After 22 years, Jacob and Joseph are reunited! I don't know about you, but if I'm 22 hours away from my kids, I go batty...I can't imagine the magnitude of emotions that went through both of these men when they hugged for the first time in over two decades.
Joseph had the people give a fifth of their profits to Pharaoh as a tax...that is 20%. Wouldn't we be much better off if our taxes were that low again?!?
I use this example to teach my kids that heavy taxes enslaves people to the government. No matter what your political slant, the more money you have to invest and give, the better for everyone! Government never allocates goods and services near as well as private citizens do!!!
This is another occasion where the younger brother is given the firstborn status. Joseph tried to correct his father, but Jacob showed that he knew what he was doing...it was God leading him.
You would think that Joseph would've understood, since he was given the same blessing and favoritism by his father many years ago!!!
Genesis 49
Jacob prophesies over his twelve sons...here is a synopsis of what to look for and remember in the rest of the Bible:
REUBEN ~ He was the first born, but he gave up his firstborn status by allowing the rest of his brothers to sell Joseph. Later, it was the tribe of Reuben who was involved in the rebellion in the wilderness (Num 16:1)
LEVI ~ Although Levi and Simeon avenged their sister is such brutal fashion, Levi was the most zealous about ridding the people from idolatry...this may be why God had the Levites be the priests of the people.
SIMEON ~ this tribe loses it's validity over time and is not a big factor in the rest of the Bible compared to his brothers. As a matter of fact, Moses didn't give his blessing to this tribe before he died.
JUDAH ~ This tribe means "praised" and is designated to be the line of kings. Jesus would be a direct descendant from Judah.
ZEBULUN ~ This tribe became seamen, and were highly involved in sea trade over the coming centuries. It is believed most of this tribe was around the areas where Jesus taught in the early years.
ISSACHAR ~ this name translates to "bony ass" and they would live a life of hard labor and near enslavement, since their land was constantly between warring factions.
DAN ~ This tribe gets snubbed by the Holy Spirit quite a few times in the Bible, when naming the twelve tribes...they are not listed numerous times! It is believed that the reason for this, is that the tribe of Dan allowed the first act of idolatry into the people of Israel, and they never recovered.
GAD ~ Like Issachar, this tribe was in land that was used for war. This tribe became known for it's fierceness in war.
ASHER ~ This tribe was blessed to live in fertile ground, and they were very productive.
NAPHTALI ~ These people were nomadic and roamed around mostly in the mountain regions.
JOSEPH ~ This tribe also has two sub-tribes in them...Ephraim and Manasseh.
EPHRAIM ~ Joshua, Deborah and Samuel were from this tribe.
MANASSEH ~ Gideon and Jephthah in the book of Judges were from this tribe and were noted for their valor.
Genesis 50
I skip chapter 49 for its own discussion, and since the death of Joseph is linked to the previous chapters. Joseph led an interesting life, and the similarities of him and Jesus are striking...here are some of the parallels:
~ Both were betrayed by their brothers
~ Both were given great power, but didn't abuse it
~ Both were tempted by the flesh, but didn't give in.
~ Both were imprisoned unjustly.
~ Both were silent in their defense
~ Both had other inmates come to him for guidance
~ Both were with two other criminals, one lived and the other died
~ Both forgave their brothers who treated them so harshly
~ Both were reunited with their father...one on earth, and the other in heaven
It's fun to see the kids think of other similarities and have fun connecting topics from other parts of the Bible!!!
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