A Father’s Blessings and Curses; Blog Through the Bible Project
Genesis 49
Jacob Blesses His Sons
1 Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
listen to your father Israel.
my might, the first sign of my strength,
excelling in honor, excelling in power.
4 Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel,
for you went up onto your father’s bed,
onto my couch and defiled it.
6 Let me not enter their council,
let me not join their assembly,
for they have killed men in their anger
and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
and their fury, so cruel!
I will scatter them in Jacob
and disperse them in Israel.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,c]”>[c]
until he to whom it belongs shall come
and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
Judah was the fourth son, but Reuben, Simeon and Levi had forfeited the right to leadership because of their moral failings. So leadership is given to Judah, and the double portion of the first born given to Joseph.
and become a haven for ships;
his border will extend toward Sidon.
lying down among the sheep pens.g]”>[g]
15 When he sees how good is his resting place
and how pleasant is his land,
he will bend his shoulder to the burden
and submit to forced labor.
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan will be a snake by the roadside,
a viper along the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that its rider tumbles backward.
18 “I look for your deliverance, LORD.
Jacob interrupts his pronouncements here by a brief prayer that highlights his concern for his descendants. Without divine deliverance, they will not survive.
but he will attack them at their heels.
he will provide delicacies fit for a king.
that bears beautiful fawns.
The Death of Jacob
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good. Genesis 50
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good
Genesis 50
Joseph Reassures His Brothers
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?”
Sometimes, peace and contentment and shalom is all the reward one gets for virtue. Conversely, dread, fear, worry and anxiety is often all the punishment one gets for one’s evil deeds.
16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
Joseph wept because they were the same old manipulative brothers, still untruthful. Because they still did not trust him.
The Death of Joseph
22 Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years 23 and saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees.c]”>[c]
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“Yet I go days at a time, while always in prayer, not always reading the Bible.”
Hi Jennifer, Yeah, I thought that if I put short passages from the Gospels, Epistles, Proverbs and Psalms, the words of Scripture themselves would provide blessing to those who stumbled upon my blog–whether my annotations proved inspiring–or not!! 🙂
It's inspiring. I'm praying for more of a hunger for God's word, as much as I need air to breathe, which is how it's supposed to be. Yet I go days at a time, while always in prayer, not always reading the Bible.
Stats? I think I looked at mine once about four years ago, so I have no idea if people read me or not unless they leave a note. It might depress me to look at them…or inspire me, I'm not sure which!
Thanks so much for reading, Jen. Trying to blog through the Bible is a bit of a step of faith for me, and I get excited when stats show that people are reading it. I am really enjoying it–though it is certainly an enormous and challenging project!!
I love when Jacob says to his sons “Gather around so I can tell you…” Every father, take note.