Day 18 Exodus Chapter 4-6 Supplemental Notes

Exodus Chapter 4
Moses' encounter with the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-2) is one of the most well-known events of Bible History. It also occurred at one of the most well-known Bible Places, Mount Horeb in Sinai, also known as Mount Sinai - the mountain where The Lord would later formally deliver The Ten Commandments (see The Ten Commandments Before Sinai?) to the Israelites, through Moses, after the Exodus.Moses, the former adopted son in the house of Pharaoh, now a lowly Sinai shepherd (see The Education Of Moses), was given the responsibility to lead The Lord's people out of slavery, a job that very humble Moses felt unqualified for.

"But Moses said to The Lord, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either heretofore or since thou hast spoken to thy servant; but I am slow of speech and of tongue."Then The Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, The Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak." (Exodus 4:10-12 RSV)

When Moses persisted in his lack of self-confidence, The Lord answered by providing Moses with an assistant, a spokesman for Moses, just as Moses would be a spokesman for The Lord.

"But he said, "Oh, my Lord, send, I pray, some other person."Then the anger of The Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, "Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? [see Levites] I know that he can speak well; and behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart. And you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. He shall speak for you to the people; and he shall be a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God. And you shall take in your hand this rod, with which you shall do the signs." (Exodus 4:13-17 RSV)

Moses then returned to Egypt with Aaron, after The Lord had sent Aaron to Sinai to meet Moses.

"The Lord said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." So he went, and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of The Lord with which he had sent him, and all the signs which he had charged him to do.Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. And Aaron spoke all the words which The Lord had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed; and when they heard that The Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped." (Genesis 4:27-31 RSV)

Exodus Chapter 5As stated above, the people of Israel chose to believe Moses. Moses then discovered however that the Pharaoh did not.

"Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "Thus says The Lord, the God of Israel, 'Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'"But Pharaoh said, "Who is The Lord, that I should heed his voice and let Israel go? I do not know The Lord, and moreover I will not let Israel go."Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews [see Hebrew] has met with us; let us go, we pray, a three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to The Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword."But the king of Egypt [see Egypt's Royal House] said to them, "Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get to your burdens." (Exodus 5:1-4 RSV)

The Pharaoh not only refused to set the Israelites free; he then increased their work load by forcing them to find the brick straw that was, before then, supplied to them.

"The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, "You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as heretofore; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the number of bricks which they made heretofore you shall lay upon them, you shall by no means lessen it; for they are idle; therefore they cry, 'Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.' Let heavier work be laid upon the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words." (Exodus 5:6-9 RSV)

A very discouraged Moses, thinking that he had failed miserably, returned to Sinai.

"Then Moses turned again to The Lord and said, "O Lord, why hast Thou done evil to this people? Why didst Thou ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Thy Name, he has done evil to this people, and Thou hast not delivered Thy people at all." (Exodus 5:22-23 RSV)

Exodus Chapter 6From that point on, Moses learned to have more faith, in himself, but much more importantly, in The Lord. The Lord also at that time made Himself known to Moses in a way that was unknown to Abraham (see On His Own Two Feet), Isaac (see Isaac's Faith And Obedience) and Jacob (see Jacob and Laban).

"But The Lord said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, yea, with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land."And God said to Moses, "I am The Lord [see YHVH, Adonai, Jehovah, LORD]. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty [see Names Of God], but by My Name The Lord I did not make Myself known to them. I also established My covenant with them, to give them The Land Of Canaan, the land in which they dwelt as sojourners." (Exodus 6:1-4 RSV)

Moses then returned to Egypt where he discovered that not only did the Pharaoh refuse to believe him, but that because of the previous effort that only resulted in a heavier work load for them, the Israelites themselves now didn't believe him. That however, would soon change; by His great power and wrath, The Lord was going to make believers out of all of Egypt.

"Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel; but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel bondage." (Exodus 6:9 RSV)

Day 17 Exodus Chapter 1-3 Supplemental Notes

Exodus Chapter 1
The Israelites had been welcomed into Egypt under very favorable circumstances. One of their own, Joseph, was the ruler of the country (see The Grain Merchant of Egypt), second only to the Pharaoh himself. The Israelites prospered in Egypt, so much so that they eventually began to be viewed as a potential security threat by the government.

"Then Joseph died, and all his brothers [see Children of Jacob], and all that generation. But the descendants of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong; so that the land was filled with them.Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, "Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war befall us, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land." (Exodus 1:6-10 RSV)

The new Pharaoh resorted to increasingly deadly means to reduce the population of the resident aliens; first slavery, then male infanticide. Neither worked.

"Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens; and they built for Pharaoh store-cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel." (Exodus 1:11-12 RSV)"When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, she shall live." But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live." (Exodus 1:16-17 RSV)

Then came the Pharaoh's "final solution," a general order to the entire population.

"Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, "Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live." (Exodus 1:22 RSV)

Exodus Chapter 2With the entire Egyptian population involved in the reporting and killing of male Israelite infants, there was no where to hide. A Levite woman who had just given birth to her third child (her older children, Aaron and Miriam, were not affected by the Pharaoh's order to kill only newborn males) came up with a unique plan of obeying the Pharaoh's order to cast the babies into The Nile River.

"Now a man from the house of Levi went and took to wife a daughter of Levi. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could hide him no longer she took for him a basket made of bulrushes, and daubed it with Bitumen and pitch; and she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds at the river's brink. And his sister stood at a distance, to know what would be done to him." (Exodus 2:1-4 RSV)

It worked. Not only did her baby survive, but he was adopted by the Pharaoh's daughter, while the mother herself got to raise the child.

"Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, and her maidens walked beside the river; she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to fetch it. When she opened it she saw the child; and lo, the babe was crying. She took pity on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children."Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?"And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." So the girl went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him."And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son; and she named him Moses, for she said, "Because I drew him out of the water." (Exodus 2:5-10 RSV)

Moses grew to adulthood, but found himself with legal troubles, forcing him to flee into the wilderness of Sinai.

"One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together; and he said to the man that did the wrong, "Why do you strike your fellow?"He answered, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?"Then Moses was afraid, and thought, "Surely the thing is known."When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh, and stayed in the land of Midian" (Exodus 2:11-15 RSV)

Exodus Chapter 3Moses learned to become a Sinai shepherd, in the very place where he would later shepherd a far greater flock (see The Education Of Moses). His father-in-law Jethro watched over Moses, but The Lord too was watching. One day, Moses became aware of why he had been saved out of the river.

"Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of The Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, "I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt."When The Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!"And he said, "Here am I."Then He said, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." And He said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." [see also Why Did Christ Put Moses To Death?]And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.Then The Lord said, "I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites [see The Land Of Canaan], the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt." (Exodus 3:1-10 RSV)

Fact Finder: How was Moses baptized?

Day 16 Genesis Chapter 48-50 Supplemental Notes

Genesis Chapter 48
"After this Joseph was told, "Behold, your father is ill"; so he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And it was told to Jacob, "Your son Joseph has come to you"; then Israel summoned his strength, and sat up in bed." (Genesis 48:1-2 RSV)Jacob's time to die had come; like most who have the luxury to see it coming, Jacob attended to family business in a time-appropriate way. Joseph (see The Israelite Patriarchs - Joseph) had been Jacob's favorite son, primarily because Joseph was the child of Jacob's favorite wife Rachel. Jacob took the extraordinary step of adopting Joseph's two sons as his own, in effect promoting them from grandsons to sons.

"And Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.'And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are [see Children of Jacob]. And the offspring born to you after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. For when I came from Paddan, Rachel to my sorrow died in The Land Of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem." (Genesis 48:3-7 RSV)

It wasn't entirely Jacob's idea to bless Joseph's sons Ephraim and Manasseh in that way. It was The Lord's will; He even guided nearly-blind Jacob's hands.

"Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him; and he kissed them and embraced them.And Israel said to Joseph, "I had not thought to see your face; and lo, God has let me see your children also."Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near him. And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand upon the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the first-born.And he blessed Joseph, and said, "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has led me all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and in them let my name be perpetuated, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth." (Genesis 48:10-16 RSV)

Joseph at first protested the blessing, but Jacob made plain that it was The Lord's will. Jacob, like Abraham before him, also was aware of the Prophecy that the Exodus would happen centuries later.

"When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; and he took his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father; for this one is the first-born; put your right hand upon his head." But his father refused, and said, "I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations." (Genesis 48:17-19 RSV)"Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and will bring you again to the land of your fathers." (Genesis 48:21 RSV)

Genesis Chapter 49Jacob then called together all of his sons for a deathbed blessing that was prophetic to each of them: "All these are the twelve tribes of Israel; and this is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him." (Genesis 49:28 RSV). The coming Messiah would come through Judah.

"Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lioness; who dares rouse him up?The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Binding his foal to the vine and his ass's colt to the choice vine, he washes his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes; his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk." (Genesis 49:8-12 RSV)

Jacob then gave his sons the final instructions, for his own burial.

"Then he charged them, and said to them, "I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife [see Abram and Sarai]; there they buried Isaac [see Isaac's Faith And Obedience] and Rebekah his wife [see A Servant's Journey]; and there I buried Leah - the field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites."When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed, and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people." (Genesis 49:29-33 RSV)

Genesis Chapter 50Joseph then ordered that his father's body be embalmed, which to the Egyptians was primarily a matter of removing the internal organs of the body and then slowly drying the rest (the photo shows an actual Egyptian "mummy" of a man who has been dead for many centuries).

"Then Joseph fell on his father's face, and wept over him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel; forty days were required for it, for so many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days." (Genesis 50:1-3 RSV)

With the Pharaoh's permission, Joseph then carried out Jacob's will to be buried in the land of Israel.

"And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, My father made me swear, saying, 'I am about to die: in my tomb which I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.' Now therefore let me go up, I pray you, and bury my father; then I will return."And Pharaoh [see also Egypt's Royal House] answered, "Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear."So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household; only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen." (Genesis 50:4-8 RSV)

Later, Joseph's own time to die came, but he too gave instructions that he was not to be left behind in Egypt.

"So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father's house; and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years. And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation; the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were born upon Joseph's knees. And Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die; but God will visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." Then Joseph took an oath of the sons of Israel, saying, "God will visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here." So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt." (Genesis 50:22-26 RSV)

Day 15 Genesis Chapter 45-47 Supplemental Notes

Genesis Chapter 45
"Then Joseph [see The Israelite Patriarchs - Joseph] could not control himself before all those who stood by him; and he cried, "Make every one go out from me." So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers [see Children of Jacob]. And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it." (Genesis 45:1-2 RSV)When Joseph at last revealed his identity, it opened a whole new set of concerns for his brothers. They went from dealing with a harsh foreign leader to their own brother who they themselves had treated very harshly years ago. Joseph reassured them however that it was actually The Lord (see YHVH, Adonai, Jehovah, LORD) that had brought it all about.

"So Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, I pray you." And they came near.And he said, "I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh [see Egypt's Royal House], and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Make haste and go up to my father and say to him, 'Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not tarry; you shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have; and there I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come; lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty.'" (Genesis 45:4-11 RSV)

Genesis Chapter 46Joseph's brothers returned home with the good news. As Joseph said, The Lord had brought it about; The Lord then spoke to Jacob that going to Egypt was His will.

"So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac [see also Isaac's Faith And Obedience].And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, "Jacob, Jacob."And he said, "Here am I."Then He said, "I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph's hand shall close your eyes."Then Jacob set out from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They also took their cattle and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters; all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt." (Genesis 46:1-7 RSV)

And so the Israelites entered The Land Of Goshen where they received a royal welcome from the Prime Minister who was one of their own family.

All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own offspring, not including Jacob's sons' wives, were sixty-six persons in all; and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two; all the persons of the house of Jacob, that came into Egypt, were seventy.He sent Judah before him to Joseph, to appear before him in Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. Then Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen; and he presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while." (Genesis 46:26-29 RSV)

Genesis Chapter 47So the Israelites were given to settle in Goshen by the Pharaoh himself, a part of the fertile, well-watered Nile Delta region.

"Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen; and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my cattle." (Genesis 47:5-6 RSV)

The famine then came in full intensity. Contrary to what is popularly believed, Egypt itself was very hard hit by the famine, as warned in the Pharaoh's dream (see also Joseph's Dreams) that Joseph had interpreted i.e. "It is as I told Pharaoh, God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of that famine which will follow, for it will be very grievous." (Genesis 41:28-31 RSV). What saved Egypt was the warning that enabled them to prepare strategic food reserves that were sold, not grown, during the famine.

"Now there was no food in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and The Land Of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house." (Genesis 47:13-14 RSV)

A destroyed economy and high prices from the law of supply and demand resulted in the people of Egypt themselves reduced to servitude to the government. Ironically, it was an Israelite Prime Minister who held the people of Egypt in slavery at that time.

"So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe upon them. The land became Pharaoh's; and as for the people, he made slaves of them from one end of Egypt to the other." (Genesis 47:20-21 RSV)

Day 14 Genesis Chapter 41-44 Supplemental Notes

Genesis Chapter 41
"After two whole years, Pharaoh [see Egypt's Royal House] dreamed that he was standing by the Nile [see The Nile River, also The Nile Delta], and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows sleek and fat, and they fed in the reed grass. And behold, seven other cows, gaunt and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. And the gaunt and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharaoh awoke." (Genesis 41:1-4 RSV)Joseph had by that time been wrongly imprisoned for over "two whole years." He had demonstrated his God-given ability to reveal the meaning of dreams to The Pharaoh's Chief Butler, who only years later made an effort to help free an innocent man just as the butler himself had been freed.

"Then the chief butler said to Pharaoh, "I remember my faults today. When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning. A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard [i.e. Potiphar]; and when we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. And as he interpreted to us, so it came to pass; I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged."Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh." (Genesis 41:9-14 RSV)

Joseph's abilities greatly impressed the Egyptian king; Joseph was not only liberated, he was made the Prime Minister of Egypt, second only to the pharaoh himself. The famine came just as Joseph said that it would, but Egypt had been warned and prepared itself.

"Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went through all the land of Egypt. During the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth abundantly, and he gathered up all the food of the seven years when there was plenty in the land of Egypt, and stored up food in the cities; he stored up in every city the food from the fields around it. And Joseph stored up grain [see Corn] in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured." (Genesis 41:46-49 RSV)

Joseph also married at that time, from which two sons were born (see Ephraim and Manasseh).

"Before the year of famine came, Joseph had two sons, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him. Joseph called the name of the first-born Manasseh, "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house." The name of the second he called Ephraim, "For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction." (Genesis 41:50-52 RSV)

Genesis Chapter 42The land of Israel was not as prepared for the long famine as Egypt had made itself. Jacob sent some of his sons to buy food from The Grain Merchant of Egypt.

"When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you look at one another?" And he said, "Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live, and not die."So ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with his brothers [see Children of Jacob], for he feared that harm might befall him. Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in The Land Of Canaan.Now Joseph was governor over the land; he it was who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came, and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. Joseph saw his brothers, and knew them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. "Where do you come from?" he said.They said, "From the land of Canaan, to buy food."Thus Joseph knew his brothers, but they did not know him. And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed of them [see Joseph's Dreams]; and he said to them, "You are spies, you have come to see the weakness of the land." (Genesis 42:1-9 RSV)

Genesis Chapter 43Joseph did not identify himself to his brothers, at first. He treated them, not harshly, but justly, considering what they had done to him, having sold their own brother into slavery, and then causing terrible grief to their father Jacob / Israel by telling him that Joseph had been killed (see Coat Of Many Colors).

"Now the famine was severe in the land. And when they had eaten the grain which they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Go again, buy us a little food."But Judah said to him, "The man solemnly warned us, saying, 'You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.' If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food; but if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, 'You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.'"Israel said, "Why did you treat me so ill as to tell the man that you had another brother?" (Genesis 43:1-6 RSV)

Joseph's strategy was also to get them to return with Joseph's full, younger brother Benjamin (Joseph and Benjamin were the sons of Rachel). It worked.

"And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!" (Genesis 43:29 RSV)

Genesis Chapter 44Joseph wasn't finished with his treacherous older brothers yet however.

"Then he commanded the steward of his house, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack, and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain." And he did as Joseph told him."As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their asses. When they had gone but a short distance from the city, Joseph said to his steward, "Up, follow after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, 'Why have you returned evil for good? Why have you stolen my silver cup? Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he divines? You have done wrong in so doing.'" (Genesis 44:1-5 RSV)

It had been Judah's idea to sell Joseph into slavery, rather than kill him (Genesis 37:26-28). It was Judah who attempted to save the young Benjamin from prison.

"Then Judah went up to him and said, "O my lord, let your servant, I pray you, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant; for you are like Pharaoh himself." (Genesis 44:18 RSV)"Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the lad's life, when he sees that the lad is not with us, he will die; and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol [see Sheol and Hades].For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, 'If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame in the sight of my father all my life.' Now therefore, let your servant, I pray you, remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord; and let the lad go back with his brothers. For how can I go back to my father if the lad is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would come upon my father." (Genesis 44:30-34 RSV)

Day 13 Genesis Chapter 38-40 Supplemental Notes

Genesis Chapter 38
Jacob's son Judah (see Children of Jacob) married a Canaanite woman; they had three sons.

"There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; he married her and went in to her, and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. Again she conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. She was in Chezib when she bore him." (Genesis 38:2-5 RSV)

Judah's oldest son Er was put to death by The Lord because he behaved wickedly (Genesis 38:7). When Judah's second son, Onan, refused to produce a child for his dead brother Er through his widow Tamar, according to custom, The Lord put Onan to death too (Genesis 38:8-10). This left Judah with one son, who was too young to be married, and a widowed daughter-in-law who very much wanted a child from her dead husband's family line.

"Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, "Remain a widow in your father's house, till Shelah my son grows up" - for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house." (Genesis 38:11 RSV)

Judah's own wife then died, upon which his daughter-in-law Tamar devised a plan to have a son.

"In course of time the wife of Judah, Shua's daughter, died; and when Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.And when Tamar was told, "Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep," she put off her widow's garments, and put on a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage. When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot, for she had covered her face." (Genesis 38:12-15 RSV)

Tamar became pregnant by her father-in-law Judah from which she gave birth to twin boys, Perez (the line of Judah through whom King David and Jesus Christ were descended i.e. Matthew 1:3,6,16) and Zerah.

"When the time of her delivery came, there were twins in her womb. And when she was in labor, one put out a hand; and the midwife took and bound on his hand a scarlet thread, saying, "This came out first." But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out; and she said, "What a breach you have made for yourself!" Therefore his name was called Perez. Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread upon his hand; and his name was called Zerah." (Genesis 38:27-30 RSV)

Genesis Chapter 39Jacob's son Joseph (see the Fact Finder question below) had been sold into slavery by his jealous brothers (see Joseph's Dreams).

"Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there." (Genesis 39:1 RSV)

It soon became apparent however that Joseph was no ordinary young man.

"The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian, and his master saw that The Lord was with him, and that The Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands." (Genesis 39:2-3 RSV)

Unfortunately, Potiphar's lustful wife found him desirable for another purpose, but when she was refused, she falsely accused Joseph in order to cover her own wickedness.

"And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and said, "Lie with me."But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Lo, having me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand; he is not greater in this house than I am; nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife; how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" [see The Ten Commandments Before Sinai?]And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie with her or to be with her. But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me." But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and got out of the house.And when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had fled out of the house, she called to the men of her household and said to them, "See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; and when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment with me, and fled and got out of the house." (Genesis 39:7-15 RSV)

Joseph was unjustly imprisoned, but even there he prospered because The Lord was with him for the coming purpose.

"And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. But The Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's care all the prisoners who were in the prison; and whatever was done there, he was the doer of it; the keeper of the prison paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph's care, because The Lord was with him; and whatever he did, The Lord made it prosper." (Genesis 39:20-23 RSV)

Genesis Chapter 40While in prison, The Lord enabled Joseph to understand dreams, a power that would eventually not only secure his release, but make him the Prime Minister of Egypt, second only to the king of Egypt himself.

"They said to him, "We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them."And Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, I pray you." (Genesis 40:8 RSV)

Despite the accuracy of Joseph's interpretation of the dreams, "the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him." Innocent Joseph would remain imprisoned for over 2 more years.

"Then Joseph said to him, "This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days; within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his butler (see The Pharaoh's Chief Butler). But remember me, when it is well with you, and do me the kindness, I pray you, to make mention of me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews; and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon."When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, "I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head."And Joseph answered, "This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head--from you! - and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat the flesh from you."On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he made a feast for all his servants, and lifted up the head of the chief butler and the head of the chief baker among his servants. He restored the chief butler to his butlership, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand; but he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him." (Genesis 40:12-23 RSV)

Day 12 Genesis Chapter 35-37 Supplemental Notes

Genesis Chapter 35
After the trouble with the men of Shechem because of Dinah, The Lord (see also YHVH, Adonai, Jehovah, LORD) commanded Jacob to move to Bethel. Idolatry had also infested Jacob's family from their time with Laban (e.g. "Rachel stole her father's household gods," Genesis 31:19 RSV) so that too was left behind at Shechem. The people of Israel moved to Bethel, with The Lord impressing (see also "Strong Is He Who Has Come Down") upon the people of the land not to attack them, as Jacob was concerned would happen i.e. "if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household" (Genesis 34:30 RSV).

"God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there; and make there an altar to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments; then let us arise and go up to Bethel, that I may make there an altar to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone." So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were round about them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob." (Genesis 35:1-5 RSV)

The people of Israel then arrived at Bethel, one of the Bible Places already familiar to Jacob.

"And Jacob came to Luz, that is, Bethel, which is in The Land Of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, and there he built an altar, and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother." (Genesis 35:6-7 RSV)

The family later moved again, southward, where, tragically, Rachel died while giving birth to Benjamin, the only one of Jacob's twelve sons to actually be born in the land of Israel.

"Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor. And when she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, "Fear not; for now you will have another son." And as her soul was departing [see Where Is Your Soul?], for she died, she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called his name Benjamin.So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem [see also The Two Bethlehems], and Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day." (Genesis 35:16-20 RSV)

Jacob's family then arrived at Hebron where another family death occurred - Jacob's father Isaac (see the Fact Finder question below; also Isaac's Faith And Obedience).

"And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned [see also On His Own Two Feet]. Now the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years. And Isaac breathed his last; and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him." (Genesis 35:27-29 RSV)

Genesis Chapter 36Although not in the direct Messianic line from Abraham and Isaac, Jacob's brother Esau was nevertheless greatly blessed.

"Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his cattle, all his beasts, and all his property which he had acquired in the land of Canaan; and he went into a land away from his brother Jacob. For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together; the land of their sojournings could not support them because of their cattle. So Esau dwelt in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom." (Genesis 36:6-8 RSV)

The entire 36th chapter of Genesis is a genealogical listing of the many nations (see also Family, Clan, Tribe, Nation) that originated from Esau from The Land of Seir e.g.

"These are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau." (Genesis 36:10 RSV)"These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau.The sons of Eliphaz the first-born of Esau: the chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, Korah, Gatam, and Amalek; these are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Adah.These are the sons of Reuel, Esau's son: the chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah; these are the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife.These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau's wife: the chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah; these are the chiefs born of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife." (Genesis 36:15-18 RSV)

Genesis Chapter 37Jacob had twelve sons, but just as he had loved one of his wives, Rachel, more than the others, so too he loved her son, Joseph, more than the sons of his other wives - a sure recipe for family trouble.

"Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a lad with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought an ill report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a long robe with sleeves ["a coat of many colours" KJV]. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him." (Genesis 37:2-4 RSV)

Along with the favoritism, Joseph's Dreams caused more trouble, so much so that Joseph's brothers concocted a scheme to be rid of their brother (an interesting note: Joseph's brothers sold him to Midianite traders who took him to Egypt; centuries later, when the Israelites came out of Egypt, Moses' father-in-law Jethro was a Midianite; see also The Education Of Moses).

"And the man said, "They have gone away, for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. They said to one another, "Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild beast has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams." (Genesis 37:17-20 RSV)"Then Midianite traders passed by; and they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver; and they took Joseph to Egypt." (Genesis 37:28 RSV)