by Ptr. Art Calaguas<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shalom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hamas has just fired rockets from Rafah into Tel Aviv after many months. The Israel-Hamas War intensifies in Rafah, as Israel continues to fight to free the hostages, to finally destroy the remaining terrorist battalions and to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel in the future. However, diplomatic and international pressure on Israel further increases with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) recently handing down controversial rulings which may fuel the already alarming rise of global antisemitism. While the world\u2019s focus is on Rafah and Hamas, Hezbollah continues its daily bombardment of Israel\u2019s northern area from southern Lebanon. After Gaza in the south, Israel may be forced to fight a northern war against Hezbollah, Iran\u2019s strongest proxy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, some 125 hostages (89 still alive?) composed of children, women, men, and the elderly are held in Rafah or somewhere in Gaza since the Hamas attack last October 7, 2023, nearly 8 months ago. Let us continue to pray for the immediate release of all hostages and for a just end to this war. Let us continue to stand with Israel and pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6-9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jacob\u2019s family now settles at Goshen. Genesis 46 enumerates the names of a total of 70 persons of the house of Jacob\/Israel who came into Egypt. Because Joseph was a trusted vizier of Pharaoh, the entire family was welcomed to dwell in Goshen as shepherds as narrated in Genesis 47. Jacob lived another 17 years in Egypt. Genesis 47:29-31 narrates that Jacob\/Israel asked Joseph that when he dies, he will be buried not in Egypt but in the burying place of his fathers in Canaan. And Joseph swore to keep this promise to his father. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Genesis 48:3-4 when he summoned Joseph, Jacob recounted that \u201cEl Shaddai\u201d (God Almighty) appeared to him at Luz in Canaan and blessed him and promised to make him fruitful and give rise to multitudes of peoples and gave him the land for his offspring as an everlasting possession. In this passage as well as earlier, in Genesis 47:29-31 Jacob\/Israel is reiterating to Joseph his prophetic view that the future of their family lies in Canaan, not in Egypt. Jacob\/Israel then proceeded to adopt and bless Joseph\u2019s 2 sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. However, the younger one, Ephraim was given the \u201cfirstborn\u201d blessing over his older brother, Manasseh. As in the earlier patriarchal narratives we have seen, it follows a counter-traditional pattern of the younger getting the status of the \u201cfirstborn\u201d and becoming greater than the older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Continuing to Genesis 48:21, Jacob told Joseph that he was near his death but God will be with them and bring them back to the land of their forefathers (in Canaan). In the Hebrew of this verse, the 2nd<\/sup> personal pronoun plural \u201cyou\u201d is used twice: first in the phrase \u201cGod will be with you<\/em>\u201d and second in \u201cand bring you<\/em> back to the land . . .\u201d Likewise, the possessive pronoun \u201cyour<\/em> forefathers\u201d used is also plural. The grammar would indicate that it is not only Joseph that Jacob\/Israel is referring to but his entire household who would be brought back to the land. Indeed, the ESV Global Study Bible<\/em> notes here that Jacob\/Israel anticipates that after his death, his family will return to Canaan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Genesis 49 narrates the individual blessings Jacob\/Israel gave to his sons (the 12 tribes of Israel). Then before he died, he commanded them very specifically to bury him in the land of Canaan. The Hebrew verses of Genesis 49:29-32 are given below (read right to left, top down) with the salient items highlighted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05d5\u05b7\u05d9\u05b0\u05e6\u05b7\u05a3\u05d5 \u05d0\u05b9\u05d5\u05ea\u05b8\u0597\u05dd \u05d5\u05b7\u05d9\u05b9\u05bc\u05a4\u05d0\u05de\u05b6\u05e8 \u05d0\u05b2\u05dc\u05b5\u05d4\u05b6\u05dd\u0599 \u05d0\u05b2\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9\u0599 \u05e0\u05b6\u05d0\u05b1\u05e1\u05b8\u05a3\u05e3 \u05d0\u05b6\u05dc\u05be\u05e2\u05b7\u05de\u05b4\u05bc\u0594\u05d9 \u05e7\u05b4\u05d1\u05b0\u05e8\u05a5\u05d5\u05bc \u05d0\u05b9\u05ea\u05b4\u0596\u05d9 \u05d0\u05b6\u05dc\u05be\u05d0\u05b2\u05d1\u05b9\u05ea\u05b8\u0591\u05d9 \u05d0\u05b6\u05dc\u05be\u05d4\u05b7\u05a8\u05de\u05b0\u05bc\u05e2\u05b8\u05e8\u05b8\u0594\u05d4 \u05d0\u05b2\u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05a5\u05e8 \u05d1\u05b4\u05bc\u05e9\u05b0\u05c2\u05d3\u05b5\u0596\u05d4 \u05e2\u05b6\u05e4\u05b0\u05e8\u05b9\u05a5\u05d5\u05df \u05d4\u05b7\u05bd\u05d7\u05b4\u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05bd\u05d9<\/mark>\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05d1\u05b7\u05bc\u05de\u05b0\u05bc\u05e2\u05b8\u05e8\u05b8\u059e\u05d4 \u05d0\u05b2\u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05a8\u05e8 \u05d1\u05b4\u05bc\u05e9\u05b0\u05c2\u05d3\u05b5\u05a7\u05d4 \u05d4\u05b7\u05de\u05b7\u05bc\u05db\u05b0\u05e4\u05b5\u05bc\u05dc\u05b8\u059b\u05d4<\/mark> \u05d0\u05b2\u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05a5\u05e8 \u05e2\u05b7\u05dc\u05be\u05e4\u05b0\u05bc\u05e0\u05b5\u05d9\u05be\u05de\u05b7\u05de\u05b0\u05e8\u05b5\u0596\u05d0 \u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05d0\u05b6\u05a3\u05e8\u05b6\u05e5 \u05db\u05b0\u05bc\u05e0\u05b8\u0591\u05e2\u05b7\u05df<\/mark> \u05d0\u05b2\u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05e8\u05a9 \u05e7\u05b8\u05e0\u05b8\u05a8\u05d4 \u05d0\u05b7\u05d1\u05b0\u05e8\u05b8\u05d4\u05b8\u059c\u05dd \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea\u05be\u05d4\u05b7\u05e9\u05b8\u05bc\u05c2\u05d3\u05b6\u0597\u05d4 \u05de\u05b5\u05d0\u05b5\u059b\u05ea \u05e2\u05b6\u05e4\u05b0\u05e8\u05b9\u05a5\u05df \u05d4\u05b7\u05d7\u05b4\u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u0596\u05d9<\/mark> \u05dc\u05b7\u05d0\u05b2\u05d7\u05bb\u05d6\u05b7\u05bc\u05ea\u05be\u05e7\u05b8\u05bd\u05d1\u05b6\u05e8\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05e9\u05b8\u05c1\u05a3\u05de\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4 \u05e7\u05b8\u05bd\u05d1\u05b0\u05e8\u059e\u05d5\u05bc \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea\u05be\u05d0\u05b7\u05d1\u05b0\u05e8\u05b8\u05d4\u05b8\u0597\u05dd \u05d5\u05b0\u05d0\u05b5\u05ea\u0599 \u05e9\u05b8\u05c2\u05e8\u05b8\u05a3\u05d4<\/mark> \u05d0\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05ea\u05b9\u05bc\u0594\u05d5 \u05de\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4 \u05e7\u05b8\u05d1\u05b0\u05e8\u05a3\u05d5\u05bc \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea\u05be\u05d9\u05b4\u05e6\u05b0\u05d7\u05b8\u0594\u05e7 \u05d5\u05b0\u05d0\u05b5\u0596\u05ea \u05e8\u05b4\u05d1\u05b0\u05e7\u05b8\u05a3\u05d4<\/mark> \u05d0\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05ea\u05b9\u05bc\u0591\u05d5 \u05d5\u05b0\u05e9\u05b8\u05c1\u05a5\u05de\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4 \u05e7\u05b8\u05d1\u05b7\u0596\u05e8\u05b0\u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9 \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea\u05be\u05dc\u05b5\u05d0\u05b8\u05bd\u05d4<\/mark>\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05de\u05b4\u05e7\u05b0\u05e0\u05b5\u05a7\u05d4 \u05d4\u05b7\u05e9\u05b8\u05bc\u05c2\u05d3\u05b6\u059b\u05d4 \u05d5\u05b0\u05d4\u05b7\u05de\u05b0\u05bc\u05e2\u05b8\u05e8\u05b8\u05a5\u05d4<\/mark> \u05d0\u05b2\u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05e8\u05be\u05d1\u05b9\u05bc\u0596\u05d5 \u05de\u05b5\u05d0\u05b5\u05a5\u05ea \u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05e0\u05b5\u05d9\u05be\u05d7\u05b5\u05bd\u05ea\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n The King James Version (KJV) translation is given below for these 4 verses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 29<\/sup>And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,<\/mark><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 30<\/sup>In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah,<\/mark> which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan,<\/mark> which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite<\/mark> for a possession of a burying place.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 31<\/sup>There they buried Abraham and Sarah<\/mark> his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah<\/mark> his wife; and there I buried Leah<\/mark>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 32<\/sup>The purchase of the field and of the cave<\/mark> that is therein was from the children of Heth.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The level of detail included in the 4 verses above is equivalent to map coordinates in our time, complete with longitude and latitude! It also indicates who are buried there; much in the same way a modern columbarium or family mausoleum functions. In verse 32, the \u201cchildren of Heth\u201d or \u201csons of Heth\u201d would mean the \u201cHittites\u201d as in other translations. The description was clearly a statement of ownership and possession. Being buried in the family burial place is another way of strongly associating the family\u2019s ties to the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sons of Jacob\/Israel fulfilled their father\u2019s command and brought his embalmed body back to Canaan with large group of Egyptians and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah. The Egyptians apparently accorded royal honors to Jacob\/Israel as a dignitary (befitting an important tribal leader), according to The IVP Bible Background Commentary \u2013 Old Testament<\/em>. This is narrated in Genesis 50:12-13. After burying their father, Joseph and his brothers and all who accompanied them returned to Egypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joseph lived a long time in Egypt and before he died, Genesis 50:24-25 records that he said to his brothers that God will certainly attend to them and bring them out of this land (Egypt) to the land (Canaan) which God swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. He then caused his brothers (\u201cthe sons of Israel\u201d in the text) to swear that God will surely attend to them and they will carry his bones from Egypt to Canaan. It took centuries but this oath was finally fulfilled at Shechem (see Exodus 13:19 and also Joshua 24:32). Joseph then died after living an astonishing life that saw the evil actions of his brothers bring about the goodness of God; saving many lives from the famine and setting up his chosen people to survive, to thrive and later on to possess the land promised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We will continue next time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God bless us all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Ptr. Art Calaguas Shalom. Hamas has just fired rockets from Rafah into Tel Aviv after many months. The Israel-Hamas War intensifies in Rafah, as Israel continues to fight to free the hostages, to finally destroy the remaining terrorist battalions and to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[6,7,9,8,5],"class_list":["post-424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ptr-art-calaguas","tag-church-of-the-risen-lord","tag-crl","tag-spiritual-refreshment-of-the-day","tag-upcemi","tag-upcrl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":425,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions\/425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}