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Last week we
finished with the death of Abraham's son Ishmael. We also saw that
before Abraham died he arranged to find a wife for his son Isaac from
his brother's family. Isaac and Rebecca are married but after twenty
years Rebecca remained barren. After Isaac beseeched the Lord, Rebecca
conceived and gave birth to twins – Esau and Jacob. Rebecca must have
had a very difficult and painful pregnancy because she complains to God
that it would have been better if she hadn't conceived. She believed
that her pregnancy was a blessing from God so she turns to God to find
an answer that would explain why the babies were continually turning in
her belly. The Lord answered and said to her that
"two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be separated from
thy belly; and one people shall excel the other people; and the greater
shall serve the lesser." The two nations will be the Israelites
and the Edomites who will be hostile towards each other.
Esau was
born first and he was red in colour and hairy all over. Jacob was born
immediately after and as he was coming out of the womb his hand took
hold of Esau's heel as a sigh that he would be the greater of the two
and Esau will be as a servant to him. The twins were fraternal, in other
words non-identical twins and were completely different in character;
Esau was the outdoor type who loved hunting and was his father’s
favourite, while Jacob was content to stay at home and cook and was his
mother’s favourite.
As the
firstborn, Esau was the rightful inheritor of all that Isaac had. One
day Esau came home fainting from hunger and pleaded with Jacob to give
him something to eat. Jacob took this opportunity to sell his food in
exchange for Esau’s birthright. Esau thought that if he didn’t eat
something he would die and then what would his birthright profit him so
he agreed and gave away his birthright for a bowl of lentils. The
birthrights consisted of a double portion of the inheritance, to be the
head of the Patriarchal family, and to hold the priestly duties because
in those days before the official priesthood, the priests were the heads
of the family.
Neither of
the brothers acted correctly. Jacob seized the moment to steal what was
rightfully his brother's, but Esau acted contemptuously and belittled
his birthright. He would not have died if he didn't eat at that very
moment. It says he did eat and drink, and rose up and went his way and
Esau belittled the birthrights, in other words, he was unconcerned at
the great loss of the birthrights.
Genesis then
tells us of another famine and of events very similar to Abraham's
story. Isaac moved from Canaan to Gerara where king was Abimelech.
Abraham had also lived for a time in Gerara and again the king was named
Abimelech. It is very unlikely that it is the same king because many
years have passed so the second king Abimelech is probably the son of
the first or Abimelech could be a title like the Egyptian Pharaoh or the
Turkish Sultan. From here Isaac must have been thinking of going down to
Egypt, because the Lord tells him to remain where he was and that he
will be with him and bless him. God then establishes his covenant with
Isaac that he will multiply his seed as the stars of heaven and from his
seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
Like his
father Abraham, Isaac feared that they would kill him to take Rebecca if
they knew she was his wife and when the men of the place asked of her,
he said she is my sister. Isaac remained in Gerara for a long time, then
one day the king looked out of the palace window and saw Isaac sporting
with Rebecca his wife, in other words they were performing their marital
duty. The king asked him why he had lied and Isaac explained that he
feared he would be killed for her sake. The king must have heard of what
happened with Abraham and his father and gave orders that no one was to
touch Isaac or his wife otherwise they would be liable to death. Isaac
continued to live in Gerara and the Lord blessed him and the land that
he sowed. His sheep and herds of cattle increased and he became very
wealthy. Seeing that he was continually increasing, the king told Isaac
to leave his land because he had become mightier that them. Isaac then
departs and returns to his own lands.
The twins
are now forty years old and Esau takes two wives from the Chettite
nation. For some reason of which we are not told, his wives were
continually quarrelling with Isaac and Rebecca.
The story
then jumps ahead to when Isaac is very old and blind. He was 100 years
old when Esau got married so now he is probably about 150 years old,
which would make the twins around 90 years old. Isaac asked Esau to go
hunting and bring him some savoury game to eat and after that he would
bless him. This blessing was important because it was the final blessing
to be given to the firstborn who would carry on the line of redemption.
Rebecca heard what Isaac told Esau and while he was out hunting, she
told Jacob to bring her two young tender kids from the livestock and she
would prepare the meat as Isaac liked it. This shows us that even though
Isaac was very old, he was still in a very good physical condition to be
able to eat so much meat. Rebecca tells Jacob to pretend that he is
Isaac and take the meat to his father so that he could receive the
blessing instead of Esau. This was a problem because even if he could
pass off his voice like his brother's, he was hairless and Esau was
hairy all over, if his father was to touch him he would realize
immediately that it wasn't Esau. Rebecca took Esau's clothing and put
them on Jacob and tied the skins from the goats on his arms and neck and
Jacob went into his father. Isaac was suspicious and asked to touch him.
Sure enough he was hairy but his voice was the voice of Jacob. So after
eating and drinking, he told him to come near and kiss him. The smell of
Esau's clothing convinced him that it was Esau and gave him the blessing
due to the firstborn. Thus for the second time Jacob tricked Esau out of
his birthright and became the inheritor of the Messianic promise.
When the
real Esau came to his father the cunning deception was revealed, but it
was too late because Isaac had made Jacob the head of the family and
Esau was to serve under him. Naturally Esau was furious and anticipated
the day when Isaac would die so that he could kill Jacob. Rebecca heard
that Esau had threatened to kill Jacob and told him to leave and go to
Mesopotamia to her brother's house until she would sent word that Esau's
anger was passed. To make it sound as it was Isaac's decision she told
her husband that rather than Jacob take a wife from the Chettites like
Esau whose wives showed disrespect to them, it would be better for him
to take a wife from her family in Mesopotamia. So Isaac called Jacob and
sent him to find himself a wife from his Mother’s Brother’s family.
Esau, seeing that Isaac blessed Jacob on his journey and that his father
considered the Chettite daughters as evil, went to his uncle Ishmael and
took to wife one of his uncle's daughters, hoping that taking a
granddaughter of Abraham his father would be pleased with him.
On his
journey Jacob stopped at a certain place to sleep and fell into a dream.
He saw a ladder reaching from the earth to heaven and angels ascending
and descending on it. Standing above the ladder was the Lord who made
his covenant with Jacob telling him that his seed would spread
throughout the earth and that from his seed all the families of the
earth would be blessed. On waking he set up a pillar on the spot where
he slept saying that there was the house of God and the gate to heaven
and called the place Bethel which means the house of God. Jacob’s ladder
is a foreshadowing of the Mother of God. She became the ladder joining
earth to heaven by which God descended and became man and through whom
all the earth is blessed. The story continues with how on his way to his
uncle Laban, he stopped at a well where he met Rachel who he fell in
love with. He told Laban that he would work for him without wages for
seven years and then he was to give his younger daughter to him as a
wife. Laban agreed and after the seven years were up, Jacob asked for
Rachel. A wedding took place, but Jacob couldn’t see who the bride was,
as she was probably covered from head to toe in veils. In the morning he
saw that he had been deceived and the bride next to him was Leah,
Rachael’s older sister. He was told by Laban that it was not their
custom to marry the younger daughter before the older, but he could also
have Rachel if he worked for him another seven years. So Jacob married
Rachel also and worked another seven years.
Leah first
gave Jacob the sons Ruben, Symeon, Levi and Judah. Rachel was barren and
so gave her maid Balla to Jacob so that she could have children through
her. Remember we saw this surrogate arrangement with Sarah, Abraham’s
wife when she was also barren. It was accepted that as the maid belonged
to the wife then any offspring also belonged to the wife. Balla gave
Jacob the sons Dan and Naphtali. Then Leah gave her maid Zelpha to Jacob
and bore the sons Gad, and Aser.
One day
Leah's firstborn Ruben was out in the fields and found some mandrakes.
Mandrake is a plant that produces a small cherry size red berry. It is
poisonous and causes delirium and hallucinations. In high doses, it can
even send the user into a coma, but in ancient times it was considered a
love plant and was used as a remedy to help barren women. Rebecca asked
Lear for some of the mandrakes and Lear replied:
"Is it not enough for thee that thou hast taken away my husband? shalt
thou take away my son’s mandrakes also?" From this verse it is
apparent that Jacob had abandoned his duty towards Lear and so Rachel
offers to let him sleep with her that night in exchange for the
mandrakes. So went Jacob came from the fields Lear met him and told him
that he was to come to her that night because she had paid for his
services to Rebecca. Lear again fell pregnant and gave birth to a fifth
son Issachar and then she conceived again and bore her sixth son Zabulon
and after Zabulon she gave birth to a daughter, and called her name
Dina. Jacob had other daughters, but only Dina is named because of an
episode concerning her which we will see later. The mandrakes didn't
seem to work because Rebecca remained barren while Lear had three more
children. But then as it says in scriptural language,
“God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her,
and opened her womb and she gave birth to Joseph.”
Now after
working for Laban for 20 years, Jacob decided to leave his father in
law’s house and return to his own land. Jacob asked for his wages to be
paid in livestock. All those years working for Laban, God had blessed
Jacob and Laban had become a very wealthy man. Laban recognized that the
reason of his prosperity was Jacob and didn't want to let him go. They
agreed to separate the flocks. The grey sheep and the specked and
spotted goats which were the least would belong to Jacob while the white
sheep and unspecked goats would belong to Laban. Jacob remained to look
after the folds until the sheep came into heat, conceive and give birth
and if any among Laban's sheep were specked then they would belong to
Jacob. Laban thought he had a great deal because the majority of the
sheep were usually born white. By divine providence, all the sheep born
were specked and Jacob became very wealthy. But Laban changed the
agreement and said that the marked sheep were his and the white Jacob's.
This must have happened for a few years and every time Laban kept
changing the deal. Laban was not going to let Jacob go with so much of
his livestock so eventually God tells Jacob to leave for the land of his
father and that he will be with him.
Thus Jacob
secretly sets off with his entire household to return but was afraid off
meeting his brother Esau. They had been as enemies ever since Jacob
deceived him of his birthright. When Esau heard that Jacob was returning
he set off with 400 men to meet him. Jacob thought that he was coming to
wage war so he divided his household into two and sent them in different
directions so that if Esau killed the one party the other would escape.
That night Jacob was by himself and he had a vision that he was
wrestling with a man which continued until dawn. At daybreak the man
asked him to let him go, but Jacob wouldn’t let go until the other
blessed him. The other man was God and told him that from that moment on
his name would no longer be Jacob but Israel. And that is how the nation
of Israel received its name and the 12 sons of Jacob are the 12 tribes
of Israel. The meaning of the vision is that if Jacob could wrestle all
night and morning with God, then what has he to be afraid of Esau who is
a mere man. When Esau saw Jacob, he ran to meet him, and embraced him,
and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. He wasn’t coming
for war but to welcome his twin brother who he hadn’t seen for more than
20 years.
With Jacob
now back in Canaan, he bought a field on the outskirts of a city called
Salem and pitched his tents there. He must have remained there a few
years because when he left his father in law in Mesopotamia, his
daughter Dina was six years old and the following event would have her
at least 14 or 15 years old. One day Dina went out to see the daughters
of the city to see what they were like. Shechem the son of Emmor the
Hevite, the ruler of the land, saw her and took her and slept with her
and humbled her. It seems though that he didn't rape her, but that she
went with him willingly because it says that he was head over heels for
her and loved her and spoke according to the damsel’s heart. In other
words he seduced and won her heart with sweet words. Shechem was willing
to correct his error and asked his father to arrange for Dina to become
his wife.
Jacob heard
that his daughter had been defiled and when all the boys were come home
from the fields he told them what had happened. Needless to say they
were furious and wanted revenge for the humiliation shown against their
father Israel. Emmor, Shechem's father went to speak to Jacob and ask
for his daughter's hand in marriage with his son, and in general to come
to an arrangement where the two tribes could intermarry. At this, Dina's
brothers, Symeon and Levi thought cunningly and told Emmor that they
cannot give their sister to someone that is uncircumcised. But if every
male was to be circumcised then there would not be a problem of
intermarrying and dwelling together as one people. The demand was legal
because every descendant of Abraham had to be circumcised, but hidden
behind the demand was revenge. Emmor didn't see this and the demands to
be circumcised pleased him. He told his son and he also was willing to
be circumcised because he loved Dina. They then went out to the men of
the city and told them that the Israelites are peaceful people, we can
trade with them and take their daughters as wives and our daughters as
their wives and be as one people if every male among us be circumcised,
as they are circumcised. The men agreed and everyone was circumcised. On
the third day after circumcision there is excruciating pain and taking
advantage of this, Symeon and Levi went into the city with their swords
and slew every male. They slew Emmor and Shechem and took Dina out of
their house and returned her to their camp, then the other boys went
back with them and looted everything they could take, they took their
sheep, oxen, asses, everything they had in store and took their wives
captive. Jacob reprimanded them for what they did because now all the
other peoples in the area of Canaan and beyond will think that he is
evil and will wage war against him. The boys replied in defence: But
shall they treat our sister as a harlot?
God now
tells Jacob to move to Bethel and make his dwelling there. From there he
travelled southward probably to visit his father Isaac who was still
alive in Hebron. On the way, he stopped just outside of Ephratha, later
known as Bethlehem, because his wife Rachel who was again pregnant went
into labour. The birth was difficult and Rachel died giving birth to
Jacob's twelfth son Benjamin. Rachel was buried in Bethlehem and of
course you have all heard of Bethlehem because that was where Jesus was
born. In the Gospel according to Matthew we read in the second chapter
that deals with Christ’s nativity a quote from a prophecy by the prophet
Micah: “And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda,
art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come
a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.” (Matth. 2: 6)
Matthew doesn’t quote the prophecy word for word but just refers to it
in general because it was well known among the Jews. The Septuagint
version of the Book of Micah reads: “And thou,
Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, art few in number, to be reckoned among
the thousands of Juda, yet out of thee shall one come forth to me, to be
a ruler of Israel, and his goings forth were from the beginning even
from eternity.” (Micah 5:2) This is a very important prophecy
because it mentions that Christ existed before his birth:
“his goings forth were from the beginning even
from eternity.” Further down after the slaughter of the innocent
children by Herod, Matthew quotes another prophecy; this time from the
Prophet Jeremiah: “Then was fulfilled that which
was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice
heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for
her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.”
(Matth. 2: 17-18). Rama means a high place and was a hill on the
outskirts of Bethlehem. The prophecy mentions Rachel weeping for her
children and presents her as a mother representing all the mothers who
wept and mourned for their children because Bethlehem was given to
Benjamin, the youngest son of Israel and Rachael was his mother who was
also buried on that high place in Bethlehem.
Jacob dwelt
for a time in Bethlehem and during that time Reuben his firstborn slept
with Rachel's maid Balla, the mother of his brothers Dan and Naphtali.
Jacob heard of it and considered it an evil act, but we are not told
anything else concerning any repercussions against Reuben.
Jacob now
comes to his father Isaac in Hebron in the land of Canaan where Abraham
and Isaac lived. Isaac lived a 180years and died and was buried by his
sons Esau and Jacob. Jacob now living in Hebron increases in livestock
and the place cannot provide for both Jacob's and Esau's clans so Esau
gathers all his family and belongings and migrates to south of the Dead
Sea and established the kingdom of Edom. Genesis then gives us Esau's
genealogy with the names of the kings and princes Edom.
With Esau
now out of the picture Genesis now gives us the very touching and
emotional story of Jacob’s favourite son Joseph. I used to read this
story as a young child from the children’s picture Bible and would
always end up with tears in my eyes. Even today when I read it I still
swell up inside ready to burst into tears. The Church reads the story of
Joseph during the services of the last week of Lent and Holy Week
because his life, his sufferings, his innocence and sinless life are an
image and type of Christ. Holy Monday is also dedicated to Righteous
Joseph the All-Good as the Church refers to him (Ιωσήφ του Παγκάλου).
Joseph is
seventeen and helps his brothers look after their father's sheep. He
informs his father of a grave sin committed by his brothers, we are not
told of the sin, but it has been interpreted that it could have been the
sin of Sodomy. Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons because
as it says “he was the son of his old age” but also because he was
Rachel’s firstborn and he always loved Rachael from the first time he
saw her. Jacob showed his favouritism towards Joseph and made him a coat
of many colours. This wasn't just any coat; the usual working coat for
that period was short and sleeveless, but this was a long coat with wide
sleeves and was the dress of the VIPs of the time. His brothers would
have interpreted this action by their father that Joseph was to assume
family leadership. All these things made his brothers hate him and were
always hostile to him. As already said Joseph is an image and type of
Christ. Their two lives have many common elements. One of these is the
fact that they were both hated by their brethren: Joseph by his blood
brothers and Jesus by his brethren the Jews.
One day he told
them a dream that he had, which with interpretation said that he would
reign over them and that they would bow down to him. He should have kept
quiet because now they hated him even more. One day Jacob sent Joseph to
find his brothers who were out tending to the flock. When they saw him
afar off, some of them conspired against him to slay him. Reuben the
eldest heard what they were planning to do and persuaded them not to
shed blood, but rather just cast him into a pit. He planned to help him
out afterwards and deliver him to his father. When Joseph came they
stripped him of his coat of many colours and cast him into an empty pit.
A little later they saw a company of Ishmaelites on their way to Egypt
and Judah suggested to sell Joseph rather than kill their own brother.
The Ishmaelites were the descendants of Abraham's son Ishmael.
So Joseph
was sold for 20 pieces of gold. Again another similarity with Jesus who
was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver. The KJB has 20 pieces of
silver instead of gold. Reuben was not with the others when they sold
him and returned to the pit to help him out. When he saw that he wasn’t
there, he returned to his brethren, and said, Joseph is not there where
can I go? In other words, how could he return to his father without
Joseph? He was the eldest and therefore responsible for Joseph’s
wellbeing. The brothers decided to kill a goat and dip Joseph’s coat in
the blood. They took the coat to their father telling him that they had
found it. Jacob recognized the coat and said that an evil beast hath
devoured him. Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. Thus Jacob wept
and mourned for his beloved son.
Joseph's story is suddenly put on hold and
the next chapter (38) tells us of Jacob's fourth son Judas and his
family. Joseph is an image of Christ, but Judas is the line of
salvation, he is the son of Jacob from whom Christ will descend so his
story is of great importance and cannot be overlooked. He is the link in
the chain from Adam to Abraham to the expected Messiah. His story also
serves to show that righteous descendants are by no means harmed by the
sinful acts of their ancestors just as Christ is not affected by being a
descendant of Judas.
Judas
marries a Canaanite woman and has three sons with her, Er, Onan and
Shelah. When his firstborn Er is old enough he marries him to a woman
called Tamar. But Er was evil in the sight of the Lord and God slew him.
Er left his wife childless and without an inheritor. The custom at the
time which later became a law was that the second son in line was to
take his brother's widow as his wife and give her a child. But the child
from this union would not be recognized as his child but as the child of
his dead brother, who would also inherit anything that belonged to him.
Judas' second son
Onan takes Tamar to wife, but not wanting to get her pregnant prefers to
spill his seed on the ground. He probably didn't want to raise a child
that would not be recognized as his own or more probably he desired to
inherit his brother's wealth himself. His action appeared evil in the
sight of God and He slew him also. Onan spilling his seed on the ground
has always been interpreted as a form of masturbation and the two words
Onanism and masturbation are used synonymously. In reality, Onan used
the withdrawal method with Tamar, refusing to father children by her
since they would not be considered his, but rather his brother’s. Onan’s
sin was not that he spilled his seed, but that he deliberately refused
to fulfil his obligation to Tamar and God’s will.
So Tamar is once
again a widow with no child and Judah still has one more son. Judah
promised Tamar that when his younger son was old enough he would give
him to her according to the law. When his son did grow up, Judah was
afraid to give him to Tamar lest the same fate also befall upon his
younger son. When some time passed, Tamar realized that Judah was not
going to give her his son, so one day she dressed up as a prostitute and
fooled Judah to sleep with her. As payment for her service, Judah
promised to send her a young goat from his flock. As a pledge of his
promise Tamar asked him to give her his ring, chain and staff and when
he sends the goat they would be returned to him. Judah sent the goat
with his shepherd, but when he asked to find the prostitute she was
nowhere to be found. After three months had passed, it was reported to
him that his daughter in law had acted like a prostitute and was
pregnant. Judas gave orders for her to be brought to him and be burnt.
When she came before him Tamar showed him the ring, chain and staff and
said: by the man whose these belong am I pregnant, do you recognize
them? Judah recognized them as his and said Tamar was justified in what
she did because he didn't give her his third son as he should have done.
Tamar gave birth to twins Phares and Zara. The line of salvation is
given to Phares and thus Christ is a descendant of the illegitimate
union between Tamar and her father in law.
Returning
now to Joseph in Egypt, he was bought by Pharaoh's chief cook named
Petephres or as he is better known in English Potiphar who it says was a
eunuch. In the KJB it says he was an officer of Pharaoh and captain of
the guard. The question arises that if Potiphar was a eunuch then how is
he also married? Originally a eunuch was someone who was castrated and
most people with a high position in a king's palace were eunuchs. Later
the word took a wider meaning and was used to refer to anyone who had a
position in the king's court. Thus in the Bible the word eunuch is often
used to refer to someone who had the king's trust.
Potiphar saw
that Joseph was a righteous person and that God blessed everything he
did so he made him overseer over his house. Alas the devil had to stir
up his trouble. Potiphar’s wife took a fancy to Joseph and wanted him to
sleep with her. Joseph of course refused but she continued to tempt him.
One day when they were alone she came and caught him by his garment, but
Joseph left his garment and run away naked. She felt insulted that
Joseph rejected her advances that she accused him of trying to rape her
and Potiphar had him cast into prison. He accepted his sentence without
opening his mouth to defend himself. Again here we see a similarity with
Christ who was also falsely accused and kept silent. On Holy Monday we
sing a hymn which compares Potiphar’s wife as a second Eve: “The Serpent
found a second Eve in the Egyptian woman, and with words of flattery he
sought to make Joseph fall. But, leaving his garment behind him, Joseph
fled from evil; and like the first man before his disobedience, though
naked he was not ashamed. At his prayers, O Christ, have mercy upon us.”
(Glory of Mattins)
In prison
Joseph found favour with the prison guard and was put in charge of all
the other prisoners. Time passed and Pharaoh’s butler and chief baker
were cast into prison in the same place where Joseph was. Again the
Bible calls then eunuchs because they had a position close to Pharaoh.
One day they both had a dream and Joseph interpreted the dreams saying
that in three days the butler would be restored to his position but the
baker would be hanged. And so it was that the butler was reinstated but
forgot about Joseph in prison.
After two
years Pharaoh had a dream and then another dream and all the wise men in
Egypt couldn’t interpret their meaning. The butler then remembered how
Joseph interpreted his dream and that everything he said came to pass.
Pharaoh sent for Joseph who was shaved and given clean clothing. If you
remember from our first talk on the Bible we mentioned that anyone who
appeared before pharaoh had to be clean and shaven, because the
Egyptians were offended with facial hair. This information was used to
show that Moses, the author of Genesis, was aware of these minor details
because he himself grew up as a prince in the Egyptian palaces.
A clean
Joseph, who is now thirty years old, is presented before Pharaoh who
reveals to him his dreams. Joseph interpreted the dreams and told
Pharaoh that there would be seven years of good harvest which would then
be followed by seven years of famine. He then advised Pharaoh to set
someone trustworthy to collect, from all over the land, a fifth of all
the grain to be saved for the years of famine. Pharaoh decided that
there was no one more trustworthy than Joseph so he set him over all the
people and only Pharaoh himself would be above him. Joseph received
glory for his patience, he suffered and withstood everything that came
his way, trusting in God and not losing hope. Now his suffering was
rewarded and he was raised to such a position that people now bowed down
to him. His time in prison is symbolic of Christ’s death and his
newfound glory symbolic of Christ’s resurrection.
Joseph was
given wealth and a wife called Asenath who bore him two sons Manasseh
and Ephraim. He began his mission to gather the food together from the
seven prosperous years. After this the famine came and all the lands of
the Middle East suffered greatly. Jacob, his father, heard that there
was corn in Egypt and sent all his sons except Benjamin the youngest to
buy some. Benjamin was the only son he had left from Rachel after losing
Joseph. When Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt, they came and bowed down
before him not recognizing who he was and Joseph remembered the dream he
had many years before that his brothers would bow down to him. Not
wanting to reveal himself straight away, he accused them of being spies.
They denied it and told him that they were 12 brothers, the sons of one
man, the youngest was with their father and one other doesn’t exist any
more. Joseph insisted that they were spies and the only way to prove
their innocence was for one of them to return and fetch the younger
brother but until then they would remain in prison. After having them
imprisoned for three days he told them they could return, but he kept
Symeon a prisoner until they returned with the youngest brother
Benjamin.
So Joseph
filled their sacks with corn and secretly placed the money they paid for
the corn in the sacks together with the corn. On returning, each found
his money returned to him and feared at what this could mean. They told
their father that they had to return with Benjamin so that the other
brother Simeon, who was cast into prison, would be released. Jacob
refused: he lost Joseph; he was not going to lose Benjamin also.
But the
famine continued and they ran out of corn. Jacob told his sons to go
again into Egypt and buy more corn, but his sons reminded him that they
would not receive any unless Benjamin went with them. Jacob realized
that that was the only way his clan would survive and with reluctance
allowed them to take Benjamin, but also insisted they take gifts and
double money and also the money they found in the sacks. So they
returned to Egypt and again stood before Joseph. He commanded the ruler
of his house to take them home and that they were to dine with him at
noon. They of course didn’t know the reason why they were taken to
Joseph’s house and thought it was to punish them because of the money
they previously found in their sacks. The ruler of the house told them
not to worry and that he was responsible for the money. He brought out
Simeon and gave them water to wash. When Joseph came home they bowed
before him and gave him the presents they brought for him. He asked them
about their father if he was well and alive and then asked if the person
with them was their younger brother Benjamin. At this Joseph couldn’t
constrain himself and had to separate himself from them. The Bible text
reads: “And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did
yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into
his chamber, and wept there. And he washed his face, and went out, and
refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.”
So they sat down to
eat and each was placed to sit in order according to the firstborn to
the last which surprised the brothers that the order of their births
should be known to Joseph. The food was placed before them, but
Benjamin's share was five times that of the other brothers. After the
meal he had their sacks filled with corn and had a silver cup placed in
Benjamin’s sack. They left to return home but Joseph sent his steward to
accuse them that they had stolen a silver cup. They insisted on their
innocence and said that with whomsoever it would be found, let him die,
and the rest of us will become the lord’s slaves. So all the sacked were
searched and when it came to Benjamin’s sack there it was. They were
taken back to Joseph who told them that they could all go, but Benjamin
was to be his servant. They tried to explain that they couldn’t return
without Benjamin cause that would be the end of their Father Jacob. They
pleaded with him to except one of the other brothers instead of
Benjamin. Joseph couldn’t constrain himself any longer and wept aloud.
He then revealed that he was Joseph their brother whom they sold into
Egypt, but told them not to fear or grieve because it was all done with
God’s providence so that he could preserve life. In other words he told
them that he had forgiven them and held no evil against them. Christ on
the Cross said “forgive them for they know not what they do.” Here also
they had no idea how their evil deed against Joseph would by God’s
providence become their salvation. Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of
gold and cast into prison for the good of mankind, Christ was betrayed
for thirty pieces of silver and crucified for the good of mankind.
Joseph kissed and embraced his brothers and they all wept upon each
other.
Joseph
explained how God in his providence had made him prosperous and a ruler
of Egypt and told them to return to their father, to tell him that he
was alive and to bring all of Israel, man and stock to Egypt and he
would take care of them because there was still another five years of
famine. Pharaoh heard that his brothers had come and ordered that wagons
should be sent with them to help carry the women and children. And so it
was that Jacob left the land of Canaan with his entire household and
travelled to Egypt to be near his son Joseph who he thought was dead.
Jacob's immediate family without his son's wives numbered 75 souls, but
if we take into account the servants and their families the number of
those that went down into Egypt was probably 1000 souls.
Joseph
presents his family before Pharaoh and tells him that they are shepherds
and at the same time we are told that shepherds of sheep were detestable
to the Egyptians. Then Pharaoh commands that they be given the best land
in Goshen which was later known as Rameses. The question arises: why did
Pharaoh give the best part of Egypt to the Hebrews when the Egyptians
hate shepherds? Of course it could simply have been to honour Joseph who
saved Egypt from the famine, but there is another answer. We do not
known which Pharaoh was in power at the time, but these details probably
reveal to which dynasty he belonged. The true Egyptians descended from
Noah's son Ham, but around the time of Abraham, about 2000BC, a Semitic
tribe known as the Hyksos, who descended from Noah's son Shem, took
power of Egypt. Thus, the Hyksos were related of the Hebrews, which
could help explain the warm reception Pharaoh gave to Joseph and his
family. The Hyksos are also sometimes called “The Shepherd Kings”
because as Semites, they were shepherds. As foreign rulers, they were
hated by the true Egyptians, and that was why shepherds were detestable
to the Egyptians. After Jacob and some of his sons met with Pharaoh, he
asked Joseph to put some of them to look after his own herds This also
suggests that the Pharaoh in Joseph's time was not one of the Egyptians
who hated shepherds, but that he had herds of his own that needed
experienced herdsmen to care of them – who were scarce in Egypt. After
Joseph died, the Hyskos dynasty came to an end and native Egyptians came
to power. In Exodus it speaks of a "new king" who did not know Joseph.
This is not just a son or grandson of the king whom Joseph served – but
a new dynasty which refused to recognize the validity of the Goshen land
grant to the Israelites. Moreover, fearing that the Israelites might one
day become powerful enough to overthrow them, the new king acted quickly
to enslave the Israelites.
Jacob was
130 years old when he came to Egypt and lived on for another 17 years.
On his death bed he called his sons to him so that he could bless them.
Reuben the firstborn should have legally had the birthright and the
promise to continue the line of salvation, but because he went up to thy
father’s bed and lay with his father's concubine Balla, his father now
reminds him of this and as punishment his birthright is taken from him
and told that he will not progress to anything important. Next in line
for the birthrights is Symeon and then Levi, but these are also passed
over because they slaughtered the people of Shechem because of what had
happened to their sister Dina, after a treaty of friendship was agreed
upon by the two nations. Jacob curses them for their anger and as
punishment they will be divided and scattered among the tribes of
Israel. During the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, the tribe of
Symeon is the weakest tribe and in the land of Canaan it is not given
its own territory but is added in servitude to the tribe of Judas. The
tribe of Levi is saved from the curse by Moses who is himself from the
Levi tribe, but this tribe also doesn't receive it own land in Canaan,
but is appointed as the priestly tribe and is divided to perform the
priestly duties among all the other tribes.
The
birthright is passed on to the next son Juda. Jacob tells Juda that from
him would come the Messiah who would be the expectation of the nations.
The remainder of the brothers also receive their blessing and then Jacob
dies. Before Jacob died he made Joseph promise that he would not bury
him in Egypt but in the land of his fathers, in the cave where Abraham,
Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca and Leah were buried. When He died the Egyptians
mourned him for 70 days which reflects how much they loved Joseph and
owed him their lives for saving them from the famine. After the 70 days
of mourning Joseph set of for Canaan to bury Jacob and all the elders of
the land of Egypt went with him to honour the father of their saviour.
The Book of
Genesis comes to an end with the death of Joseph aged 110. When Joseph
died, he was put in a coffin in Egypt, but before his death he told
Israel that one day God would bring them back again to the land of their
fathers and that on that day they should take his bones with them. After
Joseph's death a new chapter and a new hero and saviour awaits the
people of Israel in the Book of Exodus.
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