Day 029- The Bible Recap

God allowed Jacob to meet his grandchildren through Joseph for the first time and Jacob blessed them..."I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also." 48:11 In doing so he said the younger brother would be greater than the older brother...this upset Joseph...but as we've seen in the past this is a common theme.

Jacob/Israel also blessed Joseph. God's promises of protection, prosperity and long heritage first began with Abraham then was passed down to Isaac then passed down to Jacob and now passed down to Joseph. God is a promise keeper!

Jacob then proceeded to bless his other sons. Reuben lost his firstborn status after he was with Jacob's concubine. Jacob scattered Simeon and Levi due to their extreme violent behavior when they retaliated after their sister was raped. The blessing then landed on Judah even though he had his own issues. Jacob continued to descriptively proclaim what each of the rest of his sons would be successful in or known for.

With his last breath Jacob asked to be buried with the rest of his family in a cave in the land of Canaan.

Joseph, distraught, asked Pharaoh if he could honor his father's wishes and take Jacob back to Canaan. Pharaoh agreed and when they were finished they returned to Egypt.

Joseph's brothers feared now that their father was gone, that he would seek revenge on them but he told them, "you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good". 50:20 I love that Joseph could have been bitter but God was with Joseph throughout his whole life and as a result his heart was softened towards his brothers. Many lives were saved because Joseph was thrown into a pit and sold. I'm sure we all can look back at times in our lives and see how God worked a circumstance for good.  Or maybe this is an encouragement to you for something you are currently walking through...I know it is for me. Even when it doesn't feel like it, God is ALWAYS working!

As Joseph was dying he told his brothers that "God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." 50:24 Joseph made them promise they would move his bones from Egypt to Canaan.

And with that we made it through Genesis! Next up Exodus. Keep going friends, we are in this together!

~Ann Mays