Day 16. Genesis 47-50

Genesis 47-50

Genesis 47

¹Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.

Goshen was some of the (but not the) best land in Egypt. It's in the north east of the country. The name Goshen doesn't really mean anything. The area is now a desert.

Joseph presents five of his brothers to pharaoh.

³And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.

Darn it; Joseph said they were supposed to say cattle ranchers because shepherding is an abomination.

⁷And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

There wasn't always contention between the Hebrews and the Egyptians.

⁸And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?

⁹And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.

Ok, if Jacob is 130, that means that it is 1766.

¹¹And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

Ramesses means "Born of the god Ra". Messes means "born of the god". Amenmesse means "born of the god Amun".

¹³And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.

The famine was getting worse. The first two years, there was still plenty. Now, things are getting pretty bad.

¹⁴And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.

First, Joseph managed to get all the money from the people, in exchange for corn.

¹⁵And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth.

The famine (with the help of Joseph) ruined the economy of Egypt.

¹⁶And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.

¹⁷And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.

After Joseph took all the money from the land. He then took all the livestock, in exchange for corn. Why didn't these people ever eat their livestock? Jacob and all his people came down with a whole lot of livestock. Why didn't they eat it? Does no one eat cows? Oh yeah, probably not.

And now, for a discussion of Astrological Ages. Each age is roughly 2000 years.

We are currently (or just about to go into) the Age of Aquarius. Yes, like the musical Hair says, "this is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius". The astrological ages proceed backwards from the order of the zodiac. We haven't gotten our great messiah for this age yet (I'll do it). Aquarius would last from about 2000-4000 AD.

The age that is either ending, or just ended was the age of Pisces. The great messiah for that age was Jesus. The symbol of Pisces is a fish. One of the symbols that people use to represent Jesus is the Ichthus (the Jesus fish). (pronounced Ikh-thoos) It is the greek word for fish. Pisces would have lasted from about 0-2000 AD.

The age before that was the Age of Aries. Aries is the ram. The great messiah for that age was Moses. Moses is often depicted with rams horns, known as Horned Moses, (we'll get to more of that in a couple of days). Remember, Isaac was about to be sacrifice, and then a ram was stuck in the bushes and it was sacrificed instead. Isaac was born in 1956, right at the beginning of the age of Aries. Aries would have been from 0-2000 BC.

The age before that was Taurus. Taurus is the bull. That era would have been from 2000-4000 BC (the first day). Bulls were sacred animals in Egypt during this time. So people wouldn't have eaten them.

So, since they were at the end of the age of Taurus, the people wouldn't eat their sacred animals.

Back to the bible.

¹⁸When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:

¹⁹Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.

Joseph has the money, the livestock, and now he's taking the land and the people.

²⁰And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's.

²¹And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.

He turned the farming civilization into people who lived in cities. He didn't buy the land of the priests. After purchasing the land, he allowed people to go farm on it, in return for 20% of the harvest.

²⁶And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh's.

Apparently the bible is correct, from what I can tell, Egypt currently has a progressive income tax rate from 20 to 40 percent.

²⁷And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.

²⁸And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.

Jacob is preparing to die.

²⁹And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:

³⁰But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.

³¹And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head.

This is another testicle/ballsack/circumcision swear. "Under my thigh" means the testes, or on the circumcision.

Either way, Jacob didn't want to be buried in Egypt (he's a racist), he wanted to be buried in the cave of the patriarchs.

Genesis 48

Jacob takes his two boys in to see their grandfather and be blessed.

⁵And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.

As Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. What Jacob means is, INSTEAD of Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. Jacob was still pissed at Reuben for sleeping with Bilhah. Jacob was pissed at Simeon for killing all the people in Shechem.

⁸And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these?

What? In the 17 years that Jacob lived in Israel, he never met Joseph's boys?

In recent reading we saw how the notions of Benjamin were incorrect. How he's portrayed as a child of around 10 years old when he meets Joseph in Egypt. Meanwhile he moves down into Egypt with 10 children. Today we get another example of how people get it wrong.

The picture to the right is Jacob Blessing Ephraim and Manasseh, by Benjamin West. This was painted in 1766-68. The picture hangs in the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio.

You see Jacob, an old man, blessing two young children. Manasseh is the darker haired child.

In Genesis 41:50, we see the sons were born before the years of famine. Jacob moved into Egypt in the second year of the famine. Jacob dies after living there for 17 years. Jacob dies after giving the blessings. The boys would have been nearly 20, and not children.

⁹And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.

Joseph introduces his sons.

¹²And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.

This verse makes it seem as though the boys were children. We'll have to keep reading to ensure that they are men, and not young boys.

¹³And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him.

¹⁴And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.

Ephraim got the right hand (so he'd be the blond child in the painting).

¹⁵And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,

¹⁶The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

God bless these boys.

¹⁷And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.

¹⁸And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.

It's funny that Jacob wants his sons blessed in their birth order. He's usurping his oldest brothers blessing, by getting his boys blessed first. He's also getting the primary blessing from the son who usurped it from the deserving brother (Esau). Who got his blessing from the father who sent away his firstborn (Ishmael) to go die in the desert.

¹⁹And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

The younger sons always seem to be the ones who are greater.

²²Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

I don't remember that story.

Genesis 49

¹And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.

Jacob calls his sons together. It's time for them to be blessed.

First he insults Reuben, for sleeping with his concubine. (1)

⁴Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.

Then he insults Simeon and Levi, for killing Shechem.(2,3)

⁷Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

Judah is the first to get something nice said to him. (4)

⁸Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.

Zebulon: (5)

¹³Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.

Issachar: (6)

¹⁴Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:

Dan: (7)

¹⁶Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

Gad: (8)

¹⁹Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.

Asher: (9)

²⁰Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

Naphtali: (10)

²¹Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.

Joseph: (11)

²²Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:

Benjamin: (12)

²⁷Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

It seems like some of those are just the ravings of a dieing man. They don't seem like blessings at all.

²⁸All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.

Those are the blessings.

Then he demanded to be buried in the cave of the patriarchs.

³³And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

Then he died.

Exactly when did all the blessings take place? We know the final blessings happened in 1749, right before he died. The narrative seems to imply that the 12 blessings happened almost directly after the Manasseh/ Ephraim blessings. Which would put it at 17 years after Jacob went to Egypt, making those two boys nearly 20.

Genesis 50

¹And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.

²And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.

This is the first mention of embalming. There is only one other Hebrew who was embalmed, and that's later, in verse 26.

Joseph tells Pharaoh that he wants to go bury his dad at the cave of the patriarchs.

Pharaoh lets him go.

¹²And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:

¹³For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

Jacob was buried next to Leah. Rachel was buried someplace else. Jacob may have loved Rachel more, but the person he was buried with was Leah.

¹⁴And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

The brothers went back. The famine was over. They didn't need to go back. They could have stayed, if they did, we wouldn't have a whole lot of the religions that are out there now. There would have been no exodus. There wouldn't be the plagues. There wouldn't be passover. Jesus wouldn't have been sacrificed on passover.

The brothers are then afraid that Joseph will now punish them. They thought that maybe he was being nice because of Jacob.

¹⁷So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.

Joseph was sad that they thought he would do them harm.

²⁰But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

²¹Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

Joseph promises to take care of his brothers families.

²²And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.

²³And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph's knees.

Joseph actually took part in the lives of his grand children. Which is odd, since no one else seems to have taken an interest in their grandkids. Noah cursed one of his. Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh, but didn't know who they were. No one seemed to care about anyone except their favorite.

²⁶So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Joseph finally died.

Thus ends Genesis.

Points to ponder:

1. Is it right to take all the money, then take the livestock, then take the land, then take the people? If the stored food was a fifth, didn't the people have a right to the food they put up?

2. We Manasseh and Ephraim children, or were they in their late teens?

3. Why did they go back to Egypt after burying Jacob?