Jacob’s and Joseph’s Final Days, Genesis 49:29-33; 50:1-26

Posted on September 16, 2016 by KD Manes under Bible Study

I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite . . .” -Genesis 49:29-30

Jacob’s instructions for his sons to bury him where his fathers are buried in Canaan reveals his faith that God’s covenant promises to give them the land will come to pass. (Related: The Death of Sarah)

You may read Genesis 49:29-33; 50:1-26 here: Bible Gateway.

Interesting Facts and Observations

Jacob dies at the age of 147. Although he claimed his years to be “few and difficult” (Gen. 47:9), his relationship with God became a priority. God changed his name to Israel, meaning “he struggles with God.”
Joseph never appears to shed tears for himself, but rather tears for his brothers’ plight. He also mourns his father’s death for months.
The Egyptians show Joseph great respect when they mourn 70 days for Jacob after his death. This is just two days shy of the mourning period given for a pharaoh’s death. Also, all of Egypt’s elders—including Pharaoh’s elders and servants—accompany Joseph to bury his father.
Joseph hadn’t stepped foot in his homeland since he was 17 years old. Although Canaan is the land connected to God’s promises, Joseph keeps his word to Pharaoh and returns to Egypt, the place God called him.
Joseph dies at the age of 110. Even though he prevailed through much adversity, he also received great blessing from God.

Joseph’s Brothers Devise a False Claim

With Jacob’s (Israel’s) death, Joseph’s brothers are terrified that Joseph will punish them for wronging him. So they devise a false claim, stating that Jacob admonishes Joseph to forgive them after Jacob dies.

On the positive side—though the brothers scheme up a lie—they own up to their sin against Joseph. The brothers throw themselves down before him and beg for his forgiveness. God’s heart of grace is mirrored in Joseph’s response.

Don’t be afraid . . . You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” – vs. 19-20

Joseph had already forgiven his brothers. He not only reassures them, but also pledges to care for them and their families.

Joseph’s Death

These verses set the groundwork for the Israelites plight in Exodus; the book of Joshua brings it to completion. The Israelites would have to rely on God’s promises to make them into a great nation, lead them out of Egypt, and bring them into the promised land.

More than 50 years lapse between verses 21 and 22. Joseph—an extraordinary man of faith and integrity—is blessed with a long life and is honored to see his great-great-grandchildren.

With the confidence that God would carry out His covenant promises, Joseph also requests that he be buried in the promised land. Although his coffin would lay above the ground for over 400 years as God’s people are enslaved in Egypt, the Israelites carry it back to Canaan under Moses’ leadership (Exodus 13:19).

Joseph’s faith is the perfect climax to the end of Genesis.

Reflect

Pharaoh didn’t doubt Joseph’s return to Egypt after burying Jacob. Because Joseph’s past record as Pharaoh’s advisor proved him responsible, Pharaoh trusted his word. Are we reliable even in the little things? Over time, privileges and freedom usually reward those who demonstrate trustworthiness.

Joseph gave complete forgiveness to his brothers. God also forgives us even though we don’t deserve it. Because God graciously accepts and forgives us, we should also graciously offer forgiveness to others.

God bringing good from evil is the theme in Joseph’s story. Like Joseph, do we trust God enough to work good out of our difficult situations?

Next week will be my last post in Genesis. Exhale. 🙂 I’ll give a brief summary of the parallels between Joseph and Jesus. Thanks for your visit!

How To Use God Given Power, Genesis 42

Posted on July 22, 2016 by KD Manes under Bible Study

If God gave you a responsibility, what would you do with it? What is the best way to honor God with the power He gave you? As we look in Genesis 42, we see the right way to use authority as Joseph faces his brothers for the first time since they sold him to slavery.

via How To Use God Given Power? — Call to Witness

God Renews His Promise to Give Abram the Land: Part 1, Genesis 15:7-11

Posted on October 16, 2015 by KD Manes under Bible Study

I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” – Genesis 15:7

This is my third post from Genesis 15 on the Abrahamic Covenant. You may read the first two posts here: The Word of the Lord; God Renews His Promise to Abram.

In summary (Genesis 15:1-6):

God’s word came to Abram in a vision. He told Abram to not be afraid, for He would be his shield and very great reward (15:1-2).
Abram questioned God: “What can you give me since I remain childless?”
As God’s vision to Abram continued, He told Abram that his son would come from his own body. Once again, God renewed His promise to give Abram many descendants. This time He told him to count the stars—if indeed he could count them—“So shall your offspring be,” (15:4-5).
Abram believed God, and God credited (imputed) it to him as righteousness (15:6).

***

This post covers Genesis 15:7-11. You may read it here: Bible Gateway.

God renews His promise to give Abram the land, (Part 1).

Unlike us, Abram didn’t have access to a Bible for guidance. We know that Abram believed God’s words (Gen. 15:6). So Abram’s questions were more of an inquiry, seeking confirmation of details and assurance, rather than an expression of doubt:

O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it [the land of Canaan]?” – vs. 8

God’s answer ends in an unforgettable ceremony. But first, God gives Abram specific instructions.

Abram’s Sacrifice

God tells Abram to bring: a heifer, a goat and a ram, (each three years old), along with a dove and a young pigeon.

Animal sacrifices in the Old Testament sound strange. But when Abram practiced God’s instructions, he knew that sin’s curse could only be removed by sacrifice in the shedding of blood.

Layman’s Bible Commentary notes: “The sacrifice that God instructs Abram to make involves the same ceremonially clean animals that are used later in the sacrificial system under the Law of Moses. The use of five different kinds of sacrificial animals underlines the solemnity of the occasion. The text implies that Abram is familiar with the ritual to take place, because God does not explicitly state what to do with the animals; he also sacrifices them and lays them out as an offering (15:9-10).”

God’s Timing

In His perfect timing, God would connect the sacrifice with His promise. When God finally responded, (which we will explore next week), Abram could only observe in an unforgettable, sensory enriched ceremony (vs. 12-21).

But after Abram prepared his sacrifice, God was silent.

Abram waited. . . . And he waited. . . . And he waited.

In the meanwhile, birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses. But Abram held his ground and successfully drove them away.

Why Did God Wait to Respond?

(Picture Source: bklynmed.tumbler.com) Henry Morris suggests: “The delay possibly symbolized the fact that, although God’s covenant would be sure, its accomplishment would take a long time. . . . This experience [having to drive off the birds of prey] no doubt symbolized the attempts of Satan to thwart the plans of God, plus the need for alertness in the believer in order that the enemy not succeed.”

Satan’s tactics include:

Doubt – of God and His Word
Discouragement – taking our focus off of God and onto our problems
Diversion – making the wrong things appear more attractive than the right things
Defeat – making you feel like you’ve failed, so why try?
Delay – convinces us to procrastinate, so we don’t act on the right choice

When you find yourself waiting on God, keep praying and hold tight to His promises (Eph. 6). Our all-knowing God will act in His perfect timing.

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Stay tuned . . . Next week we’ll discover how God seals the deal concerning the land (Part 2, Genesis 15:12-21). Have a great week!

Creation Days (Genesis 1)

Posted on April 10, 2015 by KD Manes under Bible Study

How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all.” Psalm 104:24

God took great care to show us the chronology of His creation in six literal days.

The Meaning of Day

Yom—the Hebrew word for “day” in Genesis 1—is used both in the singular and plural form 2,301 times in the Old Testament. Although yom can have different meanings, similar to our English word “day”, the context in the Old Testament outside of Genesis 1 points to the literal 24-hour interpretation. Consider the following (Ken Ham, The Foundations):

The Hebrew word for day with a number [e.g., “. . . and the evening and the morning were the first day”] occurs 410 times, and always means an ordinary day.
The phrase “evening and morning” occurs 38 times, and always means an ordinary day.
The word “evening” with “day”, or “morning” with “day”, occurs 23 times, and always means ordinary day.
The word “night” with “day” occurs 52 times, and always means an ordinary day.
We also structure our week from God’s six 24-hour day creation week and seventh day of rest.

Creation Days

(source: AnswersinGenesis.org)
“For in six days God the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.” – Exodus 20:11

Day One – Light (so there was light and darkness)
Day Two – Sky and water (waters separated)
Day Three – Land and seas (waters gathered); vegetation
Day Four – Sun, moon, and stars (to govern the day and the night and to mark seasons, days, and years)
Day Five – Fish and birds (to fill the waters and the sky
Day Six – Animals (to fill the earth), man and woman (to care for the earth and to commune with God)
Day Seven – God rested and declared all He had made to be very good

God’s Creativity and Power

God capped off His creation with Eve. (When Adam saw her, he whistled and said “Whoa! Man!”) 🙂 Instead of making her from the dust of the ground like Adam, He chose to sculpt her from Adam’s flesh and blood. This illustrates God’s intention of marriage between man and woman—beyond becoming best friends—to become one in unity and purpose. Marriage is also used to describe Christ and the church (Eph. 5:23, 32).

Of God’s other creation, Francis Chan, in Crazy Love, writes: “Why would God create more than 350,000,000 galaxies (and that is a conservative estimate) that generations of people never saw or even knew existed? Do you think maybe it was to make us say, “Wow, God is unfathomably big”? Or perhaps God wanted us to see these pictures so that our response would be, “Who do I think I am?”

Chan also reminds us of God’s detailed intricacy and diversity in His smaller creations:

A caterpillar has 228 separate and distinct muscles in its head.
The average elm tree has about 6 million leaves on it.
God made hundreds of different kinds of bananas; 3,000 different species of trees within one square mile in the Amazon jungle; and quite a variety of laughs—wheezes, snorts, silent, loud, obnoxious.

This list could go on and on. Chan has a great video called “Just Stop and Think”. When you have 15 minutes, I encourage you to see it below.

Genesis Overview

Posted on March 19, 2015 by KD Manes under Bible Study

Starlit skies, cascading waterfalls, towering mountain peaks . . . . How does one look at creation and not be amazed at God’s creative power? But with evolution smothering truth in most western schools, modern minds more likely ask: “How did I get here? Did God create the world? Or am I the result of a cosmic accident?”

Many theories abound on our origins, but only the Bible records a personal God who purposely created the universe and everything in it.

Genesis means “beginning” and sets the stage for the entire Bible. It records the origin of our world, human family, and civilization history from Creation to God choosing Israel as a nation through whom all nations would be blessed.

Creation Museum

The Creation Museum outlines seven major events in our history. The first four events are recorded in Genesis. The last three events result from God’s interventions to our disobedience:

Creation
Corruption
Catastrophe
Confusion
Christ
Cross
Consummation

Interesting Facts about Genesis

Author: Moses
Date: Around 1450-1410 B.C.
Genesis covers more time than all 65 books in the Bible combined (about 2,400 years).
The first 11 chapters—from Creation, the fall, the flood, and establishing the nations—span more than 2,000 years and 1,500 miles in the Fertile Crescent.
200 years span the middle section in Canaan (12-36).
Egypt dominates the final chapters (37-50) where God moves 70 people.

11 Accounts in Genesis:

Introduction to the Generations 1:1-2:3
Heaven and Earth, 2:4-4:26
Adam, 5:1-6:8
Noah, 6:9-9:29
Sons of Noah, 10:1-11:9
Shem, 11:10-26
Terah, 11:27-25:11
Ishmael, 25:12-18
Isaac, 25:19-35:29
Esau, 36:1-37:1
Jacob and Sons, 37:2-50:26

God’s character, promises and faithfulness are woven into this historical account. Master of using ordinary people in extraordinary ways, God’s plans light our darkest moments.

Genesis is our history.

Genesis sparks hope.

For a creative summary of Genesis 1-11, see the following video.