Bible Reading Made Different

  A man of the house of Levi, married a daughter of Levi.  Levi is the third son of Jacob and Leah. These two members of the house of Levi are very closely blood related, which we will discover as we continue our journey.  The woman had a baby boy. When she saw that he was a beautiful child she hid him for three months.   In Exodus 1, we learned that the king wanted the baby boys killed when they were born.  Also, keep in mind that the houses in the Biblical days were not like our houses (big or small) now. So, she was more than likely hiding him in plain sight somehow.  When the mother could no longer hide her son, she made a water-proof "baby carrier" of bulrushes daubed with asphalt and pitch. She put the baby in it and laid it in the reeds by the bank of the river. The baby's older sister stood afar off to see what would become of him. Pharaoh's daughter went down to the river to bathe. Her maidens walked along the riverside and when she saw the ark amo...

  Exodus 1 starts out listing the names of Israel's eleven sons that traveled with him to Egypt. Eleven sons are listed because Joseph was already in Egypt. There were seventy persons who were Jacob's direct descendants. Eventually, Joseph, his brothers and all of that generation died. However, the children of Israel were being fruitful and multiplying abundantly. They were growing mightily and the land was filled with them. Egypt had a new king who did not know Joseph. Even though this king didn't know Joseph personally, one would think that he would have known of Joseph and the history of God using him to save the land of Egypt and surrounding regions during the severe famine. Even if that part of history wasn't passed down through the generations, this new king must have been informed about how the children of Israel came to be in Egypt. Maybe, rather than saying, "How Quickly They Forgot", it should be "How Quickly They Ignored". I can imagi...

  Joseph broke down emotionally, throwing himself on his father after he died. He wept over him and kissed him. He commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father. They did as Joseph commanded. The requirement for embalming was forty days. The Egyptians mourned for Israel for seventy days. Google source, bibleref.com , states that the standard period for mourning after the death of a Pharaoh was seventy-two days. Thus, for the Egyptians to mourn Israel's death for seventy days was a great honor. This honor was due to the respect the Egyptians had for Joseph. Have you ever benefited from the respect that someone had for one of your loved ones, like your parent(s) for instance? When the days for mourning had passed, Joseph petitioned Pharaoh's court to speak on his behalf stating that he promised his father that he would bury him in Canaan. Therefore, Joseph needed permission to leave Egypt for the burial. He promised that he would return to Egypt afterwards. I wond...

  Jacob called his sons together so that he could tell them what would befall them in the days to come  (the future) . Leah's Sons Reuben - The first born son, Jacob referred to him as his might and the beginning of his strength. He said that he was the excellency of dignity and power. However, Reuben was unstable as water and he would not excel because he had sex with his father's concubine, Bilhah, and thus, defiled his father's bed/couch.  (Genesis 35:22) Simeon and Levi - These brothers are extremely violent.  This is referencing the "Dinah" incident when they got revenged for their sister's rape in Genesis 34.  Jacob basically is separating himself from them and still holds that sin against them. He curses their anger and predicts that they will be divided throughout Israel. Judah - His brothers will praise him and bow down before him. There is reference to a lion and the characteristics thereof.  In Revelation 5:5, Jesus is referred t...

  After making the promise to his father that he wouldn't bury him in Egypt, it so happened that Joseph was told that his father was sick. He took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim to see him. This is speculation on my part, but this indicates to me that Joseph may not have spent a lot of time in Goshen with his family on a regular basis. He may have still been very busy handling the affairs of Pharaoh. When the famine was over, Joseph still held a very important position in Egypt that could have kept him away from his family in Goshen. Could this be a case of putting "job" before family? Have you ever put your job or career ahead of spending time with your family? Jacob was told that his son, Joseph was coming to see him. Upon hearing this, Jacob strengthened himself and sat up on his bed. Jacob tells Joseph that God Almighty appeared to him in Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed him. God told him that He would make Jacob fruitful and multiply him by making him (his d...

 Joseph went and told Pharaoh about the arrival of his family with all of their possessions to Goshen. He took five of his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. I wonder which five brothers Joseph chose to present and why he chose them specifically. Indeed, Pharaoh did ask about their occupation. The brothers did as Joseph said and told him that they were shepherds. They also told Pharaoh that they came to Egypt because there wasn't any pasture in Canaan because of the severe famine. They asked for permission to dwell in Goshen. Pharaoh told Joseph that his family could dwell in the best of the land, which was apparently, Goshen. He also told Joseph that if he knew of any competent men among his brothers, that he should make them chief herdsmen over his livestock. Look at God! He not only gave them the best of the land, but He also gave them important jobs. This is truly a case of not what you know, even though they had to be skilled shepherds, but of Who you know. ''Who...