The End of The Beginning

The final chapters in Genesis:

Chapter 48 is a most interesting chapter in this great book of beginnings! Jacob has taken ill and decides he should begin pronouncing "the blessings" sooner than later. So many things I read in chapter 48 peaked my curiosity.

The first thing I find interesting is the flipping back and forth of using the name Jacob and Israel interchangeably. We remember that God changed Jacob's name to Israel in Genesis 35:10 "And God said to him, your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." So He called his name Israel. I'm puzzled as to why at times he is referred to as Jacob and sometimes as Israel. And sometimes....in the very same sentence! Any thoughts on that, people?

In vs. 2 when Jacob/Israel was told that Joseph had come to see him, it says he (Israel) "summoned his strength and sat up in bed." What I love about that verse is it shows the authority we have over our bodies. We can summon our strength! I will remember that tomorrow morning when I think I just can't get out of bed...I will remember Israel and I shall summon my strength!

On to the blessings.....

Joseph brought his two boys with him, Manasseh (firstborn) and Ephraim.

Remember when his father Isaac was on his deathbed, wanting to pronounce the blessing on Esau...but because of his poor eyesight he is deceived into blessing the second born son, Jacob instead? Well, Jacob/Israel is not deceived as his father was, but he can't see who's who because of his poor eyesight. "Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see." He stretches out his arms to bless the boys, but puts his right hand on the younger boy. Upon seeing this "error" Joseph is displeased and brings it to his Father's attention that he's making a big mistake! (The blessing of the firstborn was serious stuff!) But Jacob/Israel refuses to make the switch and declares that the younger son, Ephraim will be greater than the firstborn Manasseh. The line of Manasseh would still become a great people, but not greater than Ephraim. So now we see two generations of 2nd born son's receiving the blessing that "rightfully" belonged to the firstborn. Interesting. Honestly, I don't know what the significance is but maybe I will find out a little further down the line. I do know that God doesn't make any mistakes!

Chapter 49 lists all the blessings given to Jacob's sons, which I also found fascinating. Some I understood more than others, like Reuben's and Simeon's and Levi's because of the things they had done in previous chapters, but Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Asher and Naphtali's blessings left me more than a little confused. (Although I was delighted that there was a food blessing in here for one of the boys..."Asher's food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal delicacies" Rich food... no doubt it would have made Julia Child proud.)

Judah and Joseph's blessings were long and descriptive...and Benjamin, as the youngest son his blessing comes last, but a very interesting blessing to say the least! "He will be a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening dividing the spoil." Hmmmmm...I wonder what that means! (Did I mention that my son's name is Benjamin?)

Jacob/Israel gives his final wishes about where he should be buried and he breathes his last breath. Joseph wept over his father who he obviously dearly loved. He makes good on his promise to bury his father in the land of Canaan, and it was quite the funeral procession. We've all seen some pretty elaborate funeral processions on CNN, but the way Genesis describes Jacob's, it would have taken over the all of the TV stations for weeks!

This book ends with Joseph's brothers getting a little nervous about their father's passing and they start wondering if Joseph will suddenly turn on them. They tell Joseph that his father gave them a command before he died that Joseph should forgive all the brothers for the evil they did to him as a boy. I don't know if they made that up or if Jacob/Israel really did say it, but regardless, Joseph is brought to tears at the mention of it. Vs. 19 & 20 are very familiar verses from the book of Genesis: But Joseph said to them, "Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." When I read these verses, I think of Romans 8:28 and all things working together for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Joseph loved God and was called according to His purpose. He will forever be known as the "Dreamer" who's dream came true. Vs. 18 fulfills the dream with all of his brothers bowing down before him saying "behold, we are your servants". The last chapter of Genesis is the record of Joseph dying at the age of 110. He also gives last minute instructions on where to "carry his bones". He was embalmed and put into a coffin in Egypt, later to be buried in the promised land. He's gonna be in that coffin a while...approximately 400 hundred years I think, but then I haven't read the rest of the story. I hope they don't forget about him.

Well, there you have it folks. This has been quite a journey from the creation account of Genesis 1 to the life and death of the great Patriarchs of the Old Testament. Fifty amazing chapters recorded for our learning. As I have mentioned throughout this blog so far, these great men and women of God we have learned about not only teach us of their personal faith journeys, but intertwined in their stories are beautiful glimpses of truth of the New Covenant of Grace to come, the "red thread" of Christ that is intricately woven throughout the entire Word of God.

I'm about to go on an amazing journey out of Egypt. Won't you join me in the book of Exodus, my faithful friends? Wear your sandals and bring your sunscreen. I hear we'll be spending a lot of time in the sand.