Jacob blesses Ephraim even though he is the younger son.
Then he gathers all his sons around him and tells them their fate. (Sort of like reading the will before he dies.) Reuben although firstborn loses favor in his father's eyes for sleeping with his stepmother. Simeon and Levi lost favor for killing all the men in Shechem. Judah is like a lion - king of the forest. Zebulun will live by the sea. Issachar will be like a donkey - forced to hard labor. Dan will be the lawyer and the judge. Gad will be a raider after being raided. Asher is like a chef or a caterer, delivering delicacies fit for a king. Naphtali is like a poet - he utters beautiful words. Joseph is like a fruitful vine, attacked by archers and made strong by God. He is the prince among his brothers. Benjamin is like a hungry wolf, a fierce warrior kicking butt and taking names. These are the twelve tribes of Israel.
Jacob knows he is about to die and asks to be buried with his fathers in the cave near Mamre in Canaan. We read about that back on the 7th - Gen 23. When Jacob finished giving his sons instructions, he lay down on his bed and died.
Joseph wept and mourned his fathers passing and had him embalmed in the Egyptian way. He asked Pharaoh to let him take his father's remains to the cemetary he spoke of. Pharaoh agreed and so the entire family (except for the kids) went and also the dignitaries of Pharaoh's court. A large entourage went to bury Jacob. They continued their mourning ritual and buried Jacob as directed.
Then the brothers have a guilt trip about all the bad stuff they did to Joseph and get scared that now that their father is dead Joseph will take revenge. So they make up a lie that Jacob said Joseph has to forgive them. Then the brothers fall down at his feet and beg for their lives. Joseph says not to be afraid, that he's not God and that everything worked out the way it was supposed to. (A wise man once told me "If it's meant to be it'll happen".)
Joseph knows he is going to die. He made his brothers swear that they would take his bones back home. After he died the brothers embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.
EXODUS
Ch 1 - Years passed and Joseph and his brothers and all that generation had died. A new king came into power who didn't know about Joseph and got scared at how large the population of Israelites had become. So he enslaved them to control them and made their lives bitter. He tried to have all the newborn boys killed by the midwives, but they couldn't do it. So the population kept growing. Pharaoh tried again to have the newborn boys thrown into the Nile, but the girls could live.
Tomorrow read Exodus 2-5:9
Ask God that His will be done in Haiti, that the people may be helped, fed and nourished, sheltered and comforted. Amen.
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