Day 29

Today marks the end of reading the book of Genesis. It is 29 days and done with two books of the bible. How time flies!

We see Jacob pronouncing blessings on his family in the first two chapters of today’s reading.

In Chapter 48, Joseph goes to see Jacob with his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. He presented them to Jacob for his blessings. Joseph wanted more blessings on the older child, Manasseh, but Jacob did otherwise. 🙂. It’s quite a familiar one, as the same happened between Jacob and his brother Esau, albeit deceitfully. Joseph is not happy about this.

In Chapter 49, Jacob blesses his sons. He was pretty harsh on Reuben, Simeon and Levi. In Day 24’s reading, we saw that Reuben slept with Jacob’s concubine, and the latter said nothing. Today, Jacob referred to the incident, affecting his blessing on Reuben. Actions do have consequences. Jacob also referred to Simeon and Levi’s act of murder in defence of their sister. Unfortunately, that act also affected the blessings that should have come on them.

Reading today’s passage and the blessings pronounced on Jacob’s children makes me think of our beliefs and how they drive our actions.

I will share my line of thoughts here: no matter how people tell you that you are great, if you don’t believe it yourself, it won’t matter. You would keep manifesting what you believe — conversely, curses. So think of what we refer to as generational curses. I heard a story of how someone, pretty old, keeps blaming his family for his situation throughout life. Coming from a polygamous family, he believes they are why he is not successful. But I look at this person, and I can see ways in which if he could just change his actions, things could have turned around. But then, a change in actions first means you must believe that things can turn around. This is how what we call generational curses are broken. Our beliefs drive our actions (always). So yes, he is praying to have curses broken but without actions? Does he really believe it? Praying is one thing; activating the faith that the prayer would be answered by acting is another. God created the world and the laws in it.

I shared the story because as I read about Reuben, Simeon and Levi, first I wondered why they didn’t ask for forgiveness, either from Jacob or by making sacrifices to God. I mean, we have read stories of how God has turned things around for people generally, even in the old testament times. Secondly, I wonder if they simply believed there was nothing they could do to have these curses reversed. I was not in that age, and clearly, things were different, even in how they interacted with God, so maybe an increased level of awareness also has a part to play in today’s world.

Jacob dies and asks them to bury him in Canaan, with is fathers, Abraham and Isaac. His burial was huge, and we see the entourage that when with Joseph and his family to Canaan.

After the burial, Jacob’s brothers were paranoid and thought Joseph was only nice to them because their father was alive. I don’t know if this was a false message, but in 50:16–17, they sent word to Joseph on a specific instruction their father left for him. Joseph was sad about this and reassured his brothers that he had forgiven them. He also still took care of them — what a great example to us.

The book of Genesis concludes with Joseph’s death. The end!