Recap

So far in Genesis, we've read through the creation of the earth, the rise and fall of humanity, and God choosing a new family to be his. This led us through the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and now Joseph.

Joseph, sold into slavery, rose to power in Egypt, saving the nation from famine. His brothers, who sold him into slavery, unknowingly seek his help. Joseph tested their character and, content with their change, reveals his identity. He invited his family to Egypt, where Pharaoh offers them the best land, despite Egyptians' disdain for shepherds.

As we near the end of Genesis, things come full circle. Jacob, like his grandfather Abraham, is driven to Egypt by famine. God spoke to him at Beersheba, where his journey began. The family that moves with Jacob to Egypt totalled 70. This was symbolic of totality and perhaps a nod to the 70 nations in Genesis 10.

Finally, Jacob is dying and wants to give his sons some final words, which is where we pick up today.

Genesis 48-50

We mentioned in day 9 that God subverts the expected things to make it clear that he is in control. He chose Jacob over his older brother Esau and in this chapter we see him choose Ephraim over his older brother Manasseh and Judah over his older brother Reuben.

Jacob is dying, and first of all he calls Joseph and his sons in. He wants to adopt Joseph’s sons as his own so that they may share equal blessing the with the rest of his sons. Eventually they would become tribes in the future nation of Israel.

This was a fairly common practice at this time. So he begins to bless them but gives Ephraim a greater blessing than Manasseh, despite him being younger. This annoys Joseph, who tries to stop him, but Jacob explains this is how it’s meant to be.

When we fast forward to the time of the 12 tribes, we do see Ephraim is much more prosperous, and when the nation splits in two the northern kingdom often takes on the name of Ephraim (this northern kingdom is also called Israel, or Joseph).

Then Jacob moves on to his own sons. I’d love to unpack them all, but for now let’s just unpack a few. First of all, we get Reuben, his oldest. But if you remember way back in Genesis 35:22 Reuben thought it would be a good idea to sleep with one of his father’s wives. Jacob didn’t do anything at the time but he still remembers. He decides to strip Reuben of his blessing as the oldest. He won’t be the leader over his brothers. He’s going to give that role to someone else.

Then there’s Simeon and Levi. If you remember, in Genesis 34 they tricked a whole town into getting circumcised and then slaughtered all of them while they were still reeling in pain. Jacob strips these guys of their rights to land.

Interestingly, down the line the tribe of Simeon does get a plot of land, but it completely surrounded by the tribe of Judah. As we progress through Israel’s history we see the tribe of Simeon mentioned less and less, so it seems likely that eventually it just got absorbed into the tribe of Judah.

The tribe of Levi is interesting. Though this seems like a curse, God uses it for good. He claims this tribe for himself, and they become his priest and temple servants. So when they get spread across Israel, they become God’s servants to the entire nation.

Next up is Judah. He is given Reuben’s blessing to be the most significant tribe leader over all the rest. Later on when the tribes are wandering in the desert after leaving Egypt, we will see that Judah’s tribe is the biggest.

It is from Judah’s tribe that king David was born, and all the kings that followed him. When the nation split in two, the southern kingdom became exclusively known as Judah. When the people were taken into exile and then allowed to come back, they became known as Jews, which comes from Judah’s name (this is the difference between Jews as Israelites). And then Jesus himself came from Judah.

The last brother I want to look at is Dan. Jacob says that he ‘shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel’. In other words, Dan will definitely be a tribe along with all the other tribes. But Jacob also says that Dan will be like a serpent. As we read on through the Bible, we will see the tribe of Dan struggle to claim land for themselves, and a few times cause problems for the rest of Israel.

Then Jacob dies and Joseph’s brothers become scared that he might punish them now their father is dead. Instead we get this important line, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). As we looked at yesterday line is the heart of the book of Genesis.

Right at the beginning of the book we had Adam and Eve choose to eat the fruit of the knowledge of GOOD and EVIL. Then all through Genesis we see people take what God made GOOD and use it for EVIL.

But the author wants you to know that despite all that, it is the heart of God to take what humans intend for EVIL and make it GOOD.

Perhaps there is EVIL in your life. Maybe someone is treating you poorly. Maybe you’re suffering from an illness or something. In that case seek God, pray to him, trust in him, because it is his desire to take that EVIL and ultimately, somehow, turn it into GOOD!

And so we finish Genesis. We’ve journeyed from the story of creation, to Adam and Eve’s fall and the decline of humanity. We read of how God spread out humanity and then chose a new family to restore creation to himself. With that family we’ve journeyed through the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacobs, and how his twelve sons.

Finally, we now have a large family prospering in Egypt while the rest of Egypt are subservient to the Pharaoh. This is where Exodus will pick up, as it follows the growth of the family and the resentment of the Egyptians.

Psalm 16

This psalm is attributed to King David and fits into the category of trust psalm (see also Psalm 11; 23; 62; 63; 91). These psalms sing of confidence in who God is.

Psalm 16:1-2 - The Lord my refuge

Psalm 16:3-4 - Contrast between those who are committed to the Lord and those who worship other gods

Psalm 16:5-6 - The Lord my portion

Psalm 16:7-8 - The Lord my comfort

Psalm 16:9-11 - The Lord my joy

 The psalm opens up with the psalmist laying out their stall, so to speak. God is the one that they trust in. As far as they are concerned, there is nothing good that can be found outside God.

Those that are equally faithful to God are an encouragement to the psalmist. But those that choose to worship other gods, choose a way of sorrow. The psalmist will never make offerings to other gods, or speak their names. He wants nothing to do with them. 

And so he sets his eyes back on the Lord. The Lord is our portion and inheritance. For an Israelite, being a follower of God was part of their inheritance. Just like someone enjoys wealth or property being handed down to them, the Israelites see their faith as a blessing they inherit. This is also true for us as Christians. This access to God is something we inherit as adopted children of God.

The Lord is our comfort. When we are unsure or struggling, it is the Lord who comforts and advises us. He goes before us, protecting us and holding us stable, even when it feels like we’re unstable. This promise (Psalm 16:10) is picked up in the New Testament when they talk about Jesus’ resurrection. God did not abandon Jesus to death but restored him to life (Acts 2:25-28; 13:35).

Because of all this, the Lord is our joy. We have a security, that God won’t abandon us. He offers us life. His very presence is a source of joy.