306. Jacob married two sisters, Rachel and Leah. Through deceit on the girls' father's part, Jacob ended up being tricked on his wedding night. Jacob served Laban for seven years for Laban's younger daughter, Rachel. The morning after the wedding, Jacob found he had married Leah, Laban's older daughter, instead! Laban agreed to give him Rachel, too, in exchange for another seven years of service.
307. Eventually the two sisters and their two maids produced twelve sons, who would become the twelve tribes of Israel. They were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. Throughout the story of Jacob's life, God was with him. As long as Jacob remained obedient to God. he was blessed. The history of Israel would go on (and on!) all the way through the New Testament and the birth of a Savior from these early roots.
308. Before leaving the place of her birth, Rachel stole her father's "household gods." These small "household gods" were idols, typical of the cults in Canaan and elsewhere in Mesopotamia. Small statues of fertility symbols, they were placed in the homes. Laban caught up to Jacob's caravan and began to search for the idols. When Laban came to search Rachel's tent, she sat on a saddlebag which held her father's gods, telling them she was menstruating and couldn't get up. This story would have been told by the Israelites with derisive mockery as Rachel sat on the idols in her time of "uncleanness."
309. The story of Joseph's "coat of many colors" remains a favorite of many people. Joseph was the gifted son, the one who had found favor with God. He was also his father's favorite son, much to the chagrin of most of the other brothers. Jacob made Joseph the heir, even though he was the second to the youngest! He was a bold young man and his brothers eventually sold him into slavery in Egypt.
310. God never forgot Joseph, however. Eventually this young man who saw visions and could interpret dreams would make himself useful to Pharaoh himself! He would become a chief minister of Egypt and would be reunited with his family in their time of need during a drought affecting the whole land.
311. Elaborate court records survive of many of the Pharaohs before and after the presumed time of Joseph. But none of them mentions a Semite slave becoming a high official who had helped save Egypt in a time of Extraordinary famine. Periodic drought and famine were not unusual in ancient times, and several were recorded, although none exactly match the Biblical scenario. So we do not know who Joseph's Pharaoh was.
312. Joseph had two sons: Manasseh and Ephraim. The brothers were born in Egypt and would eventually be blessed by Jacob. As had happened in Joseph's own experience, God blessed the younger, Ephraim, more than the older brother, Manasseh. God's blessing continued to fall on those who were not expecting the bulk of it.
313. They all remained in Egypt and lived happily there until the whole generation of Joseph and his brothers passed away. Then they were oppressed by the Egyptians and used as slaves. The Egyptians feared the great numbers of Hebrew people being born and even demanded that the midwives kill the newborn males.
314. Moses was another miracle. he should have been killed as many of the other male infants were, but he was saved by God for a special purpose. His mother floated him down the Nile in a basket made of reeds, and he was eventually taken into the palace by the royalty of Egypt. Moses would grow up to be a great man of God and the hero of the early Israelites.
315. Egyptian texts confirm that about the time Moses became angered at seeing an Egyptian overseer beating a Hebrew worker, the Hebrews were engaged in dragging stones for temples built by Pharaoh Ramses II. The Bible says Moses killed the overseer and fled into the desert wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula where he would later see the bush that "burned with fire."
No comments:
Post a Comment