jesus rebukes their hypocrisy for they do not practice what they preach and act the gospel rather than live it out. They stress on the externals rather than the interior fullness of God’s word. God invites us to be establish in our hearts which should be without blame in holiness before Him and at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints (1 Thessalonians 3:13).
SUMMARY
The adult human body has approximately 206 to 213 bones according to the National Centre for Biotechnology Information USA. Bones are classified into long, short, and flat bones. Long bones evolve through endochondral ossification eg. femur and phalanges. Short bones also evolve by endochondral ossification but are smaller and take on different shapes eg. carpal bones. Flat bones form by intramembranous ossification and have unique, plate-like shapes eg. sternum and cranial bones. These bones have their uniqueness that display the power and ability of God to create such dynamic and special human beings. Ecclesiastes 11:3-5 reveals the sovereignty of God in creation who allows the clouds to form rain and bones of a fetus in a mother’s womb. No one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end (Ecclesiastes 3:11). God is our salvation and delivers us from all the troubles and protects our bones and not one of them is broken (Psalms 34:19-20). Jesus was crucified and none of his bones were broken in fulfillment of the prophecy (John 19:36). Joseph swore an oath with his brothers they would not leave his bones in Egypt (Genesis 50:24-25), but ferry them to the land of the promise as per the covenant his forefathers swore with God. He looked to the eternal covenant and the promise having faith in God. We are then called to focus on the things above where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God and when Christ who is our life appears, then we will appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:1-4).
PRAYER
We give You all the glory dear Lord Jesus and honor You. You are the King of kings and Lord of lords. You are the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. You are Faithful God. None can comprehend Your works from beginning to the end, for You are Sovereign and all Powerful. At Your name every knee shall bow in heaven, on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus You are Lord to the glory of God the Father. We worship You Jesus and give You all the praise. May You fill us with Your Holy Spirit and use us for Your Kingdom purposes for the glory of God the Father. May You hear our cry and calm every storm and flood in our nation and other nations of the world. May You give peace and comfort to all those who have lost their loved ones. May You restore all those who have lost their property. May Your hear our prayers and respond to our hearts desires. May You bless us and keep us dear Lord Jesus. May You shine Your face towards us and be gracious unto us. May You show Your countenance unto us and give us peace. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forevermore. Amen
Further reading: Proverbs 3:7-8, Deuteronomy 30:6