Day 5 ~ Who is buried in Jacob's tomb?

I have failed to tell you that I've been reading from the New King James Version. I normally prefer to read from the New American Standard, but I've stuck with this study Bible so far. I'm still in familiar territory on day 5, completing the leadership of Joseph in the house of Pharoah in chapter 47 of Genesis. I'm surprised at how little of the five days of passages has been unfamiliar to me. I must have gotten at least through Genesis several times on previous attempts to read through the Bible in a short time frame. Let's commence with my comments.

• Chapter 47 has a passage describing tribes and priests in the Egyptian civilization, similar to how the Hebrews will soon be segregated.
  
• 47:27 - the not-so-familiar "thigh oath" repeated


• Yet again, the first born loses their inheritance. The firstborn were to receive a double portion, but as we see with Esau and now with Reuben, God's plan was different. It was part of his plan for the lineage to Christ. Joseph's sons take his portion.


• Levi and Simeon are also punished for the way they treated Shechem's family. Levi won't receive any land of his own, and Simeon will be largely assimilated into Judah. (49:5)


• Pointing to the line of the Messiah - 49:10 - the scepter shall not depart from Judah.


• 49:10 - what are "royal dainties"


• 49:24 - "Shepherd, stone of Israel" referring to Christ, I assume.


• Jacob is embalmed, then taken to the family tomb and buried with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Leah and Jacob (49:29-32). I got a bit off track here, as I wondered if the tomb of these six has been located - it should be obvious if one of the three male remains is embalmed, don't you think? I did a few searches (with http://www.goodsearch.com/, where if you list Cicero Christian Church as your charity, we can earn money for debt reduction). Apparently the Jews believe that Adam and Eve were also buried in that tomb, which I find difficult to substanciate in what I've read so far, especially considering that the land for the tomb was purchased by Abraham from the Sons of Heth. That may be Jewish tradition, but it doesn't seem to fit with the Biblical record of Genesis. (see http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=29&letter=M). Joseph is embalmed and buried in Egypt.

this is the strucure build over the presumed sight of the tomb of Machpelah in Hebron

• Verse of the day: Genesis 50:20 "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good..."


• Joseph is also embalmed and buried in a coffin in Egypt (50:26), but he made them promise to carry his bones with them when they left (50:25). Wonder if they do?

Hey, I finished one book. Sixty five more to go!

• Exodus: The Hebrews grew great in number, greater than the Egyptians and were now considered a threat because of their numbers, even though they are enslaved. Several years had to have passed, as Joseph wasn't known by the current Pharoah (I would have thought this would have been well documented by the Pharoah's, but they are also known for altering history to make themselves look better).


• 1:11 - Hebrews helped build Pithom and Raamses cities. There has to be come common historical record that supports this.


• Why do they always kill the male babies? It seems that if they killed the female babies, fewer babies would be born in the future.


• Enter Moses. Unlike Joseph, his physical appearance identified him as a Hebrew, and he knew he was a Hebrew even though raised by the Pharoah's daughter (2:11)


• Is the first reference to "Holy Ground" in 3:5; and also the reference to the land of "milk and honey" in 3:17, and the name "Lord" referencing God 6:3


• Enough excuses already, Moses. You've got miraculous signs, a brother who will speak for you...get to it. Oh, one thing. You're not circumcised - but Zipporah takes care of that!


• A commercial break in chapter 6 to present the lineage - perhaps to mark the time the Hebrews had been in Egypt - roughly 400 years?


• Speaking of uncircumcised - what does Moses mean when he says he has uncircumcised lips?


• Moses and Aaron are told from the beginning that the Pharoah would have a hard heart, and that it would require death of Egyptians.


• The first three signs - Bloody water, Frogs, Lice - it doesn't say that these didn't inflict the Hebrews in Goshen. However, Moses and Aaron were instructed to stretch out their arms, or tap the ground. I'm assuming that they did this only in Egyptian areas, not effecting the Hebrews. In sign four, Flies, God makes it clear that the Hebrews in the land of Goshen were set apart and the following signs would not effect them - "I will make a difference" 8:23.


• 8:26 - why would the Hebrew sacrifices within the country of Egypt be an abomination to the Egyptians?


• God seems to say: Don't mess with me, Pharoah, and plague 5 requires death (lifestock) after Pharoah lies to Moses.


• Boils. Ask Jenni Roosa to recount how disgusting just one can be on a two year old boy. Then you'll realize how awful plague #6 was.


• The Egyptian success so far was allowed by God to show his power. 9:16.


• The hail plague (#7) was given with a warning to bring in the animals. Now the Egyptians were beginning to fracture - some of them obeyed the warning and saved some from harm.

I guess since I'm stalling putting away Grace's clothes, I've taken longer on this blog. I'm surprised I wrote so much down today in such a familiar passage. Jeff hollered in here "are you writing a novel?" perhaps, but it would make no sense!