Exodus 23-26

God has given Moses the ten commandments.  Now God is telling the Israelites his laws.

Exodus 23

• God gives some laws on justice.  They include not lying on the witness stand, don’t take bribes, treat people impartially (regardless of whether they are rich or poor), don’t oppress foreigners, rest on the seventh day, and more.
• The Israelites are to have three annual festivals:  The Festival of Unleavened Bread (in early spring, seven days to eat bread without yeast), the Festival of Harvest (bring God the first crops of the harvest), and the Festival of the Final Harvest (bringing God crops at the end of the harvest season).
• An angel will guide Israel to the land God has prepared for them.  If they obey the angel and God, all their enemies will be conquered.  Israel must be sure to completely conquer these nations, destroying their idols and not taking part in worshiping these nations’ gods.
• God emphasizes that Israel must not live with any of these people.  They will conquer them, but they must drive them out of the land.  Otherwise, they will be infected with idol worship.

Exodus 24

• Moses, along with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s leaders go up the mountain, because God beckoned.  Moses writes down all of God’s instructions.
• The next morning, Moses builds an altar at the base of the mountain.  He set up twelve pillars around this altar, symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel.
• When Moses told the Israelites God’s command and read the Book of the Covenant to them, they agreed to do what God had commanded.
• The leaders, Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu go up the mountain and have a meal in God’s presence.
• Moses and Joshua climb up the mountain, telling the leaders to stay with the Israelites while they are gone.
• Moses went up the mountain.  The Israelites saw a devouring fire at the top — this was the glory of God.  Moses stayed at the tops of Mount Sinai for forty days and nights.

Exodus 25

• God told Moses to tell the Israelites that they can bring God an offering if they wish.  God wants a tabernacle to be built.
• Plans are given in order to build the Ark of the Covenant — the stone tablets with the terms of the covenant will be placed inside.
• Plans for the table are given.  The Bread of the Presence will be kept on this table.
• Plans are also givnen to create a lampstand.

Exodus 26

• God gives the design for the tabernacle.
• There will be a curtain inside that separates the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
• The Ark of the Covenant will be placed inside the Most Holy Place, while the lampstand and table will be placed outside the Most Holy Place (in the Holy Place… to the best of my understanding).

Exodus 19-22

What wonders lie ahead for the children of Israel while wandering through the wilderness?

Exodus 19

• The Israelites arrived at the base of Mount Sinai about two months after leaving Egypt.
• Moses climbed Mount Sinai to see God.  God told him that if the Israelites kept God’s covenant and obeyed him, they would be his special treasure.  Moses told the people, and they agreed to do everything God told them to do.
• The Lord decided to speak to the people directly.  So the Israelites had to purify themselves for two days.  They could also not cross a boundary.
• God told Moses to bring Aaron back with him on the top of Mount Sinai.

Exodus 20

• God then gave the ten commandments.  They are as follows:
  1. Worship God alone as god… don’t worship any other gods.
  2. Don’t make idols.
  3. Don’t misuse God’s name.
  4. Keep the Sabbath day holy.
  5. Honor your father and mother.
  6. Don’t murder.
  7. Don’t commit adultery.
  8. Don’t steal.
  9. Don’t lie.
  10. Don’t covet — to want the possessions of others.
• The Israelites were afraid of the thunder and loud horn (from seeing/hearing the presence of God).  Moses told them to let this same fear keep them from sinning.
• God then gives the Israelites a few rules about building and using altars.

Exodus 21

• God gives Israel some instructions on how to treat their slaves (my study Bible notes that the Bible does acknowledge the existence of slavery but never promotes it).
• If the slave is a Hebrew man, he will serve for only six years then be set free.  If he marries during this time, only he will be free after seven years; if he was married beforehand, his wife will be free with him.
• If the master gives his slave a wife, and they have children, only the slave is free after six years.  If the slave still wants to serve his master to be with his family, he can belong to his master forever.
• If a man sells his daughter to slavery, she is not free after six years.  If her owner gives her his son to marry, the owner should treat her as a daughter.  Likewise, if the owner marries her, he should treat her as his wife.
• God also gave some instructions for personal injuries.
• Deliberate murderers, someone who strikes or curses one of his parents, and kidnappers should be killed.  If the killing is an accident, that person can flee if God allows it.
• If there is a quarrel, the person who hurts the other must pay for time lost and medical expenses.
• If a male of female slave is beaten to death, the owner should be punished.
• Hurting a pregnant woman should be punishable by having to pay damages.
• An eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, etc.  This is a guideline for judges… not as a rule for personal relationships (according to my study Bible).
• If an owner knocks out a tooth or injures a slaves eye, that slave should be set free for payment.
• If an animal kills a human, that animal must be killed.  If the owner of that animal does not kill it, and it kills another person, the owner must also be killed (unless the person is a slave, in which case money must be paid).
• If someone uncovers a well, and an animal falls into it (since the person did not cover the well), they must pay the owner of the dead animal.

Exodus 22

• God gives the Israelites more rules about what to do if property/livestock is stolen or killed.
• God also gives rules about social responsibility, like what to do if a man sleeps with an unmarried virgin.  These rules also include some things like don’t exploit widows or orphans, don’t blaspheme God, don’t hold back when you tithe, and several others.
• Suffice it to say that God is giving Israel laws that can help the judges and the other Israelites know what to do in certain situations.

Exodus 15-18

The Israelites are free!  You would think they would be happy… and yes, they are for a while.  But when the hardships come, they are quick to tell Moses what a stupid idea this whole escaping from Egypt thing was.

Exodus 15

• The Israelites sing a song of praise to God.  It basically says God is great and powerful, he will lead them where they need to go, and about how He destroyed the Egyptians for them.
• Miriam, a prophet and Aaron’s sister, also sang a song praising God.
• Once in the wilderness, the people went three days without water in the Shur Desert.
• They came to Marah (meaning ‘bitter’), and the water they found there was bitter.  The Israelites complained to Moses.  Moses asked God what to do.  God told him to throw a branch in the water.  After Moses did this, the water tasted good.
• God said he would keep the Israelites from suffering the diseases that the Egyptians did if they would just obey his commands.  (Side note: The same is true today!  A lot of God’s commands actually keep us from harm rather than just being commands to rule over us.  Take for example, not having sex before marriage, or not murdering, etc.)

Exodus 16

• The people of Israel left Elim and went to the Sin Desert (this is between Elim and Mount Sinai… my study Bible says this is not to be confused with the English word sin).  They got there about a month after they had left Egypt.  The Israelites were bitter with Aaron and Moses, because they were hungry.  Moses told the Israelites they were grumbling against God, not him.
• God provided manna in the morning and quail in the evening for the Israelites to eat.  Each day, just enough for one day’s worth of food was out on the ground.  Moses told them to take exactly as much as they needed each day except for the sixth day.  Then they would take two days’ worth of food, because the seventh day was the Sabbath.
• Some people took more than they needed.  The next day, maggots infested their food and it smelt awful.  This made Moses angry.
• After the sixth day, the extra food the Israelites had taken did no have maggots.  It was still good.
• Some people still went out to get food on the Sabbath.  The Lord asked Moses why they would not listen to him.
• Moses ordered the people of Israel to take two quarts of manna and keep it forever so that future generations could always remember what God had done for them.  Moses and Aaron did this themselves and put theirs in the Ark of the Covenant.
• The Israelites ate this food from God for forty years, until they arrived in Canaan where they could eat crops.

Exodus 17

• The Israelites left the Sin Desert and eventually came to Rephidim.  There was no water there, and the Israelites once again grumbled at Moses.
• God told Moses to take his shepherd’s staff and strike a stone at Mount Sinai.  Moses did this and water came out of the rock.  Moses named this place Massah (“the place of testing”) and Meribah (“the place of arguing”).
• The Amalekites (descendants of Amalek who was one of Esau’s grandsons) decided to attack the Israelites.  Moses told Joshua to assemble an army and go fight them.
• While the Israelites fought, Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of a nearby hill.  Everytime Moses raised up his staff in his hands, the Israelites started winning; otherwise, the Amalekites started winning.  Moses arms started getting tired, so he sat on a stone while Aaron and Hur held up his arms.
• Joshua and the Israelites eventually crushed the Amalekites.

Exodus 18

• Word reached Jethro about Moses.  He came to greet Moses with Moses’ wife and two sons (who had been sent to live with him some time before this).
• Moses told Jethro everything God had done.  This convinced Jethro that God was greater than all other Gods.  He offered sacrifices to God.  Aaron and the leaders of Israel joined Jethro with a sacrificial meal.
• Moses had been listening to the Israelites’ complaints for some time.  This took him from morning to evening.
• Jethro told Moses it might be wise to get some honest, God-fearing men to be judges over a certain number of people.  This would reduce Moses’ workload; he would only have to listen to the most important cases.  Moses followed his father-in-law’s advice, and it worked well for him.
• Soon after Jethro gave his advice, Moses had to part ways.

Exodus 11-14

Egypt has really been through it.  The tenth plague, however, will leave Pharaoh no choice but to let God’s people go…

Exodus 11

• The Egyptians had actually come to like the Israelites and Moses.  This is why the Israelites would soon be able to ask them for gold, silver, and other nice things and still get them when they left (just by asking).
• Moses warned Pharaoh of the killing of the firstborn.  He told Pharaoh how no Israelite would be harmed, but every single Egyptian family would be.  Pharaoh still refused to let the Israelites go.

Exodus 12

• Moses and Aaron tell the Israelites the rituals of the Passover… a holiday the Lord would establish among them as a sign for them to remember what He was going to do.
• The rituals included using a lamb or goat’s blood to smear over the top and sides of the doorpost.  This would tell the ‘Destroyer’ to not enter the Israelites’ houses; their firstborn would be spared.
• The Israelites could also not eat bread with yeast.  Also, the lamb or goat had to be eaten in full (or the uneaten parts had to be burned before morning).
• The Egyptians’ firstborn and their cattle’s firstborn were slain.  Great wailing was heard throughout Egypt.
• Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron that very night.  The Israelites were free to go, as well as all their flocks and herds.  They also asked the Egyptians for clothing and articles of silver and gold.  In this manner, they raided Egypt like a victorious army.
• It is estimated that two million people left Egypt.  However, the Bible says for sure that 600,000 men left (not including the women and children).
• The Israelites had lived in Egypt exactly 430 years.  This night was the last day of the 430th year.
• God gives Moses and Aaron some more rules for the Passover.  Each passover lamb should stay in one household.  Also, foreigners may not eat the lamb.  If they want to celebrate the Passover, the males must be circumcised.
• At this point, God began leading the Israelites out of Egypt.

Exodus 13

• In an early day in spring, the Israelites were to eat only bread without yeast for seven days.  They must explain to their children why they are celebrating — the fact that God led them out of Egypt.
• The Israelites must also dedicate their firstborn to the Lord.  He saved them during the Passover.  This, again, is to teach the children and remind the Israelites of all that God has done for them.
• God led the Israelites from Succoth to Etham towards the Red Sea.  This was not the shortest route, but it avoided the Philistine territory (if their was conflict, the Israelites might want to return to Egypt).
• Moses took the bones of Joseph with him as was promised to Joseph many, many years ago.
• God guided the Israelites “…by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night.” (Exo. 13:21)

Exodus 14

• God told Moses to camp the Israelites along the shore.
• After three days, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds.  They did not want their slaves to escape.  They took six hundred of their finest chariotes, along with the rest of Egypt’s army.
• The Israelites saw the army in a distance.  They prayed to God, then they complained to Moses.
• The pillar of cloud made the Egyptians unable to see the Israelites.
• Moses raised his hand over the Red Sea, and a path of dry ground opened.  The Israelites began crossing.
• Pharaoh and his army also started crossing the dry ground of the Red Sea.  God made the chariot wheels come off.  At this point, the Egyptians wanted to just leave; they saw that God was fighting for Israel.
• Once the Israelites reached the other side of the Red Sea, Moses stretched his hand over the sea, and the waters rushed back into place.  Every single person in Pharaoh’s army died.
• This made the Israelites realize the power of God.  They feared Him and put their faith in Him and Moses.

Exodus 7-10

Pharaoh is not going to agree to let the Israelites go out to worship God.  Bring on the plagues!

Exodus 7

• God told Moses to go speak to Pharaoh and how things would pan out.  After it is all said and done, the Egyptians will know that God is the one and true God.
• Moses was eighty at this time, and Aaron was eighty-three.
• Aaron threw down his rod to become a snake.  Pharaoh’s wise men and magicians did the same thing (probably using satanic power), but Aaron’s snake ate their snakes.  Pharaoh still refused to listen.
• The next morning, Aaron hit the Nile’s waters with his staff, the whole river turned to blood (the first plague).  The magicians and wise men repeated this, so Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to listen to Moses and Aaron.
• A whole week passed with this bloody water.  The Egyptians had dug wells for drinking water during this time.

Exodus 8

• Pharaoh has another chance to let Israel go.  He refuses, and frogs fill the entire land of Egypt (the second plague), down to everybody’s ovens, beds, and everywhere!  Even though the magicians repeated this, Pharaoh pleaded with Moses and Aaron to make the frogs go away.
• The next day, Moses prays to God to make the frogs go away.  They all died, except for the frogs in the Nile river.  Pharaoh hardens his heart and refuses to let the Israelites go.
• Since Pharaoh refused, Aaron hit the dust with his staff.  The third plague occurred – gnats were everywhere in Egypt.  The magicians could not repeat this plague and declared that the finger of God was at work.  Pharaoh remained stubborn and did not listen.
• Next up: the fourth plague, flies.  These flies only affected Egypt, not Goshen (where the Israelites were).  Pharaoh agreed to let the Israelites go sacrifice (only in the land of Egypt).  Moses refused — the Egyptians would become outraged, because the Israelites would be sacrificing animals the Egyptians considered sacred.  Pharaoh then said they could go into the wilderness.
• Moses prayed, the flies went away, and Pharaoh went against his word.  The Israelites still could not leave.

Exodus 9

• After Pharaoh was warned again, God performs the fifth plagues: all the livestock in Egypt die, while none Israel’s livestock die.  Even though Pharaoh’s officials told him this is what had happened (from seeing it), he still refused to let the Israelites go.
• In the presence of Pharaoh, Moses took soot from a furnace and threw it into the air.  This sixth plague made everyone in Egypt to break out in boils.  The magicians cannot do anything, because they have also been struck with the boils.  Pharaoh still refuses to do anything.
• Pharaoh was warned of the seventh plague, and he was also told the purpose of the plagues — to show them the power of God (God could have just wiped them off the face of the earth)… that the God of Israel really is the almighty, powerful God.  Terrible hail would come, and anyone or anything left outside would die.
• Some of the Egyptians listened and lived, while others did not listen.  They staid outside and died.  All crops or anything else outside went away.
• Pharaoh said he would let the Israelites go just as soon as the hail went away.  Moses prayed, the hail went away, and Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites leave.

Exodus 10

• Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and warned him of the next plague (plague eight): a ton of locusts… unless he let the Israelites leave.  At this point, Pharaoh’s officials pleaded with Pharaoh, telling him to just let the Israelites leave.
• Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron back, asking just who all would leave with them.  Moses replied that everyone would leave… all flocks, herds, sons, daughters, men, women… everyone.  Pharaoh refused, saying only the men could go.
• Moss raised his staff.  An east wind blew all that day and night.  The next morning, locusts devoured everything the hailstorm had not destroyed.  Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron.  After another prayer, a west wind blew that caused the locusts to leave.  Pharaoh STILL did not let the Israelites go.
• So Moses raised his hand toward heaven, and Egypt experience three days of total darkness.  The Israelites once again experienced none of this.
• Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron.  However, he would not let the livestock leave.  He screamed at Moses that he never wanted to see Moses’ face again.  If he did, he would kill Moses.

So as a quick guide, here are the plagues in order…

1. Nile turns to blood
2. Frogs
3. Gnats
4. Flies
5. Livestock
6. Boils
7. Hail
8. Locusts
9. Darkness
10. Death of firstborn

Exodus 3-6

God is getting concerned for Israel’s welfare.  The Egyptians are becoming worse than ever, and it is about time for a Biblical… ‘hero.’

Exodus 3

• One day Moses was tending Jethro’s flock (Reuel also goes by Jethro).  Near Sinai (the mountain of God), Moses saw a bush covered in flames, but it was not being burnt up.
• God spoke to Moses from the bush.  He told Moses to take off his sandals; he was on holy ground.  He also told him that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses’ ancestors.
• God proceeds to tell Moses that he will rescue the Israelites from Egypt (he should appear before Pharaoh) and lead them to the Promised Land — Canaan.
• Moses had plenty of doubts.  God told Moses He would be with him.  As proof, God said that Moses would return to Mount Sinai to worship Him after the Israelites had left Egypt.
• Moses said the leaders would not believe him.  God told Moses to tell the Israelites that “…’I AM has sent me to you.'” (Exo. 3:14)  God said the leaders of Israel will accept Moses’ message, but the leaders of Egypt would not… they would not let the Israelites go on a three-day journey to the wilderness to make sacrifices to God.
• God also said that He would work miracles through Egypt (plagues!) and at the end of the whole ordeal, when the Israelites left Egypt, they would plunder the Egyptians just by asking for stuff (the Egyptians would give it away happily now that the Israelites were leaving).

Exodus 4

• Moses is still doubtful.  God shows him three signs he can show to the Israelites that will make them believe his message is from God.  Moses could throw his staff on the ground and make it a snake (picking it up made the snake a staff again), put his hand in his robe and pull it out to make it leprous (do this again to make it normal), and take water from the Nile and pour it on dry ground to make it blood.
• Moses still hesitates, saying he is not a good speaker.  Even after God confirmed He would help him speak, Moses still hesitated.  At this point, God just said Aaron, Moses’ brother, would be with him to speak.
• Moses gets Jethro’s blessing to go to Egypt to visit his family.  So Moses heads off to Egypt with his family.  God also tells Moses not to be afraid, because everyone who was wanting to kill him has died by now.
• God told Moses to show the signs to Pharaoh when he got to Egypt (but Pharaoh would not accept them according to God).
• On the way, God was about to kill Moses, because he had not followed God’s covenant.  After Zipporah circumcised their son, the Lord left Moses alone. Moses had to follow all of God’s commandments — remember that any family that did not circumcise their children was removing themself from God’s blessings.
• Aaron went to meet Moses in the wilderness.  When they both got to Egypt, Aaron told the Israelite leaders what God had told Moses, and Moses performed the miarcles.  The leaders believed.

Exodus 5

• Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh to ask him to let the people go worship God for three days.  Pharaoh was very rude.  He instead insisted that the Israelites now must produce the same amount of bricks in a day and find their own straw to use.
• The slavemasters carried out Pharaoh’s brutal order.  Israel’s foremen in charge of work crews went to Pharaoh to plead with him.  Pharaoh insisted that they were lazy, because they had enough time to talk about making sacrifices to God.
• On their way out, they met up with Aaron and Moses.  The foremen condemned them, saying they had given the Egyptians an excuse to kill the Israelites.
• Moses protested to God, saying he had not even started to rescue the Israelites yet.  (Side note: Remember how the Simeon and Levi were very angry about Dinah getting raped, and killed Shechem’s people?  I just realized, not only does Moses — a Levite — seem to have an attitude with God, but he also killed that Egyptian…)

Exodus 6

• God told Moses to tell the Israelites that they would be God’s special people.  He would bring them into the land of Canaan (which he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) and free them from their slavery.  However, the people of Israel would no longer listen (due to their heavy workload).
• God told Moses to tell Pharaoh.  Although he resisted, the Lord ordered it.
• The story digresses for a second for a brief family tree.  We learn that Amram is Aaron’s and Moses’ father, and Jochebed is their mother.

Genesis 49 – Exodus 2

Jacob has come to Goshen to be close to Joseph and lived about seventeen years.  Near his death, it is time to hand out the blessings (or curses!)…

Genesis 49

• Although Reuben was firstborn, he would not receive the double blessing or any of his other rights as firstborn, because he slept with Bilhah, Jacob’s concubine.
• Simeon and Levi have their anger and wrath cursed, due to their actions against Shechem.  They killed the man that raped their sister Dinah and everyone in Shechem’s land, dishonoring Jacob.
• Judah is blessed.  Perhaps this is due to Judah’s change of character when he stood for his brother, because he had done some awful things in the past (lying to his daughter, selling Joseph into slavery).  Judah’s descendants would come to include Jesus.
• Gen. 49:10 says “…until the coming of the one to whom it belongs,…” which can also mean ‘until Shiloh comes.’  Shiloh has been disputed to be another name for Messiah or to the Tabernacle set up at the city of Shiloh.  Either way, this prophecy came true.
• Zebulun will be a harbor for ships.
• Issachar will submit to forced labor.
• Dan will goven his people but will not be a good leader unless he trusts in God (based on Gen. 49:18: “I trust in you for salvation, O Lord!” — Jacob prays to God that Dan will turn to Him).
• Gad will be plundered and in turn will plunder those same people.
• Asher will produce good food.
• Naphtali is compared to a deer producing great fawns.
• Joseph will be fruitful.  He has remained strong in times of adversity.  He is greatly blessed and is prince among his brothers.
• Benjamin will devour his enemies like a wolf.
• Jacob told his sons to bury him in Machpelah, where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah were buried.  After making his sons commit to this, he died.

Genesis 50

• Joseph wept over his father and kissed him.  Then Jacob was embalmed (as was custom in Egypt), which took forty days (the mourning lasted for seventy days!).
• Joseph got permission from Pharaoh to bury Jacob in Machpelah as Jacob requested.  Several of Pharaoh’s counselors and advisors went with Jacob, as did his brothers and some of Jacob’s household.
• They held a solemn funeral and had a seven-day period of mourning.
• Once they returned to Egypt, Joseph’s brothers were afraid that now Joseph would get his revenge on them.  Joseph reassured them that he would still take care of them as he did before.
• Joseph died at the age of 110.  He told his brothers that eventually God would lead them out of Egypt and to Canaan, the land he promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
• Joseph made the sons of Israel swear to take his body back to Canaan when God would lead them back there in the future.
• So Joseph died, was embalmed, and placed in an Egyptian coffin.

Exodus 1

• Joseph and his brothers died, as well as the current Pharaoh.  The Israelites prospered, bearing many children.
• The new Pharaoh saw the Israelites as a threat.  So he made them slaves and put Egyptian slave drivers over them.  This was done in order to make the Israelites wear down and not multiply as much.
• However, the more badly the Egyptians treated the Hebrews, the more quickly they multiplied.
• The situation got so bad that Pharaoh ordered Shiphrah and Puah (two Hebrew midwives) to kill all Hebrew males as soon as they were born.  They did not follow this command.
• When Pharaoh questioned them, they lied, saying the Hebrew women were strong, having there babies too quickly for them to kill them (unlike the Egyptian women, who were slow in giving birth).
• Despite the lie, God blessed the midwives due to their obedience to God’s commandments — avoiding killing innocent life.
• The Israelites continued to multiply and grow more powerful.  Pharaoh ordered all his people to throw all Israelite male babies into the Nile, but the girls could be spared.

Exodus 2

• A man and woman of Levi’s descent married and had a baby boy.  The wife hid him for three months then made a weatherproof, waterproof basket and put him in the Nile, where his sister watched him from a distance.
• One of Pharaoh’s daughters found the baby, who touched her heart with his cries.  The baby’s sister asked the daughter if she would like one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby.  Pharaoh’s daughter agreed to this.
• The baby’s mother nursed the baby until he was older, when she brought him back to the princess.  He was named Moses (meaning ‘to draw out’ — from drawing him out of the water).
• When Moses was grown up, he saw an Egyptian beating one of the Hebrews.  Making sure no one was watching, he killed the Egyptian and buried him.
• The next day, he saw two Hebrew men fighting.  They asked him if he was going to kill them, as he did the Egyptian.
• Figuring out that Pharaoh was going to have him arrested and killed for his murder, Moses fled to Midian.
• Shepherds would often chase the girls of a priest of Midian and their flocks away from a well.  Moses aided them one day, rescuing the girls from the shepherds.
• When the girls returned to their father, Reuel, so quickly, they told him about Moses.  Reuel invited Moses over for a meal.
• Moses accepted and started living with Reuel’s family.  Eventually, Reuel gave one of his daughters, Zipporah, to be Moses’ wife, and they had a son named Gershom (meaning ‘a stranger there’).
• Several years passed, and Pharaoh died.  But still the Israelites were enslaved.  God heard Israel’s pleas and remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Genesis 45-48

So Joseph has finished testing his brothers… Judah has stood up for them.  Joseph sees that his brothers have changed and are not evil as they once were.  Now is the time for a great family reunion…

Genesis 45

• Joseph tells all the Egyptians attendants to leave the room.  He then reveals himself as Joseph to his brothers.  His weeping could be heard throughout the entire palace.
• Joseph tells his brothers to bring Jacob with them to Goshen so that Joseph can share his prosperity with them.
• The brothers went to Jacob along with several wagons, fine clothes, and other provisions.  They told Jacob the news.  At first Jacob did not believe, but once he heard Joseph’s messages and saw the wagons loaded with food, he chose to go see Joseph.
• My study Bible also notes the similarity of how Jacob at first doubted Joseph being alive, just as Thomas doubted Jesus being risen from the dead.  They both needed some kind of proof.

Genesis 46

• Jacob and his descendants start their way to Egypt.  In Beersheba, God tells Jacob that his descendants will become a great nation in Egypt, but they will come back to Canaan (prophecy of the Israelites going out of Egypt and eventually conquering Canaan).  Jacob would die with Joseph at his side.
• A family tree of Jacob’s descendants is given.  He has sixty-six going to Egypt, not counting his sons’ wives.  Adding Joseph, his two sons, and (I assume) Jacob himself, there were seventy members in Jacob’s family in Egypt.
• Joseph sees his father.  They both embrace.  Jacob says he could die now knowing that Joseph is alive.

Genesis 47

• Joseph tells Pharaoh that his family are livestock breeders and shepherds (which are despised by Egyptians), but Pharaoh himself probably came from the nomadic Hyksos line, making him sympathetic to shepherds.  So Jacob’s family got to live in Goshen, away from the prejudice of the Egyptians.  Pharaoh also put them in charge of his own livestock.
• Jacob is presented before Pharaoh.  Jacob reveals that he is 130 at this time.  Jacob blesses Pharaoh.
• Joseph gives food to his fathers and brothers in appropriate amounts.
• The famine continually gets worse.  The people of Egypt and Canaan ran out of money.  So they exchanged their livestock for grain.  Then they exchanged their land, and basically made themselves servants of Pharaoh.  Joseph gives them seeds and tells them that 4/5 of their crops can be kept for themselves, while 1/5 should go to Pharaoh.
• Jacob lived to 147 then died.  He made Joseph swear to bury him at the tomb of Machpelah with Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac.

Genesis 48

• Before Jacob had died, Joseph heard that his father was nearing death.  So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim to Jacob.
• Although Jacob is almost blind, he intentionally blessed Ephraim, the younger brother, more than he did his older brother, Manasseh.

Genesis 41-44

The cup-bearer regains his position, while the baker dies.  But will Joseph ever make it out of prison?

Genesis 41

• Pharaoh had two dreams.  In one, seven healthy, fat cows came to a river and began to graze.   Then seven thin, ugly cows came and stood beside the fat cows.  They then ate the healthy cows.  In the second dream, seven full and plump grains grew on a stalk.  But seven withered ones also grew on that stalk and swallowed the full ones.
• None of the magicians or wise men of Egypt could interpret the dream.  At this point, the cup-bearer mentioned Joseph, who was quickly brought up from the prison (after a quick shave and change of clothes).
• Joseph said he could not interpret the dream, but God could through him.  Both dreams meant the same thing: there will be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine.
• Joseph also outlined an action plan: to store up one-fifth of all the food during the time of plenty in preparation for the famine.  Pharaoh saw Joseph as the wisest man in the land and made him second in command, second only to himself.
• Pharaoh gave Joseph nice clothes and jewelry.  He gave him an Egyptian name (Zaphenath-paneah, meaning ‘God speaks and lives’) and an Egyption wife, Asenath.  Joseph was thirty years old when he took charge under Pharaoh of Egypt.
• During the seven years of plenty, Joseph had two sons through Asenath: Manasseh (meaning ‘causing to forget’) and Ephraim (meaning ‘fruitful’).
• After the seven years of plenty, crop failures occurred throughout the world.  Egyptians and foreigners alike went to Joseph and the storehouses in Egypt to buy grain.

Genesis 42

• Back in Canaan, the famine was strong also.  So Jacob told his sons to go buy grain in Egypt (except for Benjamin).
• When they got in front of Joseph, he immediately recognized them (but the brothers did not recognize Joseph).  Joseph remembered his dream as a child as his other brothers bowed down to him.
• He spoke to them through an interpreter.  He accused them of being spies.  After he put them in prison for three days, he kept Simeon in prison and told the other ten to bring back their other brother the next time they came.  Joseph was doing this to test if they had changed… if they were still evil or not.
• The brothers spoke in their native language, saying that God was punishing them for what they did to Joseph.  Of course, Joseph was able to understand them.
• Joseph told his servants to fill the men’s sacks with grain and their money.  He also gave them stuff to aid them in their journey back home.
• When the brothers got back to Jacob, they told him what happened.  They also noticed all of them still had their money and were filled with terror.  Jacob said he would not allow Benjamin to go with them — he did not want anything happening to his last son from Rachel.

Genesis 43

• Jacob eventually allowed Benjamin to go with the brothers to Egypt; the family was running low on grain again.  Judah promised Benjamin’s safety.
• They also each took twice the pay (in order to pay for more grain and to return the money they found in their sacks) and gifts for Joseph.
• Joseph prepared to eat a feast with his brothers and had Simeon released.  But the brothers were scared to death as they entered the palace, expecting to be reprimanded for the pay they found in their sacks.
• The household manager told them the money in their sacks must have been a gift from God.
• Joseph found out that his father was still alive.
• He seated them at a table by their age… without asking them (which amazed the brothers).  Joseph sat a table by himself, the Egyptians by theirselves, and the Hebrew brothers by themselves (due to the Egyptian caste system).
• Joseph gave Benjamin five times the amount of food he gave anyone else.

Genesis 44

• Joseph instructed that, once again, the grain payment money be put in the sacks as well as the grain.  He also had his silver drinking cup put into Benjamin’s sack.
• Joseph told his household manager to catch up to his brothers and stop them, asking for Joseph’s silver cup.
• The brothers told the household manager to kill whoever had the cup.  He replied that he would make that brother a slave instead.
• When the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack, all the brothers returned to Joseph and said they would all be his slaves.  Joseph refused, saying only Benjamin would be his slave.
• Judah had changed.  He stepped up to Pharaoh and told him that if Benjamin did not return home, Jacob might possibly even die of sorrow.  Judah pleaded with Joseph to let him be the slave and let Benjamin go home with his brothers.

Genesis 37-40

So Rachel and Isaac have died and Esau has moved away from Jacob into the country of Seir.  It is now time to move to our next main character a generation down: Joseph.

Genesis 37

• Jacob settles in the land of Canaan, where Isaac lived.
• At the age of seventeen, Joseph often tended to the flocks with his half brothers (Bilhah’s and Zilpah’s sons).  He told Jacob the bad things that they did.
• Jacob loved Joseph more than the others.  He gave him a beautiful robe (the coat of many colors).  Joseph’s brothers hated him, since his father favored him.
• Joseph had two dreams.  In one, his bundle of grains stood up while all his brothers’ bundles of grain bowed down to his.  In the other, the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed down to him (his father, his mother, and his eleven brothers).  While his brothers hated him all the more, his father wondered what the dream may mean.
• Jacob told Joseph to go check on the flocks at Shechem, since they had been gone for a while.  Joseph met a man on the way that told him they were now in Dothan.
• His brothers noticed Joseph at a distance.  They plotted to kill him, but Reuben convinced them to throw him in a well instead (planning to save him later).
• They threw him in the well.  Ishmaelite traders came by later, and they sold Joseph as a slave to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.  The traders headed off to Egypt with Joseph.
• Reuben came back later and noticed Joseph was no longer in the pit.  Rather than worrying about Joseph, he wondered what would happen to himself.
• He and his brothers killed a goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in it.  They took it to their father, who assumed Joseph had been killed by a wild animal (hmmm… they deceived their father… where have I seen this before?).
• Jacob could not be comforted.  He said he would mourn to the day he died.
• Back in Egypt, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoah and captain of the palace guard.

Genesis 38

• At about the time Joseph was sold to Potiphar in Egypt, Judah married a Canaanite woman and had three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah.
• Er grew up and Judah arranged Er’s marriage with Tamar.  Er was wicked, so God took his life.
• The law required Onan to marry Tamar (since he was the brother of Er and Tamar had no son, leaving her no heir).  Onan was not willing to have a child with Tamar… he used methods to prevent her from getting pregnant.  So God killed him too.
• Shelah was still young, so Judah told Tamar to not marry until Shelah was old enough to marry her.  Until then, she would live with her parents.  But Judah had no intentions of Shelah marrying Tamar.
• After a while, Judah’s wife died.  After the mourning, Judah went to Timnah to oversee the his sheep’s shearing.
• Tamar heard word of this.  Knowing that Shelah had already grown up, she removed her widow garments and made herself look like a prostitute.  She sat at the road to the entrance to a village leading to Timnah.
• Judah agreed to give Tamar an identification seal, a cord, and his walking stick in order to sleep with her (not knowing she was his daughter-in-law).
• When Judah heard that Tamar was pregnant by prostitution, he said to bring her out and burn her.  Once she revealed that she had his identification seal and walking stick, Judah realized he was more in the wrong thn she was.  She was spared, but he never slept with her again.
• Tamar had twin sons.  One baby started to be birthed first, but he draw back and the other baby was born first.  The firstborn was Perez (“breaking out”), while the almost-firstborn was named Zerah (“scarlet” or “brightness”).

Genesis 39

• In Egypt, God blessed Joseph so that everything in Potiphar’s household flourished.  Potiphar put Joseph in charge of everything in his house and even let him make all the business decisions.  All Potiphar had to do was decide what to eat.
• Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph to sleep with her.  He kept refusing, saying it would be a great sin against God.  Eventually, they were alone.  She again tried to seduce him, grabbing him by the shirt.  He fled, leaving his shirt with her.
• Potiphar’s wife said that Joseph had tried to rape her, fleeing when she started screaming.  And she had his shirt for proof.
• Potiphar threw Joseph into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held.  God continued to bless Joseph, so that the chief jailer put him in charge of everything.  Just like Potiphar, the chief jailer had no more worries, as Joseph took care of everything.

Genesis 40

• Pharaoah’s chief cup-bearer and chief baker got in trouble with Pharaoah, so they were thrown in prison as well.
• They each had a dream.  Joseph said that God could interpret dreams, so he could help them out.
• The cup-bearer had seen a vine with three branches that budded and blossomed.  There were also grapes on it, which he made a juice from for Pharaoah.  Joseph interpreted it to mean that in three days Pharaoah would set him free, and he would keep his position.
• Joseph also told the cup-bearer to put in a good word for him so that he could be set free from a prison that he did not deserve.
• The baker had a dream of having three baskets of pastries on his head.  The top basket had bakery goods for Pharaoah, but the birds ate them up.  It meant that in three days, Pharaoah would cut off his head and impale his body on a pole, where birds would peck away at his flesh.
• The interpretations proved correct: the cup-bearer was fine and the baker was killed.  However, the cup-bearer forgot all about Joseph.