2879.) Exodus 4

“Moses and the Burning Bush” watercolor by William Blake, early 19th century (Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

Exodus 4   (NRSV)

Moses’ Miraculous Power

Then Moses answered, “But suppose they do not believe me or listen to me, but say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’“

Bible commentator G. Campbell Morgan has written:  “We are ever prone, when God is calling us to some high service, to say ‘But,’ and this to introduce our statement of the difficulties as we see them.”

²The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

He said, “A staff.”

³And he said, “Throw it on the ground.”

God likes to use what is in our hand.

God used a sharp stick in Shamgar’s hand (Judges 3:31).

God used the stones and slingshot in David’s hand (1 Samuel 17:49).

God used the jawbone of a donkey in Samson’s hand (Judges 15:15).

God used five loaves and two fish in the hand of a little boy (John 6:9).

So he threw the staff on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses drew back from it. ⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand, and seize it by the tail” —so he reached out his hand and grasped it, and it became a staff in his hand— ⁵“so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

⁶Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” He put his hand into his cloak; and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.

⁷Then God said, “Put your hand back into your cloak” —so he put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored like the rest of his body— ⁸“If they will not believe you or heed the first sign, they may believe the second sign. ⁹If they will not believe even these two signs or heed you, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”

¹⁰But Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”

¹¹Then the Lord said to him, “Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

Psalm 94:9 (NASB)

He who planted the ear, does He not hear?
He who formed the eye, does He not see?

¹²Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak.”

¹³But he said, “O my Lord, please send someone else.”

¹⁴Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “What of your brother Aaron, the Levite? I know that he can speak fluently; even now he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you his heart will be glad. ¹⁵You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.

Moses should have obeyed the Lord in simple dependence, knowing that His commands are His enablements. God never asks us to do anything without giving us the power to do it. Because Moses was not satisfied with God’s best, he had to take God’s second best—that is, having Aaron be his spokesman. Moses thought that Aaron would be a help, but he later proved to be a hindrance in leading the people to worship the golden calf (chapter 32).

–William MacDonald

¹⁶He indeed shall speak for you to the people; he shall serve as a mouth for you, and you shall serve as God for him. ¹⁷Take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.”

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is “Speak, O Lord,”   by Keith Getty, 2005, with videoclips from Norway and France. (The music does not begin until 20 seconds into the clip.)

_________________________

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me go back to my kindred in Egypt and see whether they are still living.”

And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

¹⁹The Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt; for all those who were seeking your life are dead.” ²⁰So Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey and went back to the land of Egypt; and Moses carried the staff of God in his hand.

Reflection:

a thought from Andy Warhol:

According to Exodus 7:7, Moses was 80 years old when God called him to do the great work of his life:  lead the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt and guide them 40 years in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land.

Are you impatiently waiting for something — and could you now put that situation in God’s hands for God’s timing?

What good work, what great work might the Lord have for you now, later, and even in your retirement years?

²¹And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

Who really hardened Pharaoh’s heart?

We might say that it was both God and Pharaoh; but whenever God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, He never did it against Pharaoh’s will. Pharaoh never said, “Oh, I want to do what is good and right and I want to bless these people of Israel” and God answered, “No, for I will harden your heart against them!” When God hardened, He allowed Pharaoh’s heart to do what Pharaoh wanted to do – God gave Pharaoh over to his sin (Romans 1:18-32).

–David GuzIk

²²Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: Israel is my firstborn son. ²³I said to you, “Let my son go that he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; now I will kill your firstborn son.’“

²⁴On the way, at a place where they spent the night, the Lord met him and tried to kill him. ²⁵But Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched Moses’ feet with it, and said, “Truly you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” ²⁶So he let him alone. It was then she said, “A bridegroom of blood by circumcision.”

²⁷The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went; and he met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. ²⁸Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had charged him.

²⁹Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites. ³⁰Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and performed the signs in the sight of the people.

³¹The people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had given heed to the Israelites and that he had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

Luke 1:54 (NASB)

He has given help to Israel His servant,
In remembrance of His mercy.

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Blake.    http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O192457/moses-and-the-burning-bush-watercolour-blake-william/

hand.   https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/86bd8-ex44.jpeg

Andy Warhol quote.   https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/after-andy-warhol-the-idea-of-waiting-for-15-c-8a8a1bde1f

Moses and the burning bush Byzantine icon.    https://iconreader.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/moses_burning_bush_bysantine_mosaic.jpg

2878.) Exodus 3

“The Burning Bush” by Israeli artist Shraga Weil (1918-2009).

Exodus 3   (NRSV)

Moses at the Burning Bush

“Burning Bush” by Pat Marvenko Smith

God, hear me saying . . .
. . . heartbeat . . .
I am dry and brittle and ready to snap.

God, I hear you saying . . .
. . . heartbeat . . .
How else to be kindling for a burning bush?

–Ann Voskamp

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ²There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. ³Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.”

⁴When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

God’s first words to Moses called him by name. This shows that even though Moses was now an obscure, forgotten shepherd on the backside of the desert, God knew who he was, and Moses was important to God.

 The double call (Moses, Moses!) implied importance and urgency, as when God called Abraham, Abraham! (Genesis 22:11), Samuel, Samuel! (1 Samuel 3:10), Simon, Simon (Luke 22:31), Martha, Martha (Luke 10:41), and Saul, Saul (Acts 9:4).

–David Guzik

And he said, “Here I am.”

⁵Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

Reflection:

When was the last time you took off your shoes (or fell on your knees, or shouted for joy) because God was so near to you?

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is a song for Moses and for us:  “We Are Standing on Holy Ground.”

_________________________

⁶He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

⁷Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, ⁸and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. ¹⁰So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

¹¹But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹²He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”

The Divine Name Revealed

¹³But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”

When God revealed Himself to man in the days of the patriarchs it was often associated with a newly revealed name or title for God.

• Abraham, in the encounter with Melchizedek, called on God Most High (Genesis 14:22)

• Abraham later encountered Almighty God (Genesis 17:1)

• Abraham came to know the Lord as Everlasting God (Genesis 21:33), and The-Lord-Will-Provide (Genesis 22:14)

• Hagar encountered You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees (Genesis 16:13)

• Jacob met El Elohe Israel (Genesis 33:20), and El Bethel (Genesis 35:7)

So if Moses were to come to the elders of Israel as a representative of God, it would be logical for them to wonder, “By what name did He reveal Himself to you?”

–David Guzik

¹⁴God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’“

Mark 14:61-62 (Amplified Bible)

Again the high priest asked Him, Are You the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), the Son of the Blessed?

And Jesus said, I AM.

Martin Buber, renowned philosopher and theologian, a person of influence in the revival of the Hassidic movement in the middle of the 20th century, was convinced that the only way for people to know each other and to know God is through intimate relationships.  In his seminal work, I and Thou, he writes:

The word of revelation is: I am there as whoever I am there. That which reveals is that which reveals. That which has being is there, nothing more. The eternal source of strength flows, the eternal touch is waiting, the eternal voice sounds, nothing more.

When Moses stood at the burning presence of the Hebrew God, YHWH, on that mountain, he experienced ever so briefly that very same word of revelation. I Am was there in front of him – and beside him and behind him and surrounding him. And if Moses got the message clearly he began to understand in a new way that this One in whose image he and everybody else has been created was explaining to him what Buber reminds us, “That which has being is there, nothing more.”

–James F. McIntire

¹⁵God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.

Resources:

DreamWork’s 1998 animated movie, The Prince of Egypt, tells the story of Moses and the Exodus.  HERE  in this clip, Moses encounters the burning bush.

¹⁶Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying: I have given heed to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷I declare that I will bring you up out of the misery of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.’

“a land flowing with milk and honey”

Exactly what kind of prosperity does the biblical expression refer to? It probably does not refer to the most common forms of agriculture, such as the cultivation of grains. Rather, the “milk” most likely refers to animal husbandry and the use of animal byproducts for food and clothing. Sheep were important for their wool and meat, but goats may have been more important. They provide twice as much milk as sheep, and their hair and hides could be used for tents, clothing, carpets, and even satchels for holding liquids. The “honey” refers to horticulture—the cultivation of fruits and vegetables. “Honey” in Israel is more commonly the syrup from grapes and dates than the substance produced by bees.

–John H. Walton, “Bible Backgrounds”  

^18″They will listen to your voice; and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; let us now go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹I know, however, that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. ²⁰So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will perform in it; after that he will let you go.

^21″I will bring this people into such favor with the Egyptians that, when you go, you will not go empty-handed; ²²each woman shall ask her neighbor and any woman living in the neighbor’s house for jewelry of silver and of gold, and clothing, and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters; and so you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Weil.   http://pastorjimmymac.blogspot.com/2015/07/

Smith.   http://duendeufo.blogspot.com/

He knows your name.     https://purposefulfaith.com/he-knows-your-name/

Ratner — Burning Bush.   http://www.ratnermuseum.org/?page=exodus#

Be still plaque.   http://www.catholicfamilygifts.com/images/products/detail/frame-plaque/317.jpg

land of milk and honey.  https://www.artfulhome.com/item_images/P/6501-6600/full/P06598-P00036f.jpg

2877.) Exodus 2

“A Miniature Ark”   clay by Georgia Cawley

Exodus 2  (NRSV)

Birth and Youth of Moses

Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. ²The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months.

Hebrews 11:23 (CEV)

Because Moses’ parents had faith, they kept him hidden until he was three months old. They saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s orders.

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is “Beautiful Boy,” one of John Lennon’s last songs, written for his son Sean.

__________________________

³When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river.

Well, she did exactly what Pharaoh had commanded — she put him in the river —-

⁴His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

“Moses in the Bulrushes” by Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1921 (Smithsonian American Art Museum)

⁵The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. ⁶When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him, “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said.

Reflection:

The first weapon God used against the oppressing nation of Egypt was the cry of a baby.

What seemingly small thing could you do now to help God’s kingdom come?

⁷Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”

⁸Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. ⁹Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. ¹⁰When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Acts 7:22 (NIV)

Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

David Guzik says:  Certainly, Moses was raised with both the science and learning of Egypt, one of the most academic and scientific societies among ancient cultures. It is reasonable to think that Moses was instructed in geography, history, grammar, writing, literature, philosophy, and music.

Resources for children:

The Moses Basket. A simple, gentle retelling by Jenny Koralek and illustrated by Pauline Baynes (who also illustrated The Narnia Chronicles), Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2003.

Moses Flees to Midian

¹¹One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and saw their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsfolk. ¹²He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³When he went out the next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting; and he said to the one who was in the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow Hebrew?”

¹⁴He answered, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “Surely the thing is known.”

¹⁵When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh.

“Flight to Midian” digital art by Ted Larson

He settled in the land of Midian,

In that day Midian described the area which is both Saudi Arabia and the Sinai Peninsula.

and sat down by a well.

¹⁶The priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷But some shepherds came and drove them away. Moses got up and came to their defense and watered their flock.

“Moses Defending the Daughters of Jethro” by Fiorentino Rosso, 1523 (Uffizi, Florence)

¹⁸When they returned to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come back so soon today?”

¹⁹They said, “An Egyptian helped us against the shepherds; he even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

²⁰He said to his daughters, “Where is he? Why did you leave the man? Invite him to break bread.” ²¹Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah in marriage. ²²She bore a son, and he named him Gershom; for he said, “I have been an alien residing in a foreign land.”

²³After a long time the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of the slavery their cry for help rose up to God. ²⁴God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them.

God was not oblivious to the plight of His people. God heard, and remembered, and looked upon the children of Israel, and acknowledged their condition. His response was to bring His servant back to Egypt (ch. 3) to lead His people out of that land in the mightiest display of power since the creation of the world.

–William MacDonald

Psalm 142 (NIV)

I cry aloud to the LORD;
I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy.

I pour out my complaint before him;
before him I tell my trouble.

When my spirit grows faint within me,
it is you who know my way.
In the path where I walk
men have hidden a snare for me.

Look to my right and see;
no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;
no one cares for my life.

I cry to you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”

Listen to my cry,
for I am in desperate need;
rescue me from those who pursue me,
for they are too strong for me.

Set me free from my prison,
that I may praise your name.
Then the righteous will gather about me
because of your goodness to me.

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Cawley.   https://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/2013/10/01/1152-exodus-2/

Tanner.   https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/moses-bullrushes-23668

Larson.  https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/2-larsonflight-to-midian.jpg?w=450

Rosso.  http://www.wga.hu/art/r/rosso/2/1moses.jpg

2876.) Exodus 1

Exodus: a word cloud.  A word cloud is a visualization of word frequency in a given text. Greater prominence and size are given to words that occur more frequently in the text.

Exodus 1   (NRSV)

The first verses of Exodus reach back some 430 years. The story of the Exodus begins where the story Genesis ends: a large family with a crucial place in God’s plan of the ages and their migration to Egypt.

The Hebrew title for the Book of Exodus is taken from its first words: And These are the Names Of. In the original language, the first word of Exodus is and, marking its continuity from the Genesis account.

–David Guzik

To really enjoy the book of Exodus, we need to look for Christ in it. Moses, the Passover lamb, the rock, and the tabernacle are only a few of the types (symbols) of the Lord Jesus, many of which are referred to elsewhere in Scripture (see, for example, 1 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews chapters 3-10). May the Lord do for us what He did for the two disciples on the road to Emmaus—interpret to us “in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27).

–William MacDonald

These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: ²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, ³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, ⁴Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

John 10:3  (NIV)

He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

⁵The total number of people born to Jacob was seventy. Joseph was already in Egypt.

⁶Then Joseph died, and all his brothers, and that whole generation. ⁷But the Israelites were fruitful and prolific; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

Resources:

Bruce Feiler: Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land through the Five Books of Moses (Book II, Chapter 2 “And They Made Their Lives Bitter”).

 

When the children of Israel were set to slave labor they built many of the great cities and monuments in Egypt — though not the pyramids, which were built much earlier.

The Israelites Are Oppressed

⁸Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ⁹He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. ¹⁰Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”

¹¹Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. ¹²But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.

The nation could not grow this way in Canaan, because it was practically impossible to avoid intermarriage with the pagan and wicked inhabitants of Canaan. Egypt was so racially biased and had such an entrenched system of racial separation that Israel could grow there over several centuries without being assimilated.

¹³The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, ¹⁴and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.

Genesis 15:12-14 (NIV)

As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.  Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.  But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.”

Pharaoh meant the hard bondage for evil, but God meant it for good. It helped prepare the Jews for their arduous journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.

–William MacDonald

¹⁵The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ¹⁶“When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.”

“Choose You This Day” by Elspeth Young, a painting of the midwife Puah considering the order the king of Egypt has just given her. (I find it ever so interesting that we know the names of the two midwives, but not the name of the Pharaoh!)

¹⁷But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live.  ¹⁸So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?”

¹⁹The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”

²⁰So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. ²¹And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.

One person respectfully honoring God —  matters.

Proverbs 11:18 (ESV)

One who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.

²²Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.”

If the battle were just between Pharaoh and the people of Israel, Pharaoh would have clearly won. But the real battle included God in the equation, and that changed everything.

_________________________

Music:

David Guzik says:  The method Pharaoh commanded for the death of the male children of Israel became the divine provision for training the deliverer of Israel.

HERE  is a ballad — Creed’s “With Arms Wide Open” won the Grammy Award in 2001 for Best Rock Song. The song celebrates the good news that a child is on the way.  “With arms wide open, I’ll show you love, I’ll show you everything. . . ”

And God already had in mind the child who was coming to rescue Israel from the Egyptians!

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version (Anglicized Edition), copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

word cloud.   https://heiressmommy.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/exodus-wordled.gif

pyramids.   http://5-five-5.blogspot.com/2016/04/giza-necropolis-al-haram-egypt.html

Young.  http://alyoung.com/Art_Gallery/Elspeth_Young/Women_in_Scripture/Puah_thumbnail.jpg

Do the right thing.   http://www.appleseeds.org/doright2.gif

2875.) Proverbs 1

proverb: (noun) a short, pithy sentence that conveys a general truth, condensing common experience into memorable form

Proverbs 1 (New Living Translation)

The Purpose of Proverbs

¹ These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel.

King Solomon. Third king of Israel. Son of the great King David. The wisest man who ever lived.

The absolute quiet and prosperity of the reign of Solomon (the man of peace), as described in 1 Kings 4:20, would naturally be conducive to the growth of a sententious philosophy; whereas the constant wars and dangerous life of David had called forth the impassioned eloquence of the Psalms.

–Charles J. Ellicott (1819-1905)

And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

–1 Kings 4:29-34

² Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline,
to help them understand the insights of the wise.

“It is probably a safe bet to say that most people today are not much interested in wisdom. They are interested in making money and in having a good time. Some are interested in knowing something, in getting an education. Almost everyone wants to be well liked. But wisdom? The pursuit of wisdom is not a popular ideal.”

–James Montgomery Boice

³ Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives,
to help them do what is right, just, and fair.
⁴ These proverbs will give insight to the simple,
knowledge and discernment to the young.

⁵ Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser.
Let those with understanding receive guidance
⁶ by exploring the meaning in these proverbs and parables,
the words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷ Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

“But what is the fear of the LORD? It is that affectionate reverence by which the child of God bends himself humbly and carefully to his Father’s law.”

–Charles Bridges

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is “We Choose the Fear of the Lord”  sung by the Maranatha Singers.

_________________________

A Father’s Exhortation: Acquire Wisdom

A father teaching his son how to kayak.  Photo by Susan Sayour.

⁸ My child, listen when your father corrects you.
Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
⁹ What you learn from them will crown you with grace
and be a chain of honor around your neck.

Verses 7 – 9 may be regarded as a summary statement of the principle on which the whole book is based, and of the duty which it enjoins. The principle is that true wisdom is based on religion, and the duty is to listen to parental instruction. ‘My son,’ is the address of a teacher to his disciples, rather than of a father to his child.

–Alexander MacLaren (1826-1910, an English non-conformist minister of Scottish origin)

¹⁰ My child, if sinners entice you,
turn your back on them!
¹¹ They may say, “Come and join us.
Let’s hide and kill someone!
Just for fun, let’s ambush the innocent!
¹² Let’s swallow them alive, like the grave;
let’s swallow them whole, like those who go down to the pit of death.
¹³ Think of the great things we’ll get!
We’ll fill our houses with all the stuff we take.
¹⁴ Come, throw in your lot with us;
we’ll all share the loot.”

¹⁵ My child, don’t go along with them!
Stay far away from their paths.
¹⁶ They rush to commit evil deeds.
They hurry to commit murder.
¹⁷ If a bird sees a trap being set,
it knows to stay away.

from Whispers of His Power, by Amy Carmichael

Proverbs 1:17 — Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

When God is speaking to a soul, the devil always tries to spread a net to entangle him. Have you ever heard a message and found yourself thinking, “Yes, that is just the word for him. It fits him exactly. I hope he takes it to heart.” If you have, then you know one of Satan’s favorite nets. He tries to make us think of somebody else, and pass the message on to him instead of taking it for ourselves.

But surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. If you see the net, pray this prayer:  “Lord, open my ears to hear what Thou wilt say to me. Make me sincere, and give me grace to obey.”

And then, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it (John 2:5).

¹⁸ But these people set an ambush for themselves;
they are trying to get themselves killed.
¹⁹ Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money;
it robs them of life.

Wisdom Shouts in the Streets

“Wisdom calls aloud in the street . . . “

²⁰ Wisdom shouts in the streets.
She cries out in the public square.
²¹ She calls to the crowds along the main street,
to those gathered in front of the city gate:

This is the first time that Wisdom, personified as a woman  (in Greek, “Sophia”), speaks in the book of Proverbs. We will hear from her again in chapters 8 and 9. This seems to me to be a metaphor only; orthodox Christianity does not condone worship of the goddess Sophia. Scripture teaches that God alone is true and holy Wisdom.

Romans 11:33 (NIV)

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!

1 Timothy 1:17 (NKJV)

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

²² “How long, you simpletons,
will you insist on being simpleminded?
How long will you mockers relish your mocking?
How long will you fools hate knowledge?
²³ Come and listen to my counsel.
I’ll share my heart with you
and make you wise.

²⁴ “I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come.
I reached out to you, but you paid no attention.
²⁵ You ignored my advice
and rejected the correction I offered.
²⁶ So I will laugh when you are in trouble!
I will mock you when disaster overtakes you—
²⁷ when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone,
and anguish and distress overwhelm you.

Why do we ignore good advice?!

Here are some examples of good life advice which many of us have received and yet which many of us have had to learn the hard way!

Forgive and let go …
Read (A LOT) …
Don’t ever stop learning and growing as a person …
Save a portion of your earnings and avoid credit card debt …
Change your thinking, change your life …
Find a mentor and do what they’re doing …
Be kind to people …
Never, never, never give in …
Whatever you do, give it 100 % …

²⁸ “When they cry for help, I will not answer.
Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.
²⁹ For they hated knowledge
and chose not to fear the Lord.
³⁰ They rejected my advice
and paid no attention when I corrected them.
³¹ Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way,
choking on their own schemes.
³² For simpletons turn away from me—to death.
Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.
³³ But all who listen to me will live in peace,
untroubled by fear of harm.”

Psalm 112:1, 7, 8 (NIV)

Praise the LORD.
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
who finds great delight in his commands.

He will have no fear of bad news;
his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

His heart is secure, he will have no fear;
in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.

_________________________

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

Images courtesy of:

proverbs.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/1-proverbs-color.jpg?w=450

King Solomon.     https://i1.wp.com/ourhealingmoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/1-king_solomon.jpg

Sayour.    https://www.lensburyclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/father-and-son-kayak.jpg

sparrow caught in a net.      https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/1-sparrow.jpg?w=450

wisdom calling in the street.    http://www.tlchrist.info/wisdom.jpg

some good advice.   https://www.gcurley.info/news/2016/11/respecting-rebuking-the-saints/some-good-advice/

2874.) Psalm 148

Virginia Wieringa:
Shore Stations — Psalm 148
Acrylic and Tissue Paper Collage, 2010.

Psalm 148   (NRSV)

Praise for God’s Universal Glory

Psalm 148 calls upon all creation to praise Yahweh. “What a wonderful song this is! Look over it again, and note the fact that there is no reference in it, from first to last, to the mercy, or pity, or compassion of God. But that is because there is no reference to evil in any form.”

–G. Campbell Morgan

This call to all creation to praise Yahweh was not an empty wish. Revelation 5:11-13 tells us specifically that it will be fulfilled.:

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
To receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

“O what a hymn of praise is here! It is a universal chorus! All created nature have a share, and all perform their respective parts.”

–Adam Clarke

Heartfelt praise from the lesser to the greater. The Psalmist leaves no doubt that God is God, above all creation including the world (seen and unseen), plants, creatures, and humankind.

¹ Praise the Lord!

Psalm 148 begins and ends with hallelujah, which is both an exclamation of praise to Yahweh and an encouragement to praise Him.

Praise the Lord from the heavens;
    praise him in the heights!

Psalm 19 told us that the heavens declare the glory of God by their very nature and being. Here the Psalmist speaks to the heavens that they continue this praise.

² Praise him, all his angels;
    praise him, all his host!

³ Praise him, sun and moon;
    praise him, all you shining stars!
⁴ Praise him, you highest heavens,
    and you waters above the heavens!

⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for he commanded and they were created.
⁶ He established them forever and ever;
    he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

We, in this dark and sinful world, know little of the heavenly world of light. But we know that there is above us a world of blessed angels. They are always praising God, therefore the psalmist shows his desire that God may be praised in the best manner; also we show that we have communion with spirits above, who are still praising him. The heavens, with all contained in them, declare the glory of God. They call on us, that both by word and deed, we glorify with them the Creator and Redeemer of the universe.

–Matthew Henry

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth,

The first part of Psalm 148 called upon things in the heavens to give praise to Yahweh. Earth should also not fail to give its praise to God, and all the earth should join in this praise.

–David Guzik

    you sea monsters and all deeps,
⁸ fire and hail, snow and frost,
    stormy wind fulfilling his command!

⁹ Mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedars!
¹⁰ Wild animals and all cattle,
    creeping things and flying birds!

¹¹ Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
¹² Young men and women alike,
old and young together!

 “The young man’s strong bass, the maiden’s clear alto, the old man’s quavering notes, the child’s fresh treble, should blend in the song.”

–Alexander Maclaren

It is certain that all men and women will one day praise the LORD: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10-11)

¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for his name alone is exalted;
    his glory is above earth and heaven.
¹⁴ He has raised up a horn for his people,
    praise for all his faithful,
    for the people of Israel who are close to him.

Yahweh deserves such praise from all things on earth because He has drawn near to His people. He is with and for His people, which is a blessing and a benefit greater than any other.

–David Guzik

Praise the Lord!

Even in this world, dark and bad as it is, God is praised. The powers of nature, be they ever so strong, so stormy, do what God appoints them, and no more. View the surface of the earth, mountains and all hills; from the barren tops of some, and the fruitful tops of others, we may fetch matter for praise. And assuredly creatures which have the powers of reason, ought to employ themselves in praising God. Let all manner of persons praise God. Those of every rank, high and low. Let us show that we are his saints by praising his name continually. He is not only our Creator, but our Redeemer; who made us a people near unto him. We magnify Christ, whom God has exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, who is indeed the defense and the praise of all his saints, and will be so for ever. In redemption, that unspeakable glory is displayed, which forms the source of all our hopes and joys. May the Lord pardon us, and teach our hearts to love him more and praise him better.

–Matthew Henry

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Music:

Recently I read something interesting. Psalm 103 begins with an invitation, “Bless the Lord, O my soul,” and then proceeds to list the benefits of praising God, one of which is that he “satisfies your mouth with good things” (Psalm 103:6 NKJV). The suggestion is this — that filling our mouths with praise and thanksgiving is one way God satisfies us. So let us open our mouths to be satisfied by filling our mouths with praise and his word!

HERE  is one of the great praise hymns of the faith:  “When Morning Gilds the Skies.” I pray that every day will find us praising our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

_________________________

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)   New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Wieringa.    http://www.eyekons.com/art_and_psalms/virginia_wieringa_psalm_148

sun, moon, and stars.   https://www.flickr.com/photos/traqair57/45562667665

turtle.   https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/ps148-turtle.png

Hallelujah.   https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/what-is-the-meaning-of-the-word-hallelujah.html

2873.) Genesis 50

. . . of all the beginnings of the book of Genesis.

Genesis 50   (NRSV)

Then Joseph threw himself on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him. ²Joseph commanded the physicians in his service to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel; ³they spent forty days in doing this, for that is the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.

Jacob was mourned for 70 days among the whole nation of Egypt. A royal mourning period in Egypt was 72 days. Jacob was obviously a greatly honored man.

–David Guzik

⁴When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph addressed the household of Pharaoh, “If now I have found favor with you, please speak to Pharaoh as follows: ⁵My father made me swear an oath; he said, ‘I am about to die. In the tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.’ Now therefore let me go up, so that I may bury my father; then I will return.”

⁶Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.”

⁷So Joseph went up to bury his father.

Luther remarks that there is no burial recorded in the Scriptures quite as honorable as this or with such wealth of detail.

With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁸as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. ⁹Both chariots and charioteers went up with him. It was a very great company.

¹⁰When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they held there a very great and sorrowful lamentation; and he observed a time of mourning for his father seven days. ¹¹When the Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning on the part of the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim; it is beyond the Jordan. ¹²Thus his sons did for him as he had instructed them. ¹³They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, the field near Mamre, which Abraham bought as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite.

So Jacob is buried alongside Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Leah. 

¹⁴After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

Jacob’s sons burying their father, from the “Psalter of St. Louis,” thirteenth century

Joseph Forgives His Brothers

¹⁵Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?”

¹⁶So they approached Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this instruction before he died, ¹⁷‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.’ Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.”

Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said, “We are here as your slaves.”

¹⁹But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? ²⁰Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. ²¹So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.

Romans 8:28 (Amplified Bible)

We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.

_________________________

Music:

Are we able to be so generous with those who have hurt us, so trusting in a God who sometimes takes a long time to make things right? Oh, that I would be able to live my life in God’s grace and peace, and leave the judgment to Him!  HERE  is  “My Life Is in You, Lord.”

_________________________

Joseph’s Last Days and Death

²²So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s household; and Joseph lived one hundred ten years. ²³Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation; the children of Machir son of Manasseh were also born on Joseph’s knees. ²⁴Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die; but God will surely come to you, and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”

Joseph was the human agent most responsible for bringing this family to Egypt. Yet he knew that because of the covenant God had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, this would not be their resting place. They were headed — eventually — back to Canaan.

²⁵So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying, “When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here.” ²⁶And Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old; he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Joseph’s remains were taken to Canaan four hundred year later, and he was buried at Shechem:

Exodus 13:19 (NIV)

Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.”

Joshua 24:32 (NIV)

And Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This became the inheritance of Joseph’s descendants.

Reflection:

The book of Genesis begins with Creation, the Fall, the Flood, and the origin of nations at the Tower of Babel. Next come the wonderful stories of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and his family, and Joseph.

What have you learned as you have been “DWELLING in the Word” in Genesis?

Please write a comment below!

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

neon sign.  https://pinkmsg.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/the-end1.jpg

map.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/jacobs-life-map1.jpg?w=434&h=320

Jacob’s burial.  https://www.chronologicalbibleblog.com/2018/01/page/2/

Egyptian coffin.  http://chnm.gmu.edu/worldhistorysources/unpacking/Resources/mumprnt.jpg

cartoon.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/genesis-cartoon.jpg?w=450

2872.) Genesis 49

Genesis 49  (NRSV)

Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons

Then Jacob called his sons, and said: “Gather around, that I may tell you what will happen to you in days to come. ²Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob; listen to Israel your father.

Some of these are not so much “blessings” as they are prophecies regarding what God will do with these tribes in the future.

–all comments from David Guzik

³Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might and the first fruits of my vigor, excelling in rank and excelling in power. ⁴Unstable as water, you shall no longer excel because you went up onto your father’s bed; then you defiled it—you went up onto my couch!

Reuben’s immorality with his father’s concubine Bilhah (the mother of his brothers Dan and Naphtali) is recorded in Genesis 35:22.

. . .

⁵Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. ⁶May I never come into their council; may I not be joined to their company— for in their anger they killed men, and at their whim they hamstrung oxen. ⁷Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

The second-born son Simeon and the third-born son Levi received the same “blessing” for the same evil deed. They were instruments of cruelty when they wiped out all the men of Shechem in retaliation for the rape of their sister Dinah (Genesis 34:25-29).

. . .

⁸Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. ⁹Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion, like a lioness—who dares rouse him up? ¹⁰The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and the obedience of the peoples is his.

The “leadership” prophecy took some 640 years to fulfill in part (with the reign of David, first of Judah’s dynasty of kings), and some 1600 years to fulfill in Jesus.

¹¹Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he washes his garments in wine and his robe in the blood of grapes; ¹²his eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

Revelation 5:4-5 (NIV)

I wept and wept because no one was found
who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.
Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep!
See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.
He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

. . .

¹³Zebulun shall settle at the shore of the sea; he shall be a haven for ships, and his border shall be at Sidon.

The tribe of Zebulun seems to settle the piece of land sitting between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Galilee. Literally, shall dwell by the haven of the sea can be rendered “looking towards the sea.” Zebulun did look to the sea, both to the East and West.

. . .

¹⁴Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds; ¹⁵he saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant; so he bowed his shoulder to the burden, and became a slave at forced labor.

Issachar was a large tribe — third in size according to the Numbers 26 census. Because of their size and abundance, they were often targets of oppressive foreign armies who put them into servitude. Thus, they became a band of slaves.

. . .

¹⁶Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁷Dan shall be a snake by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider falls backward.

The tribe of Dan did judge his people. They supplied one of the most prominent of the Judges, Samson (Judges 13:2). But Dan was a troublesome tribe. They introduced idolatry into Israel (Judges 18:30). Jeroboam set up one of his idolatrous golden calves in Dan (1 Kings 12:26-30) and later Dan became a center of idol worship in Israel (Amos 8:14).

. . .

¹⁸I wait for your salvation, O Lord.

1 Thessalonians 5:9   (NRSV)

For God has destined us . . .  for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁹Gad shall be raided by raiders, but he shall raid at their heels.

The tribe of Gad supplied many fine troops for David (1 Chronicles 12:14).

. . .

²⁰Asher’s food shall be rich, and he shall provide royal delicacies.

In Deuteronomy 33:24, Moses again took up this prophecy regarding Asher: Asher is most blessed of sons; let him be favored by his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil.

. . .

²¹Naphtali is a doe let loose that bears lovely fawns.

Naphtali’s land was in a key portion near the Sea of Galilee, the region where Jesus did much of His teaching and ministry.

Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned” (Matthew 4:12-16).

. . .

²²Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall. ²³The archers fiercely attacked him; they shot at him and pressed him hard. ²⁴Yet his bow remained taut, and his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, ²⁵by the God of your father, who will help you, by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. ²⁶The blessings of your father are stronger than the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills; may they be on the head of Joseph, on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.

In his words about Joseph, Jacob listed five great titles for God. These titles show that Jacob did come to an understanding of who God is.

• The Mighty God of Jacob
• The Shepherd
• The Stone of Israel
• The God of your father
• The Almighty

. . .

²⁷Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey, and at evening dividing the spoil.”

This was the tribe with a reputation for fierceness. To see the great extent of this, look at Ehud (Judges 3:15-23), Saul (1 Samuel 9:1, 14:47-52), and Paul (Acts 8:1-3). The cruelty of the tribe in general is seen in Judges 19 and 20.

. . .

²⁸All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, blessing each one of them with a suitable blessing.

Jacob’s Death and Burial

²⁹Then he charged them, saying to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my ancestors—in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰in the cave in the field at Machpelah, near Mamre, in the land of Canaan, in the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site. ³¹There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried; there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; and there I buried Leah— ³²the field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.” ³³When Jacob ended his charge to his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

___________________________

Words:

HERE  is a set of instructions for blessing your children in the Jewish way.  “Blessing Your Children”  by Rabbi Wyne.

Music:

Our song today is “Day by Day”  by Carolina Sandell Berg (1832-1903), the “Fannie Crosby of Sweden.”  She wrote this hymn shortly after she witnessed the death of her father in a boating accident.   HERE  it is sung by the Antrim Mennonite Choir from Antrim, Ohio.  (This video is a slow starter; the music doesn’t begin until you are 17 seconds in.)

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Last will and testament.   http://michprobate.com/practice_areas/decendents-estate/

water drop.    http://realitypod.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Aquagenic-Urticaria.jpg

sword.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/viking_sword_01.jpg

lion.  https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/watch-escaped-lions-spotted-on-r505-near-makwassie-video/

ship.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/guernsey/content/images/2004/07/27/cog_ship_203x152.jpg

donkey.  https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/interviews/dead-horse-pompeii-was-actually-donkey

snake.    http://www.naturephoto-cz.com/photos/others/grass-snake-32959.jpg

raider logo (haha).   http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/7/585/full/2341.gif

cupcakes.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/cupcake1.png

doe with fawn.     https://www.wvgazettemail.com/outdoors/west-virginia-authorities-warn-against-handling-wild-babies/article_e52289bb-63d2-5e0d-8669-7eae433b76e0.html

grapes on vine.  https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/grapes-on-vine.jpg

wolf.   https://schoolof1.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/wolf11.jpg

2871.) Genesis 48

“Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Children” by Shoshanna Brombacher, 2008

Genesis 48   (NRSV)

Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons

After this Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. ²When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” he summoned his strength and sat up in bed.

³And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and he blessed me, ⁴and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers; I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your offspring after you for a perpetual holding.’ ⁵Therefore your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are now mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are.

Jacob’s adoption of Manasseh and Ephraim explains why there is some confusion about the 12 tribes and why they are often listed in different combinations. Because of this adoption, there are actually 13 sons of Israel. The 12 were born, but Joseph was divided into two tribes. Therefore as the tribes are listed through the Old Testament, they can be juggled and still remain 12 tribes. There are more than 20 different ways of listing the tribes in the Old Testament.

–David Guzik

⁶As for the offspring born to you after them, they shall be yours. They shall be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance. ⁷For when I came from Paddan, Rachel, alas, died in the land of Canaan on the way, while there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

⁸When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?”

⁹Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.”

And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.”

¹⁰Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, and he could not see well. So Joseph brought them near him; and he kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹Israel said to Joseph, “I did not expect to see your face; and here God has let me see your children also.”

¹²Then Joseph removed them from his father’s knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. ¹³Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them near him. ¹⁴But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

“Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons” by graphic artist Duncan Long.

from Whispers of His Power,
by Amy Carmichael

Genesis 48:14 (KJV) — And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.

Psalm 78:72 (KJV) — So he . . . guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

“Guiding his hands wittingly.” Do we ever read this story without thinking of the mean and faithless scheming of Genesis 27 (when Jacob, as he was then known, disguised himself to steal the blessing meant for Esau)? Israel must have thought of it. He must have felt humbly and sorrowfully how needless it all was.

There is a wonderful sense of release when we understand that we need never plan for ourselves, never try to twist circumstances so that our wishes shall come to pass. We have only one thing to do, such a happy, peaceful thing that we can never be glad enough and grateful enough for it. We have only to commit ourselves and our ways to Him who guides us by the skillfulness of His Hands.

¹⁵He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my ancestors Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, ¹⁶the angel who has redeemed me from all harm, bless the boys; and in them let my name be perpetuated, and the name of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude on the earth.”

“Jacob Blessing Ephraim and Manasseh” by American artist Benjamin West, 1768 (Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, Ohio)

Hear Jacob proclaiming his faith! His life is not the accumulation of his successes, but of the Lord’s faithfulness to him.

¹⁷When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father! Since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.”

“Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons” by Rembrandt, 1656 (Kassel, Germany)

¹⁹But his father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” ²⁰So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will invoke blessings, saying, ‘God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’“ So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. ²¹Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your ancestors.

This completes a wonderful work regarding Jacob’s recognition of God’s presence his life.

• I am with you (Genesis 28:15): God gives the young believer every possible assurance of His presence and grace

• I will be with you (Genesis 31:3): God expects the growing believer to trust He will be with us, even when we only have the promise of His presence

• God . . . has been with me (Genesis 31:5): God gives a glorious testimony to the mature believer, able to say how God has been with us, even when we haven’t felt His presence in the way we wished

• God will be with you (Genesis 48:21): God gives the mature believer the opportunity to encourage others with the promise of God’s presence

–David Guzik

²²I now give to you one portion more than to your brothers, the portion that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”

The promise of another inheritance,
from 1 Peter 1:3-6 (NLT)

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,  and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.  And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

So be truly glad.

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Music:

I love the idea of blessing our children and grandchildren, as we have seen Abraham and Isaac and Jacob do in these stories of Genesis. Of course, we often ask God to bless us — yet it will be our great joy in heaven to bless God!  HERE  Phillips, Craig & Dean sing “When The Stars Burn Down (Blessing and Honor).”

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Brombacher.   http://www.chabad.org/media/images/255/ANJh2556075.jp

Long.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/48-jacob-jos-sons-duncanlong71.jpg?w=450

West.    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Jacob_Blessing_Ephraim_and_Manasseh,_by_Benjamin_West.jpg

Rembrandt.  http://liberty92.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/jacob_blessing_the_children_of_joseph-rembrandt1.jpg

2870.) Genesis 47

Did Jacob take a trip to see the pyramids? Some of them were already several centuries old.

Genesis 47   (NRSV)

So Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; they are now in the land of Goshen.” ²From among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh.

³Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?”

And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, as our ancestors were.” ⁴They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to reside as aliens in the land; for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, we ask you, let your servants settle in the land of Goshen.”

⁵Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. ⁶The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land; let them live in the land of Goshen; and if you know that there are capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”

Jacob blesses Pharaoh

⁷Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob, and presented him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

⁸Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the years of your life?”

⁹Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my earthly sojourn are one hundred thirty; few and hard have been the years of my life. They do not compare with the years of the life of my ancestors during their long sojourn.” ¹⁰Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.

I find it interesting that Pharaoh, himself considered a god, would accept a blessing via Jacob of another God.

¹¹Joseph settled his father and his brothers, and granted them a holding in the land of Egypt, in the best part of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had instructed. ¹²And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents.

The Famine in Egypt

¹³Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe. The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. ¹⁴Joseph collected all the money to be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁵When the money from the land of Egypt and from the land of Canaan was spent, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, “Give us food! Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.”

¹⁶And Joseph answered, “Give me your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” ¹⁷So they brought their livestock to Joseph; and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. That year he supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock.

wallpainting in the tomb of Mennah under Pharaoh Thutmosis iv.

Joseph buys all the money, land, and people under Pharaoh in exchange for food. He makes them slaves of Pharaoh! Yet the people of Egypt regard Joseph not as a tyrant, but as a savior. 

“What is a man’s life worth?” Jesus asked . . .

¹⁸When that year was ended, they came to him the following year, and said to him, “We can not hide from my lord that our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. ¹⁹Shall we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food. We with our land will become slaves to Pharaoh; just give us seed, so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.”

. . . When I was a child, we sometimes visited my uncle and his family in Chicago for Thanksgiving or Christmas. He was a surgeon, and always the house was filled with many very large bouquets of flowers and several huge gift baskets of food. When I asked my mother why these things were there (such gifts did not show up at our house!), she told me that my uncle had saved these people’s lives with his medical work, and how do you say “Thank you” for getting your life back? A bouquet of flowers is a small thing in comparison.

This memory has come back to me many times, and I think — Who has saved my/your life, not just for a few human years, but for all eternity? How are we saying “Thank you” to the Lord?

²⁰So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. All the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe upon them; and the land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹As for the people, he made slaves of them from one end of Egypt to the other. ²²Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh, and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.

²³Then Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh, here is seed for you; sow the land. ²⁴And at the harvests you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.”

²⁵They said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be slaves to Pharaoh.”

And we are slaves, too — slaves of this King Jesus — yet who are so free as we?

Romans 6:22 (NIV)

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

²⁶So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth. The land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s.

God uses Joseph’s administrative leadership to put an incredible amount of power and wealth in the hands of Egypt, making Egypt the most powerful nation in the known world. Given the choice of starving or giving up their lands, the people of Egypt (and even the people who live throughout Canaan) willingly trade away their livestock and their lands to Pharaoh in exchange for food (Gen. 47:13–19). In the process, all these people become the servants of Pharaoh, plowing Pharaoh’s fields and paying Pharaoh a heavy tax from their crops (Gen. 47:21, 23–26).

There is significant irony in this plot wrinkle. In Exodus, Pharaoh will boast as though he himself had built his empire, his power, and his wealth. So, when Moses comes to Pharaoh, claiming that the God of the poor, oppressed Hebrew people has told him to let Israel go, Pharaoh scoffs at their request.

But in Genesis 47, we realize that the source of Pharaoh’s wealth and power is actually Joseph, a son of Israel and a servant of the Living God. Everything Pharaoh had was a gift from God, despite the fact that Pharaoh saw it as clear evidence of his own power and glory.

In the same way, it can be a convicting exercise for us to audit the blessings we have received from the hand of God in order to discover the places where we have misattributed God’s gifts as evidence of our own abilities, goodness, and hard work.

–Jacob D. Gerber

The Last Days of Jacob

²⁷Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen; and they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly. ²⁸Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years. ²⁹When the time of Israel’s death drew near, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor with you, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal loyally and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt. ³⁰When I lie down with my ancestors, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”

Jacob knew Egypt was not his home. He belonged in the land promised to him and his descendants and he wanted to be buried in the tomb there with his parents and grandparents. He believed and understood he was the inheritor of Abraham’s covenant.

He answered, “I will do as you have said.”

³¹And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself on the head of his bed.

_________________________

Music:

Egypt was not Jacob’s home. Planet Earth is not our home. This is not where we belong!

David’s (my husband’s) daughter Sarah and her two daughters belted this song out for us while we were at the beach together some years ago! Imagine a 6 year old and a 3 year old singing this song — loudly and with actions!

How can I not love it with their version in my head?!  HERE  is “Where I Belong”  by Building 429.

from Wikipedia:  Building 429 is a Christian rock band signed to Essential Records.  They were the Gospel Music Association 2005 New Artist of the Year.  Their name is derived from a Biblical passage known as Ephesians 4:29, which, in the New International Version of the Bible, reads as follows: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

pyramid in Egypt.    http://travel.smart-guide.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Pyramids-of-Egypt.jpg

Jacob blesses Pharaoh.      http://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/lds/meridian/2005/images/jacob_pharaoh.jpg

wallpainting.   https://www.bibleblender.com/wp-content/uploads/wallpainting-in-tomb-of-mennah-under-pharaoh-thutmosis-iv.png