Gen 48-49 is the story of Jacob at the end of his life. In a poetic ending, now the roles are reversed.  Jacob is in the position of giving the blessing, before him are the two sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim. Joseph wanted the Patriarch to bless the two sons in the order of their birth but as the moment approached, Jacob crossed his arms and blessed the younger over the older. The narrator offered no explanation for this symbolic action, perhaps the silence invites the reader to pause and consider all possible meanings.

Throughout the years, I came across a few slogans or mantras used in church that seem inspirational at first but upon further reflection, I’m not sure what it really means. For example:

Pray as if everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you. (St. Augustine)

While we don’t believe in sitting idly by and letting God bring everything into fruition; we also do not believe in running around in a frenzied state trying to make things happen on our own strength and effort. Somewhere in between these polar extremes is where we live in the complexities of everyday life.

We have reached a pivotal moment in our study of Genesis. Chapter 1-11 is the primeval history of the human race. Chapter 12-50 is the story of Israel; beginning with the calling of Abram in Chapter 12. Here is a short clip from The Bible Project that gives a very creative way to understand Gen 1-11, Genesis Ch. 1-11.

At the end of Gen 10 and 11, we see the list of nations and humanity’s attempt to make their name great by building a tower. Gen 12 opens with these promises to Abram:

“I will make you into a great nation,

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you.”

The calling of Abraham is God’s answer to the problem of spiralling sin in humanity. God will establish a special relationship (covenant) with Abraham and his descendants, bless them by giving them instruction and the law; and through them, God will bless all peoples on earth. This becomes the overriding plot of the Old Testament, the principles of which, extend to the New Testament.