Kidan has been out for a bit and I know his wife was being induced today, so I am going to take a stab at
three days worth of reading. Let's remember to pray for Kidan, his wife, and the new baby.
43 - 45:
In 43, Jacob reluctantly lets Benjamin go to Egypt. In the previous chapters, he had kept Benjamin behind. The reason behind this was Benjamin was, in his mind, the only living son from Rachel, his beloved. He did not want to lose both Joseph and Benjamin.
Another interesting thing from 43 is the rise of Judah as a leader within the brothers. Reuben is firstborn, but Judah stands to the occasion. In 42:32, Reuben offered his two sons if Benjamin did not return. But Judah goes higher by offering his own life for Benjamin's. Later, in 44:18, we see Judah take the lead again.
I just love Chapter 45. I always get a kick out of it when Joseph finally reveals himself. And I can hardly imagine the joy Jacob must have had upon hearing Joseph is still alive.
46 - 47:
46 shows the trip to Egypt and goes through the family tree. 46:28, once again shows Judah taking the lead. In 47, Joseph is used by God to, basically, bless Pharaoh. And Jacob, himself, gives a blessing to Pharaoh. Did God not say "you will be a blessing to all nations?" I think we see that right here. Unfortunately, Pharoah does not recognize God as being the One True God. Pharoah sees God as one of many. Even so, God is blessing him.
48 - 50:
48 can be a little strange and there is a lot in there, all centered around Manasseh and Ephraim. Joseph is taking his two sons in to Jacob for blessings. Jacob tells Joseph, "your two sons are mine". He is adopting them as his own.
First, it was normal in the time to give the firstborn son a double portion of the inheritance. This is the part of the birthright Esau gave up, as we read earlier. Reuben, the real firstborn, essentially lost his inheritance for having sex with his dad's concubine. This one little act cost him the firstborn rights. Here, we see the double portion going to Joseph, in his two sons.
In addition, Jacob has switched the birth order of these two. Through the placing of his hands, he placed Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. Also, in 48:20, Jacob says, "May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh," once again confirming Ephraim over Manasseh.
And finally, if you now count up the tribes, you will come to 13. We will read about this later, but essentially, God singles out the Levites and the land is portioned out according to the other 12 tribes.
In 49, we have Jacob's blessings. Let's just look at two of them. First is Judah. Jacob prophecies "The scepter shall not depart from Judah." Judah is the line from which the Israelite kings descended, and eventually, Christ as King. For Joseph's blessing, Jacob says "Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well". This, once again, shows the favoritism towards Ephraim. Ephraim's name, in Hebrew, means "twice fruitful". Hahaha. Jacob actually says 'fruitful' twice. Very interesting.
Chapter 50 closes up Genesis with the death of Jacob and Joseph. Something interesting I read in my study is 110 years was thought to be the optimal lifespan in Egypt. Joseph died at 110, which gave the Egyptians a sense he was truly blessed.
