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Genesis 48:1-49:33

Jacob said to Joseph, "The Sovereign God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. He said to me, 'I am going to make you fruitful and will multiply you. I will make you into a group of nations, and I will give this land to your descendants as an everlasting possession.'
(Genesis 48:3-4 NET.)

I find the tenses used in this passage very interesting. Jacob states that God told him He was going to make him, not his descendents, not some group in the future, but him, Jacob/Israel, fruitful. For someone who had no knowledge of the resurrection, someone who the “Soon Coming King” would be way into the future, Jacob had an intense sense of eternity in his heart. Do we, those who come after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, see our off-spring, children, grandchildren and great-grand’s in the Big Picture of things as being an extension of ourselves, or do we think everything ends with us? How much of this do I truly understand? I say that I am part of something greater than myself, but do I act it and walk it? Are my actions speaking louder than my words?

I also find it interesting that Leah is buried in the land promised to Abraham, in the cave bought when the land was promised but not obtained fully. However, Rachael was buried on the road outside of Bethlehem. I’m not sure if there is any significance, I just find it interesting. Leah, the “booby” prize, the one not wanted, was the mother of both the priestly line and the kingly line, Levi and Judah. I’m not taking anything away from Joseph, but it seems that God always deals with the unwanted, the outcasts. I believe what we see in these twelve boys played out in this story is a strong reason why we are told to be careful how we judge. We, outside of the revelation of God, do not know how a story will end. It seems the ones with the “badest” reputations don’t end that way. What is that song, “It’s Not How You Start but How You Finish.” I think it is from a musical, but I can’t remember which one.

Grace and peace,
Ramona

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