Read Selected Scriptures from Gen. 47-48

·       47:7: Truly, as the writer of Hebrews put it, surely the lesser is blessed by the greater (Heb. 7:7).  The Hebrew word is “barak,” having the root idea of kneeling, and thus exalting a person.  In this case, the “greater” is God’s chosen man, Jacob.  He had come to Pharaoh’s land, lived off of Pharaoh’s abundance during the first two years of famine, and was now seeking permission to live in Pharaoh’s land.   Pharaoh might have thought he was the one blessing Jacob, but then Pharaoh had come to know of the family of Jacob through Joseph who had been a mighty blessing to Pharaoh and all of Egypt.

·       47:13: The famine, sent by God, as part of His great plan to make Abraham’s name great, may have extended far and wide, but of concern to God’s plan to bring the Savior to the world through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the lands of Egypt and Canaan are mentioned here.  We should remember this.  The latter days involve the entire world, but the geographical focus of attention is Israel!

·       47:20: Note that Joseph imposed a 20% tax, after having taken all the real property of the Egyptians and giving it to Pharaoh.  Joseph might have trouble winning election in the United States, but the Egyptians were happy with the situation.  They were in a much better situation than the nations around them.

·       48:5,22: This was a way for Jacob to give Joseph the double-portion without irritating the others, with the possible exception of Reuben.  He was the actual “firstborn” but lost the right through his own indiscretion.

·       48:14: Jacob “knowingly” crossed his hands, blessing the younger Ephraim over the older Manasseh.  There is a load of irony in this, or better, a load of “lesson learned.”  Jacob was younger and God had promised him the ascendency over Esau.  But Jacob had, with his mother, schemed to gain Isaac’s blessing.  Perhaps Jacob is acknowledging he did not have to take matters into his own hands, that God would have worked out the fulfillment of His word.

·       48:16,20ab: Again, of the two words/ideas of blessing in the OT, barak means to exalt someone (the other idea being to make someone happy or prosperous). 

·       48:19: I see this fulfilled through the strength of the tribes coming from these two sons.  The Pulpit Commentary gives a literal translation, in the fullness of the nations.  In other words, they were like nations.  In the censuses, Ephraim was larger than Manasseh at first (Num. 1), but before entering the land Manasseh was larger (Num. 26).  When the land was given to the tribes, Manasseh received two large parcels, but Ephraim became dominant in the northern Ten Tribes.  Joshua was an Ephraimite.  The strength of Ephraim is seen in several stories in the Judges, and they take the lead in the north during the time of the divided kingdom.

Read Selected Scriptures from Gen. 45-46

·       45:6-7: There were still to be 5 more years of famine.  But Joseph could reassure his family that God had already provided for them.  There are many today whose testimony is that God used some period of serious trouble in their lives as the context in which they were brought to faith in Christ.  Having come to Christ, they learned, as all believers learn, that they would continue to experience the trials of this life but that God would see them through and into eternity!  As Ps. 23 tells us, our Shepherd meets every need all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

·       45:21-22: U-hauls were even provided for Jacob and the family to make the move.  And new clothes for the trip.  Now might be a good time to review Jacob’s words in Gen. 42:36!

·       46:1-3: As Jacob begins the move, he leaves Hebron (at times the home of Abraham as well as Jacob) and comes to Beersheba (significant site for both Abraham and Isaac).  Jacob bows to worship the LORD.  His heart is in the right place as he heads to Egypt.  The LORD calls out to Jacob and he answers with the “availability” of a man of faith: here I am!  God’s word puts Jacob at rest.  The LORD had promised to make Abraham into a great nation (Gen. 12:1-3).  Even though they are going to Egypt (something Isaac was not allowed to do, Gen. 26:2), the LORD promises that Jacob/Israel will become a great nation in Egypt.  Let us meditate in advance of the story of the Exodus as to what “greatness” means.  It is not only that Israel will become mighty in number.  They will also have the cohesiveness that will be developed as God Almighty leads them out with a powerful display of His, God’s, greatness!

·       46:28: Again we see that Jacob has chosen Judah to lead the family.

·       46:31-34: This is interesting: every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.  Joseph had become an expert in dealing with the Egyptians, and with Pharaoh himself.  The desire was that Jacob and his family should settle in Goshen, an area of Egypt closest to Canaan, and one that in good years would be perfect for raising cattle as well as sheep.  Thus, he warned the brothers that the Egyptians didn’t care much for shepherds, which was not unusual.  Shepherding, even in Israel, even in the time of the birth of Christ, was generally one of the lower stations of life.  He tells the brothers to emphasize their expertise with cattle, but for Pharaoh to know that they were shepherds would make settlement in Goshen, far from Pharaoh, much more likely.  (This explanation is the one used by Matthew Henry, and makes sense to me.  I see a great application in this, both to Christ and to His under-shepherds in the Church.  The world doesn’t have much use for them, and yet they are God’s provision for His people, Eph. 4:11-15; 1 Pt. 5:1-4; Ps. 23:1.)

Read Selected Scriptures from Gen. 43-45

·       43:1-10: This is Judah’s wise leadership.  As Christ is our wisdom, so Judah was wise for his family.  He had been the one who convinced his brothers not to kill Joseph but to sell him to the slave traders.  That got Joseph into Egypt.  That was good advice in that it avoided the irreversible act of murder.  But it wasn’t righteous.  In the matter with Tamar Judah had acknowledged that she was more righteous than he was.  In this case, his advice is based on reality.  They would starve if they didn’t go to Egypt.  There was no other choice but to take Benjamin with them.  Jacob was having difficulty facing these facts.  But the key was that Judah said he would be “surety” for Benjamin.  Earlier Reuben had offered to let his father kill his sons if he did not return from Egypt.  That made no sense at all.  It was the kind of heroics you expected from Reuben, but it was not wise leadership.  In essence, Judah was telling his father, “I promise to bring him back to you.  If I fail you can put the blame on me (hold me guilty).”  Given the facts of the situation, this was all Jacob could hope for.  Jacob would not bear the blame for losing Benjamin but Judah would.  Furthermore, Judah’s plan allowed Jacob to do what he was good at: he sent along a generous “bribe” to give to the “man.”  But Jacob also put Judah and the brothers in the hands of El Shaddai, God Almighty.  For Jacob, this was a faith issue!

·       44:14: Joseph’s dream #1 was fulfilled here.  The dream was God’s the “eternal gospel” for Jacob and his family.  Remember, as Psalm 105:16-22 said, that God had sent the family and then sent Joseph ahead to provide for the family, through whom the promised Savior would come.  As Joseph would tell his brothers: you meant it for evil but God meant it for good.

·       44:16-17: Judah confessed the sin of the brothers.  “God has found out the iniquity of your servants.”  For years there was guilt.  Now, finally, there was repentance.

·       44:18-34: Repentance leads to faith.  But there must be one/One to bear the sin.  Judah typifies Christ in this when he offers to bear the guilt.  Further, Judah interceded for Jacob and Benjamin.  He bore the sin “vicariously,” as did our LORD.  He was on the cross in our place.  Isa. 53:4-6 expresses this powerfully.  So does Jesus’ dying on the cross while the murderer Barabbas went free.

·        45:1-3: Joseph also typifies Christ.  Like Christ, Joseph was unrestrained in his love.  This is now the moment Joseph’s separation comes to an end.  Jesus experienced great estrangement on the cross: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?”  Further, the brothers were dismayed in the presence of Joseph.  The gospel is “good news” of salvation.  The brothers first feared, but then “warmed up” to Joseph.  Yet, after Jacob died the brothers were still worried (Gen. 50:15-21).  We need to bathe ourselves constantly in the gospel.  This is the point of Rom. 6, that we remember that we have died with and been raised with Christ.

Read Selected Scriptures from Gen. 41-42

·       41:1: The NKJV says “two full years” passed.  Literally, the Hebrew is “two years of days.”  The emphasis is on day after day after day Joseph was in prison, remembering the dreams he had as a child when God revealed His plan for him.  Again, note the closing comments of the previous post.  Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb. 11:1). 

·       41:14: Shaving was important.  It may not be to you, but at my age I often don’t shave every day.  But if I am meeting with someone I will clean up a little better.  It’s not hypocrisy.  It’s respect! 

·       41:16,28: God reveals His plans to the kings of the nations that have a connection to Israel.  Pharaoh and Abimelech in the times of Abraham, Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus are examples of this. 

·       41:50: Through Tamar and Judah, and through Asenath and Joseph, Israelite blood has Canaanite and Egyptian DNA.  Again, let me remind you of Matt. 1 and the women mentioned in the Messianic ancestry: Tamar (Canaanite), Rahab (Canaanite), Ruth (Moabite), Bathsheba (Israelite) and Mary (Israelite).  The issue is not pure ethnicity.  The issue is God’s work and His knowledge of us.  When we acknowledge that God knows us, as our Creator, we are saying something amazing when we consider the complexities of DNA. 

·       41:51: “Manasseh.”  We need not be defined by our trials.  Think about that.  God enabled Joseph to forget all the trials.  He had not developed an “oh, poor me” mentality that stayed with him after the days of hardship.

·       41:52: “Ephraim.”  While we need not be defined by our trials, our trials will be used by God for our good and His glory. 

·       41:57: God blessed all the nations as He blessed the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

·       42:1,36: It seems that life in Jacob’s house was not particularly enjoyable.  Jacob was really discouraged after the “loss” of Joseph.  Jacob does not seem to have the faith that his son Joseph had, the faith that gives us joyful confidence through difficult “years of days.”  But the joy would eventually come.  For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy (lit. a shout of joy) comes in the morning (Ps. 30:5).  Jacob never forgot his difficult life.  He told Pharaoh, few and evil have been the days of the years of my life (Gen. 47:9).  But the day of the “shout of joy” did come, with such emotion that he almost died of a heart attack (Gen. 45:25-28).  May we live by faith in the days of discouragement.  And may we not live in bitterness because of those days.  God is always working in us (Phil. 2:13).

Read Selected Scriptures from Gen. 38-40

·       38:1: “and it came to pass.”  It just happened!  Think about this.  Twelve sons has not become 11 sons, at least as far as Jacob is concerned.  But Jacob is very aware of the covenant, the promise God made to him and to his fathers.  And what is it that “just happened?”  Judah took a wife from the Canaanites.  This demonstrates an attitude that was seen in Esau which was discouraging for Isaac and Rebekah.  We are in a period of time for Jacob that might have been similar to the 13 years of silence between God and Abraham after Abraham had tried to satisfy God’s promise through Hagar (Gen. 16:16; 17:1). 

o   Again, we might ask how this story advances the Christ-narrative.  It is enough to say that Judah’s Canaanite daughter-in-law, Tamar, is in the Messianic line (Matt. 1:3).  But we have mentioned also that the story of Joseph, which we are just beginning to discover, is also the story of Judah.  Both are powerful pictures of the Messiah: the one as Israel’s “savior” and the other as Israel’s “king.”  Judah and Ephraim will become the leading tribes of Israel.  Quite often, from the time of the Judges clear through the divided kingdom, there will be evidence of a struggle between these tribes for preeminence in Israel. 

·       38:10: You may wonder why this was an act that resulted in God taking the life of Judah’s son.  The answer is that the sperm itself contains the essential DNA of a living being.  This is what the Creator made, and salvation was tied to the giving of birth by the woman (Gen. 3:16; 1 Tim. 2:15).

·       Here is some geography.  Adullum (38:1) was in the lowlands or the “Shephelah” area between the Mediterranean and the Mountains of Judah.  Timnah (38:16) is a city name used of more than one location in the OT, but this one was also in the lowlands, not far from Bethlehem.

·       38:24-26: It is a short distance on the “road of facts” from righteous judge to “she is more righteous than I.”  Tamar was falsely charged (v19-20) and Judah could have her put to death.  But God has another plan that involves getting Joseph into the “King’s Prison” where he can become the number two ruler of Egypt.

·       39:21: Even in the King’s Prison God is at work.  Joseph experiences mercy (checed, lovingkindness) and favor (hen, grace) in the eyes of the warden.  In other words, the LORD was with him.

·       40:23: Again, Joseph is “forgotten” in prison, forgotten not by God but by man.  But, of course, it is because God needs him for the time of the famine, and that time has not arrived.  This would be a good time to read Ps. 105:16-22.  Everything about this story is the work of God!

Read Selected Scriptures from Gen. 36

·       Gen. 34 How does this add to the Christ-narrative?  Here are some thoughts.

o   It tells us Jacob did not dwell very long in Shechem, and Shechem did not become the capitol of Israel.  This was the belief of the Samaritans, that Shechem was where Abraham sacrificed Isaac and became Israel’s center of worship.  Shechem was in the tribal area of Manasseh while Shiloh was in Ephraim.  These were the two sons of Joseph.  Both Shechem and Shiloh would eventually be rejected by the LORD in favor of Jerusalem and Mt. Zion.

o   But more importantly, it records the rejection of Simeon and Levi as the firstborn.  Reuben would also be rejected (Gen. 35:22).  Thus, the family leadership would come to Judah.  While Joseph received the double-blessing, coming through his two sons, Joseph was not the family leader as the scepter was promised to dwell in Judah (cf. 1 Chron. 5:1-2 and Gen. 49:3-12). 

o   This chapter removes Esau from the story line.  We are now taken solely to Jacob (37:1-2).  The only references to Esau are in his treatment of Jacob.

·       Gen. 36: We can ask the same question here, in a chapter that details the line of Esau.  How does this advance the Christ-narrative?  The answer is the same as why the line of Ishmael was given earlier.  Ishmael and Esau were descendants of Abraham, the father of many nations.  They are loved by God in terms of the plan of salvation and it’s blessings on the nations.  But at the same time, as God said in Malachi 1:2-3: But Jacob I have loved, yet Esau I have hated.  We see God’s love for the world, and we see God’s sovereign and wise choice in election.  Esau’s rejection was not taking away from him the possibility of redemption by faith.  He was not “unsaved” because God didn’t choose him.  His problems were his own.  Remember how he deliberately dishonored his parents in the choice of his wives (28:8-9).  Remember his unwillingness to submit to God’s plan, that the elder would serve the younger!  The question for Esau in redemption is the same as for all: did he believe God’s word relative to that redemption?

·       36: 6-8: Esau had moved while Jacob was gone.  Overgrazing would have been a problem if they stayed together.  Why else were Joseph’s brothers grazing up north when Jacob was at Hebron (37:12-14).

·       36:12,16: Amalek was a thorn in the side of Israel and was cursed (Ex. 17:14-16), 

·       36:15-16: There were 7 chiefs from Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn, and 7 from the other sons (v17-19).  Esau settled in an area that was already occupied (:v29-30: the Horites) and apparently lived peaceably while he continued to prosper, and thus became the dominant part of Edom or Mt. Seir.

·       There are differences between 36:15-16 and 40-43.  Henry Morris’ explanation is that you have both Semitic (Esau) and Canaanite records.  In addition, some of this was probably added later by Moses (the kings). 

Psalm 39

Here is a true “pilgrim song”.  David recognizes that he is a “stranger” or “sojourner” as were the Patriarchs (v12).  It is the pilgrim’s prayer that he would know the shortness of life and make the best use of that life. 

David begins (v1-3) in quietness, not quick to raise his request to the Lord.  The ultimate request is in v13, that God would remove His “gaze”.  He refers to the Lord’s rebuke or chastening.  Perhaps we might think of Psalm 38 when David was in severe physical pain and agony because of his sin and guilt.  David realizes that the current “plague” (v10) is from God; it is “the blow of Your hand”.  But he is slow to ask God to remove the plague because he wants to be sure that he has learned God’s lesson before moving on.

What is the lesson to learn?  It is the request of vs.4-6.  He longs to have an accurate perspective.  Note: we said an ACCURATE perspective.  We don’t need to be morbid about our existence but we must be truthful.  We need to live our lives in the reality that we will soon die.  We are frail.  Our lives are as handbreadths (a small measurement, the width of a hand, typically 3-4 inches) and a vapor that quickly vanishes.  We are a mere shadow of existence.  We need to understand this and live in light of this reality.

Associated with that truth is the need to use this short life in a way that pleases our God.  How tragic to “busy (ourselves) in vain” (v6, where the literal reading is make an uproar for nothing) which is the case if our lives are simply designed to heap up.  Notice that in the NKJV the word “riches” is in italics meaning it is not in the original.  David’s concern is the heaping up of anything that is temporal: riches, honor among men, accomplishments and so forth.  If this is the goal of life it is clearly shortsighted.  Peter made this very point, that a life that is not growing in the knowledge of Christ and bearing fruit in that knowledge is one that is “shortsighted, even to blindness” (2 Peter 1:5-11). 

Thus we see that David was not quick to ask God to remove his problem and pain.  He first wants to know that his “hope is in You” (v7).  Discipline needs to do its work of setting our focus more on the Eternal One.  He wants his life to honor God and not to be characterized by foolishness (v8).  Greater than affliction itself is the tragedy of enduring affliction and not learning the pilgrim perspective.  May we be encouraged with this truth.

16 Therefore we do not lose heart.  Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.  For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Cor. 4:16-18)