Gen. 49-50
Here we see the consequences of the actions of Israel’s three oldest sons – Reuben’s sin with Jacob’s concubine and the revenge Simeon and Levi took for their sister, Dinah. Thus, Judah got the blessing. Then we see where it is Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah (though we don’t know when she died), and Jacob and Leah who are buried in the cave Abraham bought – no Rachel, or Joseph, for that matter. And we also see the repentance of Joseph’s brothers (submitting themselves as Joseph’s servants) and Joseph’s complete forgiveness (not just “letting it go”, but offering to provide for them and theirs). And we see the hand of God and Jesus’ story in all of it.
How do we apply all of this to our lives? I don’t know for sure, except to further seal our trust in a God who clearly has a Plan and is clearly fully capable of implementing it exactly as intended. What He says will happen happens throughout this entire story in spite of (and sometimes maybe because of) people’s decisions and actions. Yes, indeed – we serve a God we can completely trust.
Matt. 23:23-39
Oops – my Matthew reading wouldn’t load yesterday, so I went to the full chapter and then forgot I was reading only half of it, so I read the whole thing yesterday. So you can refer back to yesterday’s comments on Matthew, as they pertained to the entire chapter. Sorry for the let down for today!