Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 48:1-5
As we have it, another chapter was finished last week, but the story of Joseph is not over yet. There is still a bit about his father and his life in the new land where his son is ruler. They now jump ahead, how far we are not told, and Jacob summons the ruler of Mitsraim (Egypt) because he is ill.
When Joseph gets there, we hear that Jacob (Israel) must summon the strength to even sit up in bed. We know that the children are with him. We will talk about that in the next couple posts. He begins speaking with the story of how God appeared to him and promised him that he would make him prosper and he will be a great "company of peoples" along with the promise of land for him and his sons.
He continues with a strange thing he says. It is strange to me at least. He says that the two children, Joseph's kids, will be Jacob's own. Then he clarifies that by saying, "... as Reuben and Simeon are."
First. I wonder why he would commandeer these two boys, but then I remembered all the trouble that he had with his own two first born boys, the ones who would normally receive the blessing of the father. Maybe Jacob wanted a couple of first born boys that were not so divisive, let's say. Maybe he wants a redo of sorts. That is just a hunch from the author of this blog.
Today's reading
English
After this, Joseph was told, "Behold, your father is ill." So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And it was told to Jacob, "Your son Joseph has come to you." Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. And Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty' appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.' And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.
Hebrew
The story continues next week as Jacob speaks of Rachel...
Note on Easter:
I am always impressed with the way the entire world gets together to celebrate the victorious day when Yeshua went to the cross to undo the disobedience done by HaAdam ("the man" in Hebrew) in the garden. He was called "the man" because he was the only one and nobody would need to ask, "Which one?" because he was literally the one and only man in existence at the time. Hava (Eve), originally referred to as Eesha, was the one who made the mistake of eating, but HaAdam was the one to join her in sin.
As the only way to deal with one man's disobedience, Yeshua made the choice to willingly die for all of mankind and take back the world from the enemy. The Creator had said that when they ate (not if), they would surely die. That meant that they had been created to live and not die. That would have been the case had they not sinned.
There is a veil that was lifted one time in the book of Joshua. What is that veil? I believe it was created to protect man from instant death when they look upon God. "No man can look upon God and live" is another passage spoken to Mosheh (Moses) when he asked to see YHVH - yet God still allowed him to hide in a crack in the rocks and see the glory of the Creator pass by. That happened the day they made the covenant, on the mountain. He used to go up that mountain a lot due to sin and the giving of the law. Both parties had to be present for a covenant to be cut.
I see Easter as an event that corrects an error made by the first man. Yeshua experiencing that "death" that the Creator had spoken of when he told them not to eat of the tree of knowledge. The one who is im-anu-el (God with us) will be returning soon. He bought us with the price of his blood. He has the receipt for that purchase and we are on layaway until he comes to get us (those of us that are willing to go).
Treasure Easter, for soon all of that God stuff will be illegal instead of celebrated. Pesach happens next month starting on Monday the 22nd at sundown, if they are counting the moons and seasons correctly. That is the holiday that surrounded the death of Mashiach.
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or click here
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Thanks for reading.