Remembering

DEVOTION

GENESIS

REMEMBERING

Gen 48:1-7

48:1 Some time later Joseph was told, "Your father is ill." So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. 2 When Jacob was told, "Your son Joseph has come to you," Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed. 3 Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me 4 and said to me, 'I am going to make you fruitful and will increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.' 5 "Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6 Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. 7 As I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath" (that is, Bethlehem).

NIV

There is something special going on here which certainly has a cultural significance. Jacob, now near death hears that Joseph has come to visit, having heard his father is ill. This moment is special. Joseph was his first born son to his first and who he thought would be his only wife, Rachel. With Joseph there, Jacob is reminded of his Rachel and her death. This surely brings sorrow to his heart, missing her, as well as the fact she did not get to see her beloved son Joseph before she died, since he was sold into slavery that was the last time she ever saw him. What is happening in this scene is that Joseph is considered as the first born rather than Ruben who was the oldest of all the twelve sons. The first born receives a double portion of the inheritance given by the father. Jacob bestows this upon Joseph by including his two sons as his own in the giving of the inheritance. They each received the same portion of the land of Canaan as the other sons did, therefor Joseph received his double portion. In actuality none of the sons saw the land of Canaan, but it was their descendants, each a tribe onto themselves. So what is our lesson in this narrative? Could it be Israel having rallied his strength for his family, to bless them? Could it be Israel having never forgotten his first love? Could it be Israel never forgetting the words of the Lord concerning his promise? Could it be all three? It might be easy in the last moments of life to become extremely introspective. To think what now, my life is about over, we can no longer enjoy the people we love. We can no longer enjoy the things we have acquired. We can no longer enjoy the things we like to do. Even the simple tasks may have to be done for us. We might be the last in our family, no loved ones to be by our side or hold our hand while we step into eternity. We might have loved ones who are at our side. Do we think about them or ourselves at that moment? Israel rallied his strength to give his blessings to his sons, to make sure they knew about the promise of God in his life and for theirs. Yes, he recalls his beloved Rachel at the sight of his son Joseph, but he is also reminding and informing Joseph of the life and death of his mother. It would seem the point here for us may not be for today, but for our moments before stepping into the presence of God. Hopefully we too may rally our strength to bless our family, to pass on that which we have for them. Sure we make certain preparations way ahead, in the writing of wills and such. Yes, we decide who gets what, and how all our stuff is split up among our children and or our grandchildren. But what about our last moments making sure they know the blessed hope we hold so dear? What about giving them a blessing? What about leaving this place talking about the Lord and his charge for their lives? There may be members of our family who have not listened to our words about Jesus throughout our lives. They may have wandered, not paying close enough attention to our words. But at the moment of our last breathe, if we are so blessed by God to have them at our side, they may well be more intent to our last words. These are the moments in which we can impart Jesus to them. Not only can we live our faith throughout our days, but we can live it in our last breathe. True we should not wait till then to make sure they know all the blessing of being born again. But if that is the only time we have, during our last breathe, let us make wise use of it. Speaking about the Lord, but also remember life, our loved ones.