Genesis 48-50

The thing that jumped out at me most in chapter 48 was Jacob's blessings to his two grandsons, the sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim. Manasseh was the older, and Ephraim was the younger. But in Jacob's blessing he said that the younger brother would be greater than the older brother. This is becoming a theme - the younger sibling being blessed better than the older. First there were Isaac and Ishmael. Then Jacob and Esau came along. Then we learn about Judah and Tamar's twin boys; they struggled with each other in the womb to be born first. Now we see what happened with Joseph's sons when they were blessed by Jacob. Then in the chapter 49, we see Judah receiving the first born blessing despite being the fourth born. Everything's just really messy, and I can't help but wonder what might have happened if blessings were done according to protocol with the first born receiving the first born blessing. Obviously, things worked out how they were supposed to, but just imagine how different this world would be had blessings been given out differently.

So then we move on to chapter 49 when Jacob blesses all of his sons. I swear I read this chapter a dozen times because of verse 10.

Genesis 42-47

During these chapters, Jacob and all his sons end up in Egypt. (God actually tells Jacob to go to Egypt in order to make it through the famine, which is opposite from what he told Abraham and Isaac earlier in Genesis.) And Joseph reveals himself, and basically, the whole family is reunited. And since Joseph is in good with Pharaoh, Joseph's family gets dibs on the best land in all of Egypt - Goshen. Overall, it's obvious that all of them are pretty pampered living in Egypt. They make it through the famine just fine; Joseph forgives his brothers for selling him off, and that's all fine; life is just good.

Genesis 37-41 & A Lot of Foreshadowing

So Joseph, Jacob's favorite son and first son by Rachel, is eventually sold to the Egyptians, and chapter 37 tells how that happens. Basically, Joseph has a dream that he rules over his brothers, and he's so arrogant that he actually brags about it to his brothers. Remember, Joseph's brothers already hate him, so this little stint just made them hate him even more. Well, while they're all tending to the flocks out in the field, the brothers end up selling Joseph to the Midianites. And they fake his death so they don't have to tell their father, Jacob, the truth. Then the Midianites end up selling Joseph to the Egyptians.

The big thing here though is that Reuben, the oldest son, isn't around when Joseph is sold, so he also believes Jacob is dead. He thinks his brothers killed him. And Judah, the fourth son, is the one who convinces everyone that it's better to sell Joseph than kill him. All the other brothers wanted to kill Joseph, but Judah stepped in and at least spared his life. This event and the time Reuben slept with Jacob's concubine in chapter 35 end up determining the blessings Jacob gives his sons when he's on his deathbed at the end of Genesis.

And this is all a huge deal because this selling-of-Joseph event is the first step leading to the Exodus. Just think, had the brothers simply settled for eye rolls and gossiping behind Joseph's back, the Exodus would have never happened.

Genesis 30-36 & Learning the Meaning Long After Hearing the Lesson

UPDATE: So it's been a little quiet over here this past week. Don't worry, it's been quiet on SS Jess, too. I've been wrapped up in life. But I'm super excited to say that I have finished the Book of Genesis! That's two books of the Bible I can confidently say I've read and understand (or at least as much as a first-time reader can say she understands the Bible). When I first started this journey, I thought I would struggle with actually seeing this process through to completion. I was motivated when I started, but I know me, and I thought I'd lose that motivation at some point and struggle to make it through the Bible. But so far, that hasn't been the case. I thought I wouldn't read so often which would lead to not posting very often, but I'm actually reading so quickly that I put off posting so I can continue reading the Word. I guess that's a good problem to have, right? But here I am to get all caught up before starting the Book of Exodus.

So in these chapters, we start to learn about Jacob's descendants, and everything really starts to become about Jacob's line. He has a bunch of sons - 12 total - and we learn about one of his daughters, Dinah. But before I get into the whole Dinah thing, let's talk about Gregor Mendel and genetics!

Genesis 29 & Why I wish I'd known about it when I was 17

Genesis 29 might just be my favorite chapter in the Bible to date, and it's main star, Leah, has become my absolute favorite person of the Bible. Here's what happens.

Jacob makes it to Paddan Aram and ends up meeting this beautiful girl, Rachel. Come to find out, Rachel is his cousin, and she takes Jacob to her father, Laban, who is also Rebekah's brother. Laban is ecstatic to see Jacob, and he is happy to give away his daughter for marriage. The catch: Jacob has to work for him for seven years first. So Jacob works those seven years because he's, like, madly in love with Rachel and wants to marry her so, so bad. 

Well, on the wedding night, Jacob ends up marrying Leah instead of Rachel. Leah is Rachel's older sister, but she's not near as beautiful as Rachel. I'm under the impression that she's kinda homely and plain. After Jacob realizes he's married the wrong girl, he's pretty irritated and let's Laban know about it.

Genesis 27-28 & Deception

In these chapters, God's promise to Rebekah while she was pregnant really comes to fruition, and the selling of the birthright comes into play.

So we get to the point where Isaac is really old and on his deathbed. He wants to bless Esau (because he's the firstborn), but it winds up that Jacob steals Esau's blessing. And Rebekah is in on it, too. She overheard Isaac telling Esau that he wanted to bless him, and Rebekah said "oh, hell no" and managed to wiggle Jacob into the blessing instead. (She liked Jacob better anyway, and when Esau married two Hittite women many years earlier she was livid.) Basically, just a whole lot of deception. What I don't understand: why can't everyone just tell the truth? (This question seems to be recurring.) Also, Genesis 27 makes it seem like Rebekah and Jacob were the big liars, but Esau is right up there with them, and so is Isaac.