Wow, Genesis 49 leaves me thinking that I am glad that I am not one of Jacob's sons. It seems like the only one that got anything from their father's blessing is Joseph. You have to wonder if it is because of what they did to Joseph when he was younger. Maybe this is the way that God has chosen to give them what they deserve. Then we read about Jacob's death and how he wants to be buried with his people. I think it would be extremely scary to know as much as he appears to know. He gives his final blessings at the perfect time and then crawls into bed and breaths no more.
Genesis 50 begins with the preparation of Jacob's body and then the burial. His sons honor his oath and they take him to the cave of Machpelah to be buried with his people. After the burial they return to Egypt. The next portion of this chapter we see that Joseph's brothers are scared that he may get revenge on them now that their father is dead. They appeal to Joseph and he forgives them all for what they did. Joseph does not see what they did to him as an evil thing at all. He sees it as God's work. Joseph kind of reminds me of Job in this instance, since he is able to find faith in God in a good or bad situation. We end this chapter with the death of Joseph. We find out that Joseph lived a long and peaceful life with his brothers in Egypt. He sees many generations pass before he dies.
The last portion of Matthew 23 has Jesus describing the teachers of the law and pharisees. Over and over he describes them as hypocrites. He states that they are only putting on appearances and are unclean on the inside. He really shows them no compassion at the moment. He even goes as far as telling them some of the things that they will do in the future. I think this would be one instance I would not want to be in the presence of Jesus. He shows some anger here and to be in their sandals or even in that place would scare me to death.
Well, we have officially made it through two entire books of the Bible. How does it feel? Feels pretty good for me, it really is becoming a habit to read my Bible every day.
Tomorrow's reading is:
Exodus 1, 2, 3 and Matthew 24:1 - 28
49. The blessings almost seemed like backhanded complements. It seemed like it was positive and then he would get around to the end and you realize he's actually slamming them. Harsh Jacob, harsh.
ReplyDelete50. I thought it was kind of nice that Jacob was going to be buried with Leah, the wife he kind of neglected in life. I like Joseph way better than Job. Joseph seems to handle the strife in his life much better then I felt like Job did.
23. I think it would have been very scary to stand in front of Jesus and be dressed down like that. Here is a man you have seen perform great miracles, I'd be terrified that with a touch he could remove me from the earth.
It feels great to have finished two books of the bible. I feel a real sense of accomplishment with each days reading. It's definitely a habit, if I haven't got it done it's on my mind.