The Bible Recap - Day 029 (Genesis 48-50) - Year 6

Episode Date: January 29, 2024

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Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble 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 but that's really important, is that God's names represent His character. They tell us who He is and what He does. We've got a list of God's names and attributes that we would love to share with you, because we really believe they'll help you as you're reading through Scripture and looking for your God shot each day. Stay tuned at the end of this episode to find out where to grab that free PDF. 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 had gotten to spend many years with these children. He compares Joseph's two oldest children to his two oldest children, Ruben and Simeon. And while this feels a little weird to me, 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 brought the boys to him and positioned Manasseh, the oldest, in front of Jacob's right hand, because that was 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 thought maybe he couldn't see what he was doing, but he totally could. He blessed both boys, but he intentionally passed 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 16 of his blessing, the one who redeemed

him from all evil and whom he asked to bless the boys, the original language here gives us lots of clues that he's referring to the angel of the Lord, i.e. God himself. After Jacob has blessed 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 Esau. And maybe you remember Simeon and Levi, the second and third sons, who slaughtered all

the men of Shechem in retaliation for the rape of their sister Dinah. 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 was not because Judah was perfect. After all, he's the one who slept with his daughter in La 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 fathered Perez, who is listed in the lineage of Jesus.

And by the way, Perez isn't the firstborn either. This 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 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 these are his 12 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 the reference to the 12 tribes of Israel, remember that it's a reference to these 12 sons of Jacob Israel and their corresponding offspring. After Jacob dies, Pharaoh granted them the opportunity to travel to Canaan to go bury their father in the tomb he requested.

But when they get back 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 of how he has forgiven them, but of who God is. God is the one who went before all of them and made a way, a very difficult way no doubt, but a way nonetheless for them all to be alive and who 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 knew God's promise to give them the land of Canaan would 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. 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 vesture 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 19.13. 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. But this picture today of Jacob blessing Judah, receive 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 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. Have you noticed that God has a lot of names? That's because we as humans are limited in being able to describe Him, so we use names that underscore His attributes and promises. Since you're looking for a God shot every day, we thought it would be helpful to put

together a comprehensive guide of loads of the names of God. Not only does it help us get a broad view of His attributes, but we've also included the Scripture references for each unique name. If you want to get this free PDF, all you have to do is go to thebiblerecap.com forward slash names and submit your email address. It will automatically send you an email with the PDF download, so be sure to check your spam filter or your other inbox tabs. That's thebiblerecap.com forward slash names. Happy New Year! Maybe you've pulled out a journal to write down what you want for 2024, or maybe you've posted about your New Year's resolutions on social media.

It's always wise to have a vision for the future, but we don't want to be so focused on our own plans that we fail to think about God's purposes for our lives. Thankfully, God has already revealed some of the things he has for us. To find out more, click the link in the show notes for some words from my friends at Hope Nation.