Day 029 (Genesis 48-50) - Year 8

Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Kabul and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. Yesterday we saw Jacob preparing for his death at the age of 147 by asking his son Joseph to make sure he was buried in Canaan, not Egypt. Today we pick up with Jacob blessing Joseph's sons Ephraim and Manasseh before he dies. Jacob recounts God's promises to him to give him many offspring and to give them the land of Canaan. And he refers to God by a name we've seen a few times, God Almighty. This is translated from the Hebrew el-Shaddai, which loosely means God of the Mountains. One of the things we haven't talked about much but that's really important is that God's names represent his character. They tell us who he is and what he does. Jacob continues his speech to Joseph and in it he does a peculiar thing. He formally adopts Joseph's children as his own. Possibly because he was robbed of having Joseph in his life as a young boy, but he's gotten to spend many years with these children. He compares Joseph's two oldest children to his two oldest children, Reuben and Simeon. And while this feels a little weird to me personally, it's actually probably a generous move, a way of establishing that these two boys will receive an inheritance from him along with Joseph's brothers. They will be heirs to the land and the promise. This will continue to come into play in our reading, so make a mental note of it. Joseph brings the boys to him and positions Manasseh, the oldest, in front of Jacob's right hand because that is considered to be the hand of blessing and power. And he positions Ephraim, the youngest, in front of Jacob's left hand. But then Jacob crosses his hands, putting his right hand on Ephraim's head. Jacob is going blind just like his dad Isaac was near the end of his days, so Joseph thinks maybe he can't see what he's doing, but he totally can. He blesses both boys, but he intentionally passes the ruling power of the two boys to the younger brother Ephraim. We've seen this theme elsewhere and it continues here. Manasseh will become a people, but Ephraim will become a multitude. By the way, the angel that Jacob refers to in verse 17, the one who redeemed him from all evil and whom he asks to bless the boys, the original language here gives lots of clues that he's referring to the angel of the Lord, i.e. God himself. After Jacob blesses Joseph's sons, he continues his final blessing by gathering his own sons. And boy, does he get precise with them. His words reflect a lot of the things we've seen happen, as well as some of the things yet to come, some prophecies. You probably remember Reuben, the oldest, who slept with his father's concubine. Jacob retracts his preeminence. The oldest loses his birthright here, just like we saw happen with Ishmael and with Esau. And maybe you remember Simeon and Levi, the second and third sons, who slaughtered all of the men of Shechem in retaliation for the rape of their sister Dina. So because of their actions, the birthright status and preeminence pass over them as well. Instead, this blessing lands on the fourth son, Judah. But make no mistake, it's not because Judah is perfect. After all, he's the one who slept with his daughter-in-law Tamar. But that was a different kind of offense in the eyes of their culture. It didn't threaten the family unit like the actions of the other three did. Judah fathers Perez, who is listed in the lineage of Jesus. And by the way, Perez isn't the firstborn either. The law of primogeniture keeps getting violated. And anytime God repeats himself or creates a theme, it's worth taking notice. All of this, as I've mentioned before, is painting the picture of Christ, our older brother, laying down his rights and privileges to share his inheritance with us. Jacob continues blessing the other brothers, and when he gets to Joseph, there's a distinct blessing for Joseph as well that seems to set him and his descendants apart. More on that in the days to come. At the end of Jacob's blessing, he reiterates his desire to be buried in Canaan. And then we encounter a phrase you may be familiar with, the 12 tribes of Israel. We know that Jacob is Israel, and that these are his twelve sons. They will all go on to have many offspring, and each man's offspring belong to his tribe. Did you catch all that? So when you see reference to the twelve tribes of Israel, remember that it's a reference to these twelve sons of Jacob Israel and their corresponding offspring. After Jacob dies, Pharaoh grants them the opportunity to travel to Canaan to go bury their father in the tomb he requested. But when they get to Egypt, Joseph's brothers begin to fear him. They think maybe he was faking forgiveness, that he's been holding back until their dad dies and now he'll retaliate. They tell him a story about how their father wanted him to forgive them. And maybe it's true, who knows? Either way, Joseph has already forgiven them and his heart is already free of bitterness. So he takes the opportunity to remind them not of what they did or even how he has forgiven them, but of who God is. God is the one who went before all of them and made away a very difficult way, no doubt, but away nonetheless, for them to all be alive and provided for them through all these circumstances. Then we close the book with Joseph's death. In his final days, he echoes the same desires of his father. He does not want to be buried in Egypt. He knows God's promise to give them the land of Canaan will be fulfilled and he tells them, when that day comes, do not leave my bones behind. Joseph dies trusting in God's promises. Where did you see your God shot today? Mine was in Jacob's blessing to Judah. If you read it closely, you'll see some real lion of Judah prophecies about Jesus here, like we talked about a few days ago. Micah 5-2 gives us a detailed prophecy about the coming ruler of Israel, who is from the tribe of Judah, who would be born in Bethlehem. Does any of that ring a bell? And verse 11 of Jacob's prophetic blessing says, He has washed his garments in wine and his vester in the blood of grapes. Wine is the appointed symbol of Christ's blood. And maybe I'm reaching here, but when I read that verse, I can't help but think of Revelation 1913. It describes the second coming of Christ and it says, He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood. Images and prophecies of Christ are abundant in the Old Testament. He's all over the place, so much so that no one could invent it. Some say there are more than 400 prophecies of Christ in the Old Testament. On average, that's 1.5 prophecies of Jesus per day that we'll spend in the Old Testament. But this picture today of Jacob blessing Judah. Read that for yourself, because through Judah, you have been blessed. Through Judah, you have received the promise of the coming Messiah who reigns forever and the scepter shall not depart from him. He's our King Jesus, and He's where the joy is. Congratulations on finishing Genesis, Bible readers. I know it may feel like we're just at the beginning, but remember that because we covered our Job this month, we've now finished two of the longest books of the Bible. We're nearly 10% of the way through. Before we move to Exodus tomorrow, remember that we're continuing in the same story we've been reading. It all fits together seamlessly. So take a few minutes and think of how you might summarize what you've learned in Genesis before we move forward into the next part of the story tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll be starting the book of Exodus. It's 40 chapters long. We've linked to a short video overview in the show notes, so check that out if you've got six minutes to spare. And as always, if you're using our plan in the Bible app, this video will also be linked at the start of tomorrow's reading. On the last day of every month, we send out a free monthly email called the News Cap. We aren't here to waste your time or crowd your inbox, so we only send you content that will be a good use of your time. The News Cap includes a note from me, Terri Lee, plus TBR updates, cool merch drops, and free monthly bonus content with tools to help you dig deeper or sharpen your spiritual disciplines. Like everything else we do, the News Cap is just another tool to help you read, understand, and love God's Word. Sign up at the bottom of our homepage at thebiblerecap.com or click the link in the show notes.