# 374 God’s Highlighter

The Book of Genesis

Day 374

Ge 41:17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: "Behold, in my dream I stood on the bank of the river. 18 "Suddenly seven cows came up out of the river, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. 19 "Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such ugliness as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt. 20 "And the gaunt and ugly cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows. 21 "When they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were just as ugly as at the beginning. So I awoke. 22 "Also I saw in my dream, and suddenly seven heads came up on one stalk, full and good. 23 "Then behold, seven heads, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. 24 "And the thin heads devoured the seven good heads. So I told this to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me." 25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: 26 "The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years; the dreams are one. 27 "And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine. 28 "This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. 29 "Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; 30 "but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land. 31 "So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. 32 "And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. 33 "Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 "Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. 35 "And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. 36 "Then that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine."

There is a sound biblical principle at work here that I don’t want us to miss. In fact I am going to use it as a springboard to some very important passages in the New Testament. It is the principle of repetition. When God repeats something, He really wants us to get it. Repetition is God’s method of underlining and highlighting His written Word to us. Joseph reminds us of the importance of this repetition in verse 32, “And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass!”

This use of repetition to show urgency shows up in the New Testament in the form of “Verily, verily.” This phrase shows up 24 times in the Gospel of John alone, and it bears pursuing. The word “verily” means “truthfully “and the repetition simply adds to the urgency of what is being said.  So, in the Gospel of John, we have 24 instances of information established by God with a stamp of urgency. It would behoove us to look into these urgent statements of God, so it the next several days we’ll be leaving the Book of Genesis to explore these “verily, verilies!”

The first instance shows up in John 1:51. Jesus, speaking to Nathaniel says, Joh 1:51, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”

We have talked about this incident earlier in the Book of Genesis in the account of Jacob’s dream known as Jacob’s Ladder. This ladder reached to heaven, and the angels ascended and descended on it. Jesus was telling Nathaniel that He was that ladder.  Verily Verily, this is a God established fact! Nathaniel would soon realize it as the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus would play out before his very eyes. The significance of Jacob’s ladder would be made evident to him! This connection between heaven and earth, the bridging of the gap between sinful men and a holy God, is urgent information for all of mankind to know!

Verily, verily, (emphasized, urgent truth) Jesus is the only way to heaven. Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.