There is A LOT going on in today's section of scripture. I won't go over it all, as I am very tired and it would be a very, very long post! You all are welcome, as usual, to add notations and references in the comments section!
It starts out with Jacob making Joseph swear unto him, that he will bury him in the land that Abraham had purchased and that he, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah and Leah were already buried.
Then Jacob blesses Josephs son's. He gives the youngest a higher blessing, once again showing that is was ultimately rank, not origin that decided who it would go to. Joseph was bothered by this, and tried to correct his father as to who the oldest was, and who should get the blessing. Jacob told him that he knew who the eldest was! I find this so funny. We can only speculate as to Joseph's feelings here, but he was the younger who replaced Reuben. You would think he would have understood what his father was doing. But, he could of wanted it the way he would have done it with his own children, or he could have thought that Manasseh hadn't done anything wrong to be moved down in rank. He may not have wanted him to experience the jealousy that his brothers displayed to him. However, here their was no jealousy, bitterness or scheming! We don't know what he was thinking...I just think it's ironic, and I like to speculate about what might have been going through his mind.
The next chapter is full of prophecy from Jacob concerning his sons...the twelve tribes of Israel. He gathers them all and tells them what will come of them and their ancestry. There is so much here that can be commented on, and feel free Tammy, if you wish. However I feel the Lord leading me in a different direction today.
Chapter 50 starts of with the death of Jacob, and Joseph has him embalmed by his servants the physicians. Generally this is done by the embalmers and priests but Joseph may have wanted to avoid the magic and mysticism involved. Joseph asks Pharaoh to let him and his family take their father to the special land to be buried. It amazes me that Pharaoh let them go. It just shows the love and respect he had for Joseph, and how grateful he was for all Joseph had done for him. Joseph was a great servant...to God and those in greater authority than he. After many years pass, Joseph dies as well and he is embalmed, put into a coffin and buried in Egypt. His bones were transferred with his people to the Promised Land which we will read in Exodus and Joshua.
Digging Deeper
After Jacob died, Joseph's brothers were afraid that Joseph would show outward signs of hostility for them now that their father was gone. This is just ridiculous to me. After all he had done for them, and the tears he shed for them at their reunion, it just amazes me that their faith in him would be that little. This is humble and magnificent Joseph's reply;
"And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones." "And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them." Genesis 50:19-21 Joseph is by far my favorite person in the Old Testament. I can't wait to meet him when I get to heaven.
"...ye thought evil...but God meant it unto good..."
This is one of the most comforting verses for me in the Bible. When we are faced with hard times, and horrible situations this brings great comfort. When we look around us at things that are going on in this world, this verse brings great comfort. It is hard to find the good in some situations and sometimes it seems that there is no end to the evil of this world, but God is ALWAYS in control! What we may only see as evil, can be used by God for good. We don't know the future and we don't know what things and events can be eventually used and turned into something great and wonderful! Joseph's brothers meant their actions to be for evil, but God meant them to be for good. God used their hatred and jealousy to save thousands of lives. Joseph's faithfulness to God and his servant heart that obeyed with optimism no matter what the situation brought physical salvation to many people and kept his family alive and gave them the ability to flourish and prosper together in Goshen. If we can just cling to this verse, and not be discouraged when we face hard times and see all this evil, despicable stuff going on around us...just keep our eyes on God and our focus on His will, He can use that for good!
Tomorrows readings are Job 1:1-4:2. Click here to read online.
6 comments:
Great post, Kristi! I agree with you 100% about Joseph.
I was sad that his brothers were afraid he would retaliate against them now that their father was dead. I think it shows a striking difference between the way they viewed the world and the way Joseph did. My dad used to tell me "A cheater expects to be cheated and a liar expects to be lied to." It makes me wonder if the brothers would have been so forgiving had something like what happened to Joseph had happened to them. Perhaps they would have waited for an opportunity to retaliate, had they been in his shoes.
I wonder, too, about the blessings Jacob gave to his sons... had God shown him another dream? Or did God give him the words to say as he said them? Did his blessings come from observing the character of his sons over the years?
That's a good saying that your dad said Miriam! There is so much truth to that! I think we can learn a lot about our own character from how we expect people to react to things. Thanks for sharing that saying, I had never heard it before.
I do believe Josephs brothers could have waited that long to seek revenge. Time can heal wounds if we let it, but some people won't let things go no matter how much time has passed. It's so important that we give those things to God and let go of them. I'm just glad they weren't in his shoes and we got a happy ending to this "story".
If you have time to read them, these commentaries here and here discuss Jacob's blessing/prophecy for the 12 sons/tribes of Israel. Very interesting read! The main thing to take from it, I think, is that your past determines your future. The sins you commit have consequences, and your faithfulness has blessings. The choices we make today will affect generations to come - may we make wise choices!!
Perhaps Jacob blessing Ephraim over Manasseh was to show that he has finally learned the lesson of election. He was not chosen over Esau because he deserved to be chosen. God simply decided to work through him.
The firstborn was passed over a lot - Abel over Cain, Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over Reuben, King David over his brothers. God chooses whom He chooses. And this is grace, and for this we are so grateful!
I, too, was saddened over the brothers lack of faith that Joseph had truly forgiven them, and not just for their father's sake.
But isn't that like us sometimes? Either we ask God repeatedly for forgiveness when He already forgave the first time, or we accept God's forgiveness but don't forgive ourselves, or we simply have a hard time believing that God could actually forgive us.
This account shows us that forgiveness does not minimize sin - Joseph points out their sin again and does not gloss over it. And he recognized God's sovereignty. Though we sin, God will still work out His will.
Miriam I like what your dad said to you!! Very true!!
Graet post Kristi- the last part you spoke about is the part that has always spoken to me the most. It has encouraged me when I have been going through a rough time.
I thought it was interesting, yet not surprising really that Joseph (Rachel's son) was given double blessing compared to Judah (leah's son). It was most probably co oincidence at this stage and not because Joseph was Rachel's son, but intersting nonetheless.
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