Day 25

II The Age of The Patriarchs - 1967-1606 B.C. ~ cont.

E. Joseph ~ cont.

9. Joseph reunited with kin ~ cont.

b. Provides family with food ~ cont. 43:1-34; 44:1-34

c. Reveals himself to brethren - Genesis 45:1-15

d. Jacob hears news and prepares to travel - Genesis 45:16-28

Judah - the tribe of our Lord and Savior - the substitutionary.

Gen 44:31  It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave.

Gen 44:32  For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.

Gen 44:33  Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.

Gen 44:34  For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.

These verses always cause me to pause and wonder what I have my fist clenched around, refusing to trust Father in and through every circumstance.  Jacob had a 'tight' hold on Benjamin, but was forced, by God, to let go and trust.  What an appropriate lesson for all of us...take a moment and consider what or who you may be holding on to, refusing to release to God.

Day 18

II The Age of The Patriarchs - 1967-1606 B.C. ~ cont.

D. Jacob

1. Obtains Esau's birthright - Genesis 25:27-34

2. Incidents in Isaac's life

a. Famine and covenant renewal with Isaac at Gerar - Genesis 26:1-5

b. Isaac lies about Rebekah at Gerar - Genesis 26:6-10

c. Isaac's success at Gerar - Genesis 26:11-16

d. Isaac, the well-digger at Gerar caused temporary strife - Genesis 26:17-22

e. Esau marries two Canaanite women - Genesis 26:34-35

f. Makes altar at Beer-Sheba - Genesis 26:23-25

g. Death of Ishmael (137 years) - Genesis 25:17-18
h. Isaac's truce with Abimelech at Beer-Sheba - Genesis 26:26-32
3. Jacob obtains Esau's blessing - Genesis 27:1-46

Never thought to ask, "What is a birthright?"

The word, 'birthright' is used 10 times in 9 verses. In the OT:

H1062 - Feminine of H1060; the firstling of man or beast; abstractly primogeniture.

primogeniture?

–noun

1.

the state or fact of being the firstborn of children of the same parents.

2.

Law: system of inheritance or succession by the firstborn, specifically the eldest son.

• H1060 - From H1069; firstborn; hence chief.
• H1069 - A primitive root; properly to burst the womb, that is, (causatively) bear or make early fruit (of woman or tree); also (as denominatively from H1061) to give the birthright.

Burst the womb?  Interesting turn of words.  :-D  The first child most definitely changes a woman's body.  {laugh}

First usage of H1062 is in Genesis 4:4 when Abel brings the firstlings of his flock as an offering.  Last usage in Nehemiah 10:36 which uses firstborn (H1060) and firstlings (H1062).

In the NT:
G4415 - From G4416; primogeniture (as a privilege).

• G4416 - From G4413 and the alternate of G5088; first born (usually as noun, literally or figuratively).

Okay, this helps me not at all in really understanding what a birthright entails.  From K&D commentary (portion):

"The birthright consisted afterwards in a double portion of the father's inheritance (Deu_21:17); but with the patriarchs it embraced the chieftainship, the rule over the brethren and the entire family (Gen_27:29), and the title to the blessing of the promise (Gen_27:4, Gen_27:27-29), which included the future possession of Canaan and of covenant fellowship with Jehovah (Gen_28:4)."

Deu 21:17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

Here is what I gleaned from a couple of websites I browsed:

1. Double portion - of divisible property;
2. Head of the family - responsible for widow(s), other sons and unmarried daughters;
3. Authority - over other members of family; and
4. Blessing - close and favored covenant-relationship with Yahweh

I found Matthew Henry's commentary intriguing - if you do not have E-Sword (with free download program, commentaries and dictionary) please avail yourself by clicking the link.  For a quick view, go here, scroll down to Verses 29-34.

Day 17

II The Age of The Patriarchs - 1967-1606 B.C. ~ cont.

C. Isaac ~ cont.

2. Death of Job (apx 200 years) - Job 42:16-17

3. Rebecca chosen for Isaac - Genesis 24:1-67; Genesis 25:20

4. Abraham's domestic life continues

a. Marriage to Keturah - Genesis 25:1

b. Abraham's children - Genesis 25:2-4; 1 Chronicles 1:32-33

5. Death of Shem (600 years) - Genesis 11:11

6. Birth of Esau and Jacob (43rd gen) - Genesis 25:19, 21-26

7. Isaac heir of all things - Genesis 25:5-6

8. Death of Abraham (175 years) - Genesis 25:7-10

9. His survivors - 1 Chronicles 1:28; Genesis 25:11

10. Death of Eber (464 years) - Genesis 11:17

And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.  (Genesis 24:10)

This verse caught my attention because of the similarity between Eliezer and Joseph.

As it relates to Potiphar:

Gen 39:4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. 

The keeper of the jail:

Gen 39:22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.

Made me ponder (and continue to pray) about how a wife could be construed as having a similar level of respect and honor from her husband:

Pro 31:11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

servant - H5650 - From H5647; a servant.

• H5647 - A primitive root; to work (in any sense); by implication to serve, till, (causatively) enslave, etc.

Used 800x in 714 verses - I am most definitely opting out on reading all of these. :-D

First used in Genesis 9:25 when Ham is cursed to be a servant to his brother. Last usage in Malachi 4:4 with the Lord's admonishment to remember the law of Moses His servant.

master - H113 - From an unused root (meaning to rule); sovereign, that is, controller (human or divine).

Used 335times in 287 verses (passing on this one too). First used in Genesis 18:12 with Sarah referring to Abraham as her Lord. Last usage:

Malachi 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

I thought the word Lord meant Jesus Christ/Messiah, checked Gill's commentary to confirm that I was on target. :-D

Eliezer puts out a fleece (in my estimation) - I liked all the commentaries, but decided to use Poole.

"That this was not a rash and vain fancy, but a special expectation and confidence wrought in him by God's Spirit, appears both by the eminent prudence and godliness of this person, and by the exact correspondency of the event with his prayer, and by parallel examples, as Judges 6:36; 1 Samuel 6:7; 14:8."

I had to chuckle over "Abraham's domestic life continues" in the outline. Sarah laughed at Abraham being too old (as well as she) to conceive a child. Abraham sends Eliezer off to fetch a wife for Isaac because he thinks he is to be called home soon. He then turns around and marries Keturah and produces 6 more children! At about 140 years of age!

Prior to his actual departure he sends those sons off to the east country. Only Isaac and Ishmael are in attendance (of his sons) to bury Abraham.

Abraham would have seen Esau and Jacob. I am still amazed at the overlapping of lives. Eber died 4 years later...another 48 years and Ishmael dies. We all will one day pass from this temporal plane, stepping into eternity. Have you ever considered where you will abide?

Day 16

II The Age of The Patriarchs - 1967-1606 B.C. ~ cont.

B. Abram ~ cont.

7. Abraham and his family ~ cont. 

f. Covenant with Abimelech - Genesis 21:22-34

g. 400 years of Gen 15:13 and Acts 7:6*
h. Death of Salah (433 years) - Genesis 11:15
i. Birth of Rebekah (Gen 22:23)
j. Ishmael's children - Genesis 25:12-16; 1 Chronicles 1:29-31
C. Isaac
1. Incidents in Abraham's life
a. Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac - Genesis 22:1-19
b. Abraham learns of his brother Nahor's family - Genesis 22:20-24
c. Death of Sarah (127 years) - Genesis 23:1-20

As I have been reading along - and typing out the outline - I found it interesting how long those who were either on the ark, or born soon after continued to live.  For instance Noah got off the ark, yet lived to see the Tower of Babel and the ensuing disruption due to the lack of obedience.

As a preacher of righteousness this must have been deeply troubling to him.

Using Reese's calculations each of those listed below died on or about the time stated:

2319 B.C. - Ark departure (give or take)
2032 B.C. - Nimrod
1979 B.C. - Peleg
1978 B.C. - Nahor I
1969 B.C. - Noah ~ so he was still around!  He outlived Peleg!  Telling HIS story!
1926 B.C. - Serug
1892 B.C. - Terah
1879 B.C. - Arphaxad
1849 B.C. - Salah
1830 B.C. - Sarah
1827 B.C. - Job - he was still around after Abraham and Isaac were on the scene.
1817 B.C. - Shem - he was on the ark, he was still around telling what happened!
1792 B.C. - Abraham
1788 B.C. - Eber
1744 B.C. - Ishmael

I have gone waaaay past the outline for today with the death chronology. :-D  Thought provoking though about how lives overlap.  An exhortation to all of us.  Our lives are overlapping others, what does Father want us to say and/or do for those that we come in contact?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

*I don't get this one either