Thursday, January 30: Genesis 49-50; Galatians 4

Genesis 49: After blessing his sons, where did Jacob tell them he want to be buried?

Genesis 50: Who went with Joseph to bury Abraham’s body?

Galatians 4: What does the ‘fullness of time’ ESV (the set time had fully come – NIV)refer to in verse 4? Why did Paul first preach the gospel in Galatia?

Journal Prompt: Reread Genesis 50:17 – and pay attention to the very end of the verse. Have you been in a similar situation, where you have forgiven someone and extended grace to them yet they didn’t seem to have truly received it?

ANSWERS

Genesis 49 It seems like both Judah and Joseph received the most favorable blessings – Judah would rule and the scepter would not depart from him and Joseph was especially blessed by God and a prince among his brothers.  Jacob wanted to be buried in the cave of Machpelah in Canaan – Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah and Leah were buried there.  It’s interesting that Rachel, his true love, was not buried there.  She was buried near Bethlehem. (Genesis 35:19)

Genesis 50: Joseph, all of his brothers, and all of Pharaoh’s officials and dignitaries went to Canaan to bury Jacob. Only the children stayed behind.  After Jacob died, the brothers were wary of Joseph. It seems they thought without their father’s physical presence, Joseph might want to seek revenge for what they had done to him so many years before.  They didn’t seem to truly believe Joseph had forgiven them.

Galatians 4:   The fullness of time reminds us that Jesus came according to God’s plan.  Paul first preached the gospel in Galatia because of an illness that apparently kept him in the area of Galatia for quite a while.