Genesis 49: This chapter is about Jacobās (Israelās) final blessings to his 12 sons, who end up being the 12 tribes of Israel. The blessings vary, but it seems that Judah and Joseph end up with the more favorable blessings. The oldest, Reuben, doesnāt because he slept with Jacobās concubine in Genesis 35. The next two brothers, Simeon and Levi, donāt take his place because they killed Shechem, the one who raped their sister in Genesis 34. Judah is elevated to the āfirstbornā status. Joseph ends up with a more favorable blessing as well. This chapter finally ends with Jacob telling his sons again that he wants to be buried with his ancestors (Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Leah, etc.) in Canaan. After this Jacob (Israel) dies.
7/20 Reading (Genesis 46-48; Luke 14)
Genesis 46: Israel and his entire family are on the move to join Joseph in Egypt. I noticed again that the text uses Israel and Jacob interchangeably. Even when it is God speaking to him. For example, āWhen Israel set out on his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. Ā²God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, āJacob, Jacob.ā And he said, āHere I am.āā (Gen. 46.1-2) Iām still a little confused as to why this happens? I understand that itās probably not that important, I just find it interesting.
7/19 Reading (Genesis 43-45; Luke 13)
Genesis 43: Reading this chapter reminded me that God renamed Jacob Israel, yet the text refers to him as Jacob in Gen. 42. The text refers to him as Israel in this chapter. Itās interesting how this one starts out. Apparently some time has passed because they are now out of grain again. They seem to have forgotten about the brother who is still in prison. Israel charges them with returning to buy more grain, but they declined because they were told they had to return with the youngest brother, Benjamin. At first Israel says no, but Judah convinces him saying āThen Judah said to his father Israel, āSend the boy with me, and let us be on our way, so that we may live and not dieāyou and we and also our little ones. ā¹ I myself will be surety for him; you can hold me accountable for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.āā (Gen. 43.8-9) Israel agrees and tells them to all bring gifts for the man (Joseph) along with the money from the first trip and more money to pay this time.
7/18 Reading (Genesis 40-42; Luke 12)
Genesis 40: This is where we first learn that Joseph has the ability to interpret dreams. He correctly interprets the dreams of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker for the Pharaoh, who are both in prison because they offended him. The chief cupbearer will be elevated back to his post while the chief baker will be executed. Joseph requests for the cupbearer to remember him when he is back in the Pharaohās favor. Josephās interpretations end up being correct, but the cupbearer forgets about Joseph, so he stays in prison. Again, at times it seems like Joseph has a lot of bad luck.
7/17 Reading (Genesis 37-39; Luke 11)
Genesis 37: This chapter is about Joseph, Israelās first son with Rachel. He is also his favorite son, which upsets his brothers. He describes two dreams he has, both showing domination over his family. As can be expected, this upsets his brothers even more. After he continues to receive more favoritism from his father, some of his brothers plot to kill him when he travels to where they are tending their livestock. But instead of killing him, they tear off his special cloak and throw him in a pit. Their brother Judah convinced them to sell him as a slave. They then trick their father, Israel, and make him think Joseph was killed by a wild animal. Israel goes into mourning. The ends with Joseph being sold to even more people.
7/15 Reading (Genesis 34-36; Psalms 6-9)
Genesis 34: This chapter focused on the rape of Dinah, Jacobās daughter. She was attacked by Shechem, the son of the prince of the region they were in. When Jacob found out, he waited for his sons and then talked with Shechem and his father, Prince Hamor. Shechem wanted to marry Dinah. They made an arrangement. If all the men of their region agreed to be circumcised, then they would agree to arranged marriages (i.e. Jacobās sons daughters would be given to these men and their daughters would be given to them). My thought while reading this was āwait, what?ā Iād be beyond furious. However, after the all of the men went through the circumcision, Simeon and Levi, two of Dinahās brothers, attacked and killed all of the men of the city because of the attack on Dinah. The other brothers plundered the city. Jacob got angry with his sons and was afraid they would be attacked by larger armies. I think their response was good: āBut they said, āShould our sister be treated like a whore?āā (Gen. 34.31)
7/14 Reading (Genesis 31-33; Luke 10)
Genesis 31: This chapter is about Jacob fleeing Laban with his wives, their slave girls, his children, all of his other people, and the livestock. Jacob fled because he felt cheated by Laban, who had kept him there for 20 years and deceived him numerous times. So they all left. Unbeknownst to Jacob, Rachel stole āher fatherās household godsā (Gen. 31.19). To be honest here, I thought this was a typo. Sorry on that one. Iām assuming they mean idols to other gods. Laban found out they fled and pursued Jacob, catching up after 7 days. Laban is mad about them leaving and especially about losing his gods. He didnāt find them because Rachel hid them underneath her as she sat down. Jacob gets mad and they end up making a covenant. Among the agreement was this phrase from Laban: āIf you ill-treat my daughters, or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, though no one else is with us, remember that God is witness between you and meāā (Gen 31.50). Iām guessing that even though Jacob had children with the two slaves, since he never married them, this wasnāt breaking that covenant.
7/13 Reading (Genesis 28-30; Luke 9)
Genesis 28: This is about Isaac telling Jacob to not marry a Canaanite woman. On his trip to find a wife, he has a dream and God speaks to him: āI am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; Ā¹ā“ and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Ā¹āµ Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.ā (Gen 28.13-15) This is similar to what God said to Abraham. Just an interesting observation.
7/12 Reading (Genesis 25-27; Luke 8)
NOTE: I had a lot to say on this reading today.
Genesis 25: In this chapter Abraham remarries and has many children with his new wife. Abraham then dies and is buried with his first wife, Sarah. The text then explains Ishmael and his descendants followed by Isaac and his descendants, twin boys named Esau and Jacob. While Esau was a strong and gifted hunter, Jacob was clearly smarter and cleverer than Esau. At the end of this chapter, Jacob makes Esau give over his birthright for food.
7/11 Reading (Genesis 22-24; Luke 7)
Iām tired today. Happy to read, but not much to really share.
Genesis 22: Chapter is about God calling Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Now, I realize this was a different time, but if anyone asked me to sacrifice one of my children, Iād go crazy. What I find interesting is that Isaac is obviously old enough to understand that something is going on. Yet, there is no indication that he gets mad with his father after God stops the sacrifice. Then God explains to Abraham that he is going to have more offspring that will spread out in the world.