Chronological Bible Reading Genesis 48-50

29 Jan 2020, Chronological Bible Reading, Genesis 48-50.

My wife, Lori, and I are reading through the Bible in chronological order, which is the order in which the events happened. Her blog on this can be found here. This is not intended to be a lesson or a sermon. It is my thoughts and notes as I read through the text and as I sometimes look things up. Today we read Genesis 48 to 50.

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Genesis 48

The previous chapter ended with Jacob having lived in the land of Egypt 17 years, and the people of Israel having acquired property in Goshen and  becoming very numerous, and Jacob making his family promise to bury him in the land of Canaan.

This chapter begins with Joseph going with his two sons to visit his father on his death bed. Jacob reminded Joseph of the blessing and promise God had given to him. Then Jacob adopted Joseph’s two sons who had bene born to Joseph before Jacob went to Egypt to bless them as he would his physical sons. We are reminded that Jacob buried Rachel in Bethlehem.

Israel blessed Joseph’s youngest son Ephraim, and his oldest Manasseh. Joseph was not pleased that Jacob blessed the younger with more than the older, and tried to get Jacob to change it. But Jacob was clear that the older would be a great people, but the descendants of the younger would become a multitude of nations.

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Genesis 49

This chapter is the prophecy of Israel concerning his sons. I noticed that the oldest child, Reuben did to get the blessing of first son, as he had slept with his father’s concubine.

Then Simeon and Levi were not given preeminence because they had wiped out a town to avenge their sister being treated as a whore. Their anger was fierce and their wrath was cruel. They lamed oxen. Jacob would not bless that.

So it is Judah who will be blessed with the preeminant position among the offspring of Israel. Judah is the one who suggested the brothers sell Joseph into slavery. Judah is the one who took a wife from among the Canaanites. Judah is called a welp of a lion – a lion baby. The scepter shall not depart the line of Judah – King David will come from this line. This is the line of Christ, who is known as the Lion of Judah.

The other brothers received their prophecies, but I won’t go into them: Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, Benjamin.

Jacob again charged his children to bury him where Abraham had been buried.

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Genesis 50

Joseph had his father embalmed, which required forty days. The Egyptians mourned 70 days. He asked Pharaoh for permission to try his father as requested. Pharaoh granted him permission. The whole household of Jacob went, except the little ones and the animals. He was buried in the spot Abraham had purchased in Canaan as requested.

The brothers feared Joseph would come after them, now that Jacob was dead. But he put their minds at ease. He told them he was not in God’s place. While they had many evil against Joseph, God had meant it for good. So Joseph would continue to provide for them.

²⁰ As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.

Joseph died at 110 years old. He had stood before the Pharaoh of Egypt when he was 30. The seven years of plenty and two years of famine had passed when he invited his family to move to Egypt. So he was 39 or 40 years old when they came. He lived another 60 years in the land. He saw three generations of the sons of Ephraim. And he saw his own great grandsons born (the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, the son of Joseph). They He made the sons of Israel to take his bones with them when they returned to the promised land. They embalmed him and put him in a coffin.