and he (Jacob) lived...

The reading from two weeks ago was Genesis 47:28-50:26.


Summary:


Chapter 47:
Jacob lives 17 years in Egypt, he lives 147 years in total.
Jacob makes Joseph swear to not bury him in Egypt, Joseph agrees.


Chapter 48:
Joseph is told his father is ill, and brings Manasseh and Ephraim.
Ephraim and Manasseh are adopted as sons of Israel.
Ephraim the younger is blessed over Manasseh, the older.
Joseph is given an extra portion of the land Israel took from the Amorites.


Chapter 49:
Jacob's last words to his sons.
Israel blesses his children and tells them to bury him in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave of Machpelah by Mamre in Canaan, where Abraham and Sarah, as well as Isaac and Rebekah are buried; Israel buried Leah there.
After everthing was said, Jacob gives up his spirit.


Chapter 50:
Joseph weeps for his father, and he commands the body to be embalmed.
40 days pass for the embalming; the Egyptians mourn for 70 days.
Joseph asks the Pharaoh to bury his father; Pharaoh grants permission.
A great number of people go in a procession with Joseph to bury his father.
The Canaanite see them at the threshingfloor of Atad and calls it Abelmizraim.
The brothers fear retaliation by Joseph, but Joseph weeping, tells them God meant it for good.
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Joseph lives 110 years, and sees Ephraim's children to the third generation, and the children of Machir, Manasseh's son.
Joseph confirms God will bring them back to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; then he makes the children of Israel take an oath to take his bones from Egypt. Joseph dies; he is embalmed and placed in a coffin.

-end of Genesis-



This time, my meditations focus on Joseph.

There's a ton of comparisons of Joseph to Jesus, like this site. The items on the list range from the trivial to the interesting.


A few years ago, after I repented from "running with the pigs"(v.14-17), one of the main lessons that was ingrained in me going through Genesis was:

Trust(ing) in God.

The main illustration that comes to my mind about trusting in God is Joseph:
When things seem to be going completely in the wrong way, he still believed in Romans 8:28 (even in the days without the NT), this is especially difficult if we have our natural tendencies in tact where we want to take control of situations in reacting or even retaliating rather than waiting on God.

I heard from one of my favorite bible teachers C.Missler, that each day in some way, God will ask you the question, "do you trust Me?"

It's not always easy to answer "yes" to this question, but my favorite verse/mantra is Mark 9:24.

Can we have faith in God and trust in Him?
Head knowledge says, "of course."

It's just a little more difficult when we are experiencing it, but by reading about Joseph and waiting on God, we say with confidence that

God is good.


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