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Lesson #20

In a Far Country

(48: 1 50: 26)

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In Lesson #19, Jacob and his entire familynumbering 70 in allarrive in Egypt, and we witness

the reunion of Jacob with his beloved son, Joseph, a

son who for 22 years Jacob thought was dead.

The meeting is a tear-jerker! Joseph threw his armsaround [his father] and wept a long time [on his

neck], while Jacob stands mute, perhaps rigid, a frail

old man whose heart had stopped, paralyzed by

overwhelming emotion.

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In a brilliant conclusion, Lesson #20 brings Jacobs entire family

together in Egypt, where Jacob blesses his sons, blessings thatforeshadow future events. Recall that God said to Adam, You

must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,

for when you eat of it you will surely die (Genesis 2: 17). Adam

did eat of the tree, and he did, indeed, die. As the story of

Genesis begins with birth, so it ends with death: in Genesis 50:26 we read, So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten.

And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in

Egypt.

Our story comes full circle, but instead of enjoying eternal life in

the Garden of Eden, the Israelites are in Egypt, poised on thebrink of slavery, far from where they belong.

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In a very important sense, Genesis is the opening

chapter in the sprawling narrative of Scripture; it

launches a 2,000-page story whose trajectory will

span 2,000 years, involving unforgettable heroes and

villains, rascals and rogues, and ending with the

redemption not just of Israel but of the entire humanfamily.

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. . . When Israel saw Josephs sons, he asked,

Who are these? (48: 8)

This is a heart-breaking moment. Jacob, the

assertive, confident and brash young man, is at the

end of a long life, feeble and frail.

As any adult child of an aging parent knows, as

memory weakens, lucid moments are interspersed

with bouts of confusion and momentary inability to

recognize familiar faces.

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Guercino. Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph (oil on

canvas), c. 1620. National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.

When Joseph brought his sons close to him,

he kissed and embraced them (48: 10).

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Jacob then addresses the sons of Leah andRachels maidservants, Bilhah and Zilpah in an

A/B/B/A form:

A Bilhah (Dan)B Zilpah (Gad)

B Zilpah (Asher)

A Bilhah (Naphtali)

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The Boys

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Ruben

Marc Chagall. Ruben (stained glass), 1962. Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem.

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Simeon

Marc Chagall. Simeon (stained glass), 1962. Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem.

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Levi

Marc Chagall. Levi (stained glass), 1962. Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem.

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Judah

Marc Chagall. Judah (stained glass), 1962. Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem.

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Zebulun

Marc Chagall. Zebulun (stained glass), 1962. Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem.

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Dan

Marc Chagall. Dan (stained glass), 1962. Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem.

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Asher

Marc Chagall. Asher (stained glass), 1962. Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem.

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Naphtali

Marc Chagall. Naphtali (stained glass), 1962. Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem.

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Joseph

Marc Chagall. Joseph (stained glass), 1962. Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem.

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Benjamin

Marc Chagall. Benjamin (stained glass), 1962. Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem.

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Anonymous. Jacob on His Deathbed, (woodcut, possibly from Cramers Bible), c.1539.

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gray Collection, Cambridge, MA.

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Final Thoughts

Jacob began as the deceiver, one who knew what

he wanted from life and got it: the birthright, the

blessing, marriage to his beloved Rachel, prolific

progeny and great wealth.

But one measure of the moral realism of the story is

that all his gains came with far more pain than

contentment.

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Final Thoughts, Cont.

Everything was a struggle:

1. getting the birthright, but at the cost of fear, guilt

and exile;

2. getting Rachel, but only after having Leahimposed on him, living a life of tremendous

domestic strife, and losing Rachel in childbirth;

3. getting 12 sons, but enduring enormous enmity

among them and grieving for 22 years over the

death of his favorite son, whom he believed is

dead.

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1. Genesis is a masterpiece of ancient literature in its ownright, but what function does it serve in the overallarchitecture of Scripture, the grand narrative sweep ofGenesis through Revelation?

2. The patriarchs and matriarchs of Scripture are far fromperfect peoplethey are quite the oppositebut God usesthem nonetheless. What might we learn about God fromthese stories? What might we learn about ourselves?

3. We have witnessed the use of ambiguity in many of thestories in Genesis, allowing for a variety of nuancedreadings. Why would ambiguity be used in these stories?

4. Having reached the end of Genesis, we are poised on thebrink of our next book in the canon: Exodus. Has Genesisforeshadowed events to come for the Hebrews? If so, whatmight they be?

5. What is the primary lesson we learn in Genesis?

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Copyright 2013 by William C. Creasy

All rights reserved. No part of this courseaudio, video,

photography, maps, timelines or other mediamay be reproduced

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agreement from the copyright holder.