We shall continue with
the study of the Book of Genesis this week.
Note: Many biblical scholars speculate that the Pharaoh of Joseph’s time was of the Hyksos Empire which experienced political instability and was not of true Egyptian blood (but of Canaanite origin).
(1) How did Joseph help Pharaoh achieve political stability for his empire?
(2) Was Joseph’s shrewd management a bit high-handed and inhumane? Why or why not?
(3) Did the people, in general, show resentment or gratitude towards Joseph? Why?
(4) As much as Joseph consolidated the power of Pharaoh, did he show compassion to the people? How?
(5) Can we learn any ethical lesson from Joseph’s political administration?
(6) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
The Romano-Jewish historian, Josephus of the 1st century A.D. linked the Egyptian Hyksos Empire directly with the descendants of Jacob. Although it is widely discounted, it remains a fact that the Hyksos Empire was ruled by “foreigners” as the name Hyksos suggests, and most historians believe they were either of Canaanite or Semitic origin, and their reign roughly coincided with the biblical time of Jacob and Joseph.
Of course, we firmly believe that God is the God of history which has always been firmly controlled by His hands. The Egyptian famine was clearly a time used by God in His eternal plan to usher in the saving event of the entire Chosen family of Abraham’s descendants in order to preserve them for the continuation of the Covenant that He made with Abraham. Even more amazing is His use of this saving event to bring about the even greater saving event of Exodus which foreshadowed the saving event of all humankind through Jesus Christ on the cross. As the Bible often reminds us, God’s plan of salvation has been established before the creation of the world (Eph. 1:4 and 1 Pet. 1:20).
However, God also often creates an environment most suitable for the completion of His plan. The choice of a time when Greek civilization united the then modern world with their language and the Romans built a massive system of modern highways is a case in point. Such was the time the Lord Jesus finished His work of salvation and commissioned His disciples to spread the gospel, a work which was certainly aided tremendously by the unity of language and the road system of that time.
Therefore, if the historians are correct that the entrance into Egypt by Jacob’s family, through the unprecedented elevation of a Hebrew in the court of Egypt, coincided with the Hyksos Empire, it would make a lot of sense in that this Pharaoh himself had a non-Egyptian origin and thus was able to entrust his land in the hands of someone with also a non-Egyptian origin.
Such an understanding will by no means diminish the mighty hand of God, but help us understand our times better in discerning the opportunities — including times of abundance and times of severe adversity — created by God Himself to usher in His continuous saving work.
(1) In contrast to the Egyptian people, how did the Israelites fare during this most difficult time of severe famine?
(2) What can we learn about God’s treatment of those who belong to Him?
(3) Should we be concerned as these Israelites began to accumulate property as a sign of permanency outside of the Promised Land? Why or why not?
(4) Why did Jacob insist on being buried with his forefathers? Was it purely an Oriental tradition?
(5) Why did Jacob make Joseph swear?
(6) What message might he be sending to his descendants?
(7) Jacob was recounting God’s promise to him in Bethel. Compare his account and the record in Genesis 35:11-12 and see how he understood God’s promise.
(8) Why did Jacob give Joseph preferential treatment and how special was it?
(9) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
In the choosing of David over all his siblings as the king of Israel, the words of God to Samuel reveal the very heart of God: “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7).
In the case of David, he was looked upon as a mere shepherd boy who would not qualify to fight in battle, let alone be able to face the mighty Goliath. He was despised because of his age (being the youngest, and “only a boy”), his inexperience (as a mere shepherd) and probably his size (definitely not as tall as King Saul). But God would use him not only to slay Goliath, but He would raise him up as King over Israel. As Psalm 113:7 testifies: God “raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap”.
Of course, David was not an exception; it is always God’s way which is so different from the human way. The choosing of Joseph was just another example of God looking at things differently than man. God chose a pampered dreamer; one of the younger ones in Jacob’s family, a slave whose only future was being a prisoner in a foreign land (though he received better treatment than others). If David considered his elevation to power incredible — an elevation from the dust and ash heap, I have no idea what analogies Joseph could come up with to describe his change of fortune—a resurrection from the bottomless pit and black hole?
Indeed, "If God is for us… (Rom. 8:31)".
(1) In the blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh, how do we know that Jacob was not making a mistake due to his old age or illness? Was it a deliberate one?
(2) What does it say about the way of God or how He works?
(3) In blessing Joseph (or rather his sons), how did Jacob address God?
(4) Why did he so address God and what might be the significance in the blessings so bestowed?
(5) What were the blessings he pronounced? What did they mean?
(6) Why was Joseph so upset with Jacob?
(7) What prophecy did Jacob make concerning Joseph?
(8) The ridge land could be translated more literally as “Shechem” (Gen. 33:18-19; 37:12, 14) which, as we know now, was taken from the Amorites by Jacob. What might be the significance of it being “given” to Joseph now?
(9) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
If I were to be blessed by any one of the Patriarchs, I would rather be blessed by Abraham. If he chose to bless me, I would believe that it would not be just a gesture, but something of a spiritual reality, simply because of who he was.
Yes, Jacob even blessed Pharaoh, but I somehow suspect that it might be nothing more than a polite, cultural greeting. As the last part of his life unfolds, it is marked by his bestowing blessing, one after another on his children and grandchildren (Ephraim and Manasseh). He appeared to do it with intention, with seriousness and with deep meanings.
With respect to timing, it coincided with his dying years, but more importantly, it followed his reunion with Joseph which undoubtedly caused him to look at his life and God’s previous promises in new light. In other words, he finally had come to understand more fully and accept completely the incredible role he would play in human history — his descendants, not because of him, but because of Abraham and Isaac, have been chosen to not only be a great people, who would build a great nation, but a people through whom the entire world would be blessed. This complete transformation of his mind is reflected in the beginning of the series of blessings he would pronounce on his children.
In blessing Joseph (or rather his two sons), Jacob preceded his blessing with addressing God in the following ways:
i. The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked
ii. The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day
iii. The Angel who has delivered me from all harm
Well, in honesty, he could not claim that he walked before the Lord, but his fathers certainly did. But just the same, he recognized that his faithlessness had not affected God’s faithfulness — God has guided, provided and delivered him from all harm all his life. Therefore, as he blessed his children, he knew that as unworthy as he was, he was chosen as the channel of God’s blessing, and that whatever he would pronounce, it would not be of him, but of God who would bring all things to fruition according to His wonderful plan and amazing grace.
Although Jacob was losing his sight, he was given spiritual insight to prophesy about the future of his sons and that they would be blessed as a tribe of Israel.
(1) Do you want to know about your “days to come”? Why or why not?
(2) These “days to come” of the sons of Israel refer not only to their future as a tribe, but to their lives as the Chosen People and hence to their impact on God’s Kingdom and His plan. With this in mind, what do you want your “days to come” to be?
(3) Reuben:
a. Being the firstborn, what honor was supposed to be his?
b. How did he treat his honored position? (35:22)
c. What would his fate be?
(4) Simeon and Levi:
a. Was either of them conscious of God’s Covenant which made them the descendants of the Abrahamic covenant?
b. What were their lives marked by? (34:26)
c. What would be their fate?
d. As much as Levi would be scattered, God did use their scattered state for His purpose. How did God use them as a very unique tribe in Israel?
(5) Judah: The blessings he received were very significant.
a. What would be his status among the brothers?
b. What kind of animal was he likened to? What kind of blessing did it denote?
c. What would be his status among the nations?
d. Who might be the “He” who comes and to whom it belongs? (vv. 9-12)
e. What other blessings were accorded him and why?
(6) What is the main message to you today?
In preparing for the weekly devotion based on the book of Genesis, I have been blessed by the reading of quite a few excellent commentaries and articles written not just by people with excellent scholarship, but by people with a godly mindset. One of the repeated emphases which I have been reminded of throughout my reading is the centrality of Christ in the entire book of Genesis. Christ is not only present in the history of mankind and of the patriarchs, but the entire history recorded in Genesis points to the great plan of salvation through Him.
He was not only there when the earth was created, He created the heavens and the earth. The clothing of Adam and Eve pointed to His sacrifice on the cross for us, the descendants of the guilty pair. The ark is a type of salvation. The seed of the Abrahamic Covenant clearly points to Him, the son of Abraham (Matt. 1:1). And as the story of the patriarchs unfolded, many of the characters, including Jacob and Joseph, were “types” of Christ, conduits of salvation. I have been blessed by such reminders, so that I am not just reading it as good spiritual reading with immediate application to my everyday life, but am constantly drawn to the reminder that in all the follies of man, God has provided the answer through His Son, Jesus Christ. The rich blessings that are now part of our reality come from and continue to be sustained by none other than Christ.
Therefore, it is such a shame that many Christians these days pray without invoking the powerful name of Jesus, and worse, many preachers preach without making Christ the center of their message. The former is called synagogue prayer, while the latter, synagogue sermon.
(1) In giving each son their blessing, v. 28 says the blessing was appropriate to each.
a. What might be the immediate purpose of pronouncing the blessing for each son?
b. What might be the long term purpose of pronouncing the blessing (and future) of each tribe?
(2) It might be helpful to know that Jacob was pronouncing his blessing first to the sons of Leah, then the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah and finally the sons of Rachel:
a. Zebulun was Leah’s 6th son (Jacob’s 10th), but he was listed before his older brother Issachar (Leah’s 5th son). While the contents of the blessing were rather bewildering due to the eventual location of the tribe, but Zebulun was again given preeminence here (v.13); so it was in Moses’ blessing (Deut. 33:18), even in Joshua’s allotment of land (Jos. 19:16-17) and in many incidents in the OT. Zebulun also contributed the largest military contingent to David’s army; it was described as experienced and loyal (1 Chr. 12:33). Read through these references and those in Judges 5:14, 18; 6:35, and form your own opinion on the “blessing” of this lesser-known tribe.
b. Read Judges 4 and 6, Judges 5:15 and 1 Chronicles 12:32 and see how they might fit the contents of the “blessing” pronounced by Jacob.
(3) Dan was the 1st son of Bilhah and 5th son of Jacob. What were the short but rather significant blessings he received from Jacob? Why did Jacob follow his blessing to Dan with a prayer?
(4) Gad (Zilpah’s 1st and Jacob’s 7th), Asher (Zilpah’s 2nd and Jacob’s 8th) and Naphtali (Bilhah’s 2nd and Jacob’s 6th) received a rather brief mention by Jacob.
a. What kind of life was prophesied of Gad’s tribe? (See Jdg. 10-12, Jer. 49:1-6; 1 Ki. 22:3; 2 Ki. 10:32-33; 15:29)
b. What kind of life was prophesied of Asher’s tribe? (See Deut. 33:24; Jos. 19: 24-31)
c. What kind of a life was depicted by a doe for the tribe of Naphtali? (See Deut. 33:23; Jdg. 4:6, 10; 5:18b)
(5) Joseph’s blessings were received on behalf of his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. The length and the blessedness could almost be compared to that of Judah.
a. Why?
b. Describe the blessing in terms of the following.
- Prosperity
- Adversity
- God’s help
- The various names of God being used (list them one by one and consider why Jacob chose to use these names and how meaningful each was)
(6) Using the analogy of a ravenous wolf, what kind of a tribe was Benjamin’s? (See Jdg. 3:15-30; 5:14; 20:14-21; 1 Sam. 9:1; 13:3, 1 Chr. 8:40; 12:2-27, 29; Est. 2:5).
(7) As you finish reading the “blessings” pronounced on the tribes of Israel — the Chosen People of God, what might your feeling be?
(8) What is the essential message of today and how may you apply it in your life?
In the reading of the blessings pronounced upon the sons of Jacob, one gets a distinct sense that these sons of Jacob did not really live in the light of who they were, the Chosen People of God.
Only in the blessing of Joseph was the name of God mentioned. Even in the blessing of Judah, who would be the chosen seed to continue with the Abrahamic Covenant, the only hint of God is in 49:10, “until he comes to whom it belongs” (NIV). Even such a reading is subject to various readings, one of which might be translated as, “until Shiloh (a reference to the Messiah) comes” (NASB). In other words, these future “days to come” of the sons of Jacob can be used to describe any race or nation: The outrageous adulterous act of Reuben, the exceedingly violent trait of Simeon and Levi, the prowess of Judah, the seafaring of Zebulun, the bone-headedness of Issachar…the ruthlessness of Benjamin as a ravenous wolf. And as it turned out, the history of these Chosen People manifested itself just as Jacob had prophesied — a history that reflected little of their royal priesthood that could point the rest of the world to the knowledge of their God. Their distinctiveness from the rest of the world would merely be one of external observance of the Law, without which, there were no other differences to speak of.
The New Testament reminds us that we Christians are the Chosen People, the Holy Nation and the Royal Priesthood — the real Israel. We should do well to reflect on the failure of the old Israel, and ask ourselves if we live a life that is markedly different from the world, not in the mere observance of religious rituals, but in living out a distinct sense of destiny — a Chosen People whose lives are marked by an obedient love for our Lord, Christ Jesus.
(1) As Jacob’s life occupies half of the book of Genesis, his life was obviously of significance to God’s plan of salvation. At the account of his death, let’s use some time reflecting on the life of Jacob: His birth; his being chosen over his brother; his scheme to cheat; his life of self-exile and life under Laban; the forming of his family; his return home; his re-union with his brother; the death of Rachel; his family feud; God’s use of Joseph; the famine and his last years in Egypt. Try to write a brief eulogy of Jacob.
(2) What kind of a burial did Jacob receive? Try to list the features of his burial and its procession.
(3) How important was it from the perspective not of him as a person, but as an important patriarch whose name is often associated with the name of God (the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob)?
(4) Even in this moment of grief, Joseph approached Pharaoh diplomatically and carefully. See if you can detect the tactics he used.
(5) How did Pharaoh respond to Joseph’s request?
(6) What might be the importance of Jacob’s burial back in Canaan?
(7) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
One of the world’s wonders has always been the pyramids of Egypt. These pyramids were no doubt architectural feats given how advanced they were in building technology some 4,000 years ago. But these pyramids were also mystical in that they carried mummified bodies of the nobles, especially those of the Pharaohs. The Egyptians took great care in embalming the corpses, taking a good 30-40 days, in order to ensure their passage into their afterlife journey. Not unlike the Chinese, they also stored many things that they believed might be needed for use by their kings in the afterlife.
However, Joseph ordered Jacob to be embalmed for a very different reason. It was to preserve the body long enough for the journey back to Canaan, as he had promised his father. The Israelites, of course, held great respect for the body of the deceased. They would make sure that the deceased would rest peacefully in their graves until their resurrection. Christians follow the same belief and Calvin has gone into great length to argue against Christian cremation, so that our burial might serve as a visible sign of our belief in the Lord’s coming and our resurrection.
While I agree with Calvin’s argument against cremation, the most important thing though is the belief in resurrection. But such a belief is not so much lived out in how we bury our dead, but in how we conduct our lives while we are alive. If we do believe in resurrection, we have to live a life with an eternal perspective that overlooks the gain or loss of anything temporal. If we only express our belief in resurrection at our burial, then it is perhaps, nothing more than wishful thinking as a last-resort .
(1) Now, we come to the end of the Book of Genesis. Use some time to recap the main events recorded in Genesis, leading up to the death of Jacob and Joseph, with Israel beginning their four centuries of settlement in Egypt, resulting in their most important historical event, the Exodus.
(2) What comments might you have concerning the hands of God in human history, Israel’s history and in the life of individuals who belong to Him?
(3) Why did the brothers doubt if Joseph’s forgiveness was complete?
(4) Was it a reflection of the person of Joseph or that of the brothers? Why?
(5) Do you think Jacob had really left the words so alleged?
(6) Why did Joseph weep? Would you also weep (if you were Joseph)?
(7) In comforting his brothers, what might be the most significant words that Joseph used? Why?
(8) How long did Joseph live? Compare his days to those of Jacob:
a. Were his days few and difficult?
b. Reflect on the life of Joseph. What do you appreciate most?
c. Write a brief eulogy of Joseph.
(9) It appears that Joseph died before his brothers. What were his last words? What was their significance?
(10) What is the main message to you today?
As we come to the end of the Book of Genesis, the descendants of Jacob were united as one family, not realizing that they would spend the next 430 years in this foreign land, not knowing that when they returned to the Promised Land, they would return as a great nation. We too, necessarily face an uncertain future, not knowing how long a pilgrimage we will have, not knowing what our future will be like. But like the Israelites, we can rest assured that God will be our guide, because the God who led them into and out of Egypt, is the same God who is the same, yesterday, today and forever. Let’s pause and reflect on the lyrics of this wonderful hymn, which was made a bit more known to the non-believing world through its use in the wedding of Prince William in 2011.
Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah
Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Open now the crystal fountain,
[or Guide me, O Thou great Redeemer…]
Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but Thou art mighty;
Hold me with Thy powerful hand.
Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven,
Feed me till I want no more;
Feed me till I want no mod.
Whence the healing stream doth flow;
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through.
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
Be Thou still my Strength and Shield;
Be Thou still my Strength and Shield.
Lord, I trust Thy mighty power,
Wondrous are Thy works of old;
Thou deliver’st Thine from thralldom,
Who for naught themselves had sold:
Thou didst conquer, Thou didst conquer,
Sin, and Satan and the grave,
Sin, and Satan and the grave.
When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of deaths, and hell’s destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to Thee;
I will ever give to Thee.Musing on my habitation,
Musing on my heav’nly home,
Fills my soul with holy longings:
Come, my Jesus, quickly come;
Vanity is all I see;
Lord, I long to be with Thee!
Lord, I long to be with Thee!William Williams (1745)