Read-Post Through the Bible

[daniel1212av]

Thank God for a new computer(!), but due to  BIOS problems and Vista bugs in relation to my preferences, and allowing it to get to me, i am running very late, and will thus rely on selective portions of commentary from  far more holy and learned men. Sorry.

Gen 48:1-7 -
Here, I. Joseph, upon notice of his father's illness, goes to see him; though a man of honour and business, yet he will not fail to show this due respect to his aged father, Gen_48:1. Visiting the sick, to whom we lie under obligations, or may have opportunity of doing good, either for body or soul, is our duty. The sick bed is a proper place both for giving comfort and counsel to others and receiving instruction ourselves. Joseph took his two sons with him, that they might receive their dying grandfather's blessing, and that what they might see in him, and hear from him, might make an abiding impression upon them. Note, 1. It is good to acquaint young people that are coming into the world with the aged servants of God that are going out of it, whose dying testimony to the goodness of God, and the pleasantness of wisdom's ways, may be a great encouragement to the rising generation. Manasseh and Ephraim (I dare say) would never forget what passed at this time. 2. Pious parents are desirous of a blessing, not only for themselves, but for their children. “O that they may live before God!” 

II. Jacob, upon notice of his son's visit, prepared himself as well as he could to entertain him, Gen_48:2. He did what he could to rouse his spirits, and to stir up the gift that was in him; what little was lift of bodily strength he put forth to the utmost, and sat upon the bed. Note, It is very good for sick and aged people to be as lively and cheerful as they can, that they may not faint in the day of adversity. Strengthen thyself, as Jacob here, and God will strengthen thee; hearten thyself and help thyself, and God will help and hearten thee. Let the spirit sustain the infirmity. - Barnes

III. In recompence to Joseph for all his attentions to him, he adopted his two sons. In this charter of adoption there is, 1. A particular recital of God's promise to him, to which this had reference: “God blessed me (Gen_48:3), and let that blessing be entailed upon them.” God had promised him two things, a numerous issue, and Canaan for an inheritance (Gen_48:4); and Joseph's sons, pursuant hereunto, should each of them multiply into a tribe, and each of them have a distinct lot in Canaan, equal with Jacob's own sons. See how he blessed them by faith in that which God had said to him, Heb_11:21. Note, In all our prayers, both for ourselves and for our children, we ought to have a particular eye to, and remembrance of, God's promises to us. 2. An express reception of Joseph's sons into his family: “Thy sons are mine (Gen_48:5), not only my grandchildren, but as my own children.” Though they were born in Egypt, and their father was then separated from his brethren, which might seem to have cut them off from the heritage of the Lord, yet Jacob takes them in, and owns them for visible church members. He explains this at Gen_48:16, Let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers; as if he had said, “Let them not succeed their father in his power and grandeur here in Egypt, but let them succeed me in the inheritance of the promise made to Abraham,” which Jacob looked upon as much more valuable and honourable, and would have them to prize and covet accordingly. Thus the aged dying patriarch teaches these young persons, now that they were of age (being about twenty-one years old), not to look upon Egypt as their home, nor to incorporate themselves with the Egyptians, but to take their lot with the people of God, as Moses afterwards in the like temptation, Heb_11:24-26. And because it would be a piece of self-denial in them, who stood so fair for preferment in Egypt, to adhere to the despised Hebrews, to encourage them he constitutes each of them the head of a tribe. Note, Those are worthy of double honour who, through God's grace, break through the temptations of worldly wealth and preferment, to embrace religion in disgrace and poverty. Jacob will have Ephraim and Manasseh to believe that it is better to be low and in the church than high and out of it, to be called by the name of poor Jacob than to be called by the name of rich Joseph. 3. A proviso inserted concerning the children he might afterwards have; they should not be accounted heads of tribes, as Ephraim and Manasseh were, but should fall in with either the one or the other of their brethren, Gen_48:6. It does not appear that Joseph had any more children; however, it was Jacob's prudence to give this direction, for the preventing of contest and mismanagement. Note, In making settlements, it is good to take advice, and to provide for what may happen, while we cannot foresee what will happen. Our prudence must attend God's providence. 4. Mention is made of the death and burial of Rachel, Joseph's mother, and Jacob's best beloved wife (Gen_48:7), referring to that story, Gen_35:19. Note, (1.) When we come to die ourselves, it is good to call to mind the death of our dear relations and friends, that have gone before us, to make death and the grave the more familiar to us. See Num_27:13. Those that were to us as our own souls are dead and buried; and shall we think it much to follow them in the same path? (2.) The removal of dear relations from us is an affliction the remembrance of which cannot but abide with us a great while. Strong affections in the enjoyment cause long afflictions in the loss.- Henry

Gen 48:1-22 -
 - Joseph Visits His Sick Father
The right of primogeniture has been forfeited by Reuben. The double portion in the inheritance is now transferred to Joseph. He is the first-born of her who was intended by Jacob to be his first and only wife. He has also been the means of saving all his father’s house, even after he had been sold into slavery by his brethren. He has therefore, undeniable claims to this part of the first-born’s rights.

Gen_48:1-7
After these things. - After the arrangements concerning the funeral, recorded in the chapter. “Menasseh and Ephraim.” They seem to have accompanied their father from respectful affection to their aged relative. “Israel strengthened himself” - summoned his remaining powers for the interview, which was now to him an effort. “God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz.” From the terms of the blessing received it is evident that Jacob here refers to the last appearance of God to him at Bethel Gen_35:11. “And now thy sons.” After referring to the promise of a numerous offspring, and of a territory which they are to inherit, he assigns to each of the two sons of Joseph, who were born in Egypt, a place among his own sons, and a separate share in the promised land. In this way two shares fall to Joseph. “And thy issue.” We are not informed whether Joseph had any other sons. But all such are to be reckoned in the two tribes of which Ephraim and Menasseh are the heads. These young men are now at least twenty and nineteen years of age, as they were born before the famine commenced. Any subsequent issue that Joseph might have, would be counted among the generations of their children. “Rachel died upon me” - as a heavy affliction falling upon me. The presence of Joseph naturally leads the father’s thoughts to Rachel, the beloved mother of his beloved son, whose memory he honors in giving a double portion to her oldest son.

Gen_48:8-16
He now observes and proceeds to bless the two sons of Joseph. “Who are these?” The sight and the observant faculties of the patriarch were now failing. “Bring them now unto me, and I will bless them.” Jacob is seated on the couch, and the young men approach him. He kisses and folds his arms around them. The comforts of his old age come up before his mind. He had not expected to see Joseph again in the flesh, and now God had showed him his seed. After these expressions of parental fondness, Joseph drew them back from between his knees, that he might present them in the way that was distinctive of their age. He then bowed with his face to the earth, in reverential acknowledgment of the act of worship about to be performed. Joseph expected the blessing to be regulated by the age of his sons, and is therefore, careful to present them so that the right hand of his dim-sighted parent may, without any effort, rest on the head of his first-born. But the venerable patriarch, guided by the Spirit of him who doth according to his own will, designedly lays his right hand on the head of the younger, and thereby attributes to him the greater blessing.

The imposition of the hand is a primitive custom which here for the first time comes into notice. It is the natural mode of marking out the object of the benediction, signifying its conveyance to the individual, and implying that it is laid upon him as the destiny of his life. It may be done by either hand; but when each is laid on a different object, as in the present case, it may denote that the higher blessing is conveyed by the right hand. The laying on of both hands on one person may express the fulness of the blessing conveyed, or the fullness of the desire with which it is conveyed. - Barnes

To be continued..

[daniel1212av]

Gen 48:13 - “And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand,”.... He took Ephraim his youngest son in his right hand, and led him up to his father, by which means he would stand in a right position to have his grandfather's left hand put upon him:  “and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand;” Manasseh his eldest son he took in his left hand, and brought him to his father, and so was in a proper position to have his right hand laid upon him, as seniority of birth required, and as he was desirous should be the case: - Gill

 48:14-16 -
The patriarch then stretched out his right hand and laid it upon Ephraim's head, and placed his left upon the head of Manasseh (crossing his arms therefore), to bless Joseph in his sons. “Guiding his hands wittingly;” i.e., he placed his hands in this manner intentionally. Laying on the hand, which is mentioned here for the first time in the Scriptures, was a symbolical sign, by which the person acting transferred to another a spiritual good, a supersensual power or gift; it occurs elsewhere in connection with dedication to an office (Num_27:18, Num_27:23; Deu_34:9; Mat_19:13; Act_6:6; Act_8:17, etc.), with the sacrifices, and with the cures performed by Christ and the apostles. By the imposition of hands, Jacob transferred to Joseph in his sons the blessing which he implored for them from his own and his father's God: “The God (Ha-Elohim) before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God (Ha-Elohim) who hath fed me (led and provided for me with a shepherd's faithfulness, Psa_23:1; Psa_28:9) from my existence up to this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads.” This triple reference to God, in which the Angel who is placed on an equality with Ha-Elohim cannot possibly be a created angel, but must be the “Angel of God,” i.e., God manifested in the form of the Angel of Jehovah, or the “Angel of His face” (Isa_43:9), contains a foreshadowing of the Trinity, though only God and the Angel are distinguished, not three persons of the divine nature. The God before whom Abraham and Isaac walked, had proved Himself to Jacob to be “the God which fed” and “the Angel which redeemed,” i.e., according to the more fully developed revelation of the New Testament, ὁ Θεός and ὁ λόγος, Shepherd and Redeemer. By the singular יברך (bless, benedicat) the triple mention of God is resolved into the unity of the divine nature. Non dicit (Jakob) benedicant, pluraliter, nec repetit sed conjungit in uno opere benedicendi tres personas, Deum Patrem, Deum pastorem et Angelum. Sunt igitur hi tres unus Deus et unus benedictor. Idem opus facit Angelus quod pastor et Deus Patrum (Luther). “Let my name be named on them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,” i.e., not, “they shall bear my name and my fathers',” “dicantur filii mei et patrum meorum, licet ex te nati sint” (Rosenm.), which would only be another way of acknowledging his adoption of them, “nota adoptionis” (Calvin); for as the simple mention of adoption is unsuitable to such a blessing, so the words appended, “and according to the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,” are still less suitable as a periphrasis for adoption. The thought is rather: the true nature of the patriarchs shall be discerned and acknowledged in Ephraim and Manasseh; in them shall those blessings of grace and salvation be renewed, which Jacob and his fathers Isaac and Abraham received from God. The name expressed the nature, and “being called” is equivalent to “being, and being recognised by what one is.” The salvation promised to the patriarchs related primarily to the multiplication into a great nation, and the possession of Canaan. Hence Jacob proceeds: “and let them increase into a multitude in the midst of the land.” דּגה: ἁπ λεγ, “to increase,” from which the name דּג, a fish, is derived, on account of the remarkable rapidity with which they multiply. - K+D

Gen_48:15-16
And he blessed Joseph. - In blessing his seed he blesses himself. In exalting his two sons into the rank and right of his brothers, he bestows upon them the double portion of the first-born. In the terms of the blessing Jacob first signalizes the threefold function which the Lord discharges in effecting the salvation of a sinner. “The God before whom walked my fathers,” is the Author of salvation, the Judge who dispenses justice and mercy, the Father, before whom the adopted and regenerate child walks. From him salvation comes, to him the saved returns, to walk before him and be perfect. “The God, who fed me from my being unto this day,” is the Creator and Upholder of life, the Quickener and Sanctifier, the potential Agent, who works both to will and to do in the soul. “The Angel that redeemed me from all evil,” is the all-sufficient Friend, who wards off evil by himself satisfying the demands of justice and resisting the devices of malice. There is a beautiful propriety of feeling in Jacob ascribing to his fathers the walking before God, while he thankfully acknowledges the grace of the Quickener and Justifier to himself. The Angel is explicitly applied to the Supreme Being in this ministerial function. The God is the emphatic description of the true, living God, as contradistinguished from all false gods. “Bless the lads.” The word bless is in the singular number. For Jacob’s threefold periphrasis is intended to describe the one God who wills, works, and wards. “And let my name be put upon them.” Let them be counted among my immediate sons, and let them be related to Abraham and Isaac, as my other sons are. This is the only thing that is special in the blessing. “Let them grow into a multitude.” The word grow in the original refers to the spawning or extraordinary increase of the finny tribe. The after history of Ephraim and Menasseh will be found to correspond with this special prediction.

Gen_48:17-22
Joseph presumes that his father has gone astray through dulness of perception, and endeavors to rectify his mistake. He finds, however, that on the other hand a supernatural vision is now conferred on his parent, who is fully conscious of what he is about, and therefore, abides by his own act. Ephraim is to be greater than Menasseh. Joshua, the successor of Moses, was of the tribe of Ephraim, as Kaleb his companion was of Judah. Ephraim came to designate the northern kingdom of the ten tribes, as Judah denoted the southern kingdom containing the remaining tribes; and each name was occasionally used to denote all Israel, with a special reference to the prominent part. “His seed shall be the fullness of the nations.” This denotes not only the number but the completeness of his race, and accords with the future pre-eminence of his tribe. In thee, in Joseph, who is still identified with his offspring.

At the point of death Jacob expresses his assurance of the return of his posterity to the land of promise, and bestows on Joseph one share or piece of ground above his brethren, which, says he, I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow. This share is, in the original, שׁכם  shekem, Shekem, a shoulder or tract of land. This region included “the parcel of the field where he had spread his tent” Gen_33:19. It refers to the whole territory of Shekem, which was conquered by his sword and his bow, inasmuch as the city itself was sacked, and its inhabitants put to the sword by his sons at the head of his armed retainers, though without his approval Gen. 34. Though he withdrew immediately after to Bethel Gen. 35, yet he neither fled nor relinquished possession of this conquest, as we find his sons feeding his flocks there when he himself was residing at Hebron Gen_37:13. The incidental conquest of such a tract was no more at variance with the subsequent acquisition of the whole country than the purchase of a field by Abraham or a parcel of ground by Jacob himself. In accordance with this gift Joseph’s bones were deposited in Shekem, after the conquest of the whole land by returning Israel. The territory of Shekem was probably not equal in extent to that of Ephraim, but was included within its bounds. - Barnes

[daniel1212av]

[4-16-07]
(Gen 49)  And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. {2} Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father. {3} Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: {4} Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch. {5} Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. {6} O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. {7} Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. {8} Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee. {9} Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? {10} The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. {11} Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: {12} His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. {13} Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon. {14} Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: {15} And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute. {16} Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. {17} Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. {18} I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD. {19} Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last. {20} Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. {21} Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. {22} Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: {23} The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: {24} But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) {25} Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: {26} The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. {27} Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. {28} All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them. {29} 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, {30} In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace. {31} There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. {32} The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth. {33} And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

[daniel1212av]

Israel the father, family priest, prophet and dispenser of blessings and curses as an instrument of almighty God, gathers his sons together for this latter purpose. The Bible often records the works of men, both of their beginnings and endings (search “first and last”), and here we may see a type of the judgment seat of Christ in which “every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad  Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men..” (2 Cor. 5:10, 11a).

Reuben, the son of Leah, Jacob's first wife due to Laban's guile (Gn. 29) is called “unstable”, which is the only occurrence of that exact word (H6349), “from H6348; 'ebullition', that is, froth (figuratively lust) – Strongs; BDB Definition: 1) recklessness, wantonness, unbridled license, frothiness,”  Though some redeeming qualities were seen in him in seeking to spare Josephs life, his life must have been characterized by some sort of lack of self control, out of which he committed the heinous incestuous sin of laying with one of his father's wives, Bilhah (Gn. 29:29; 35:22). Though only one wife was God's plan in the beginning, and which ideal the Lord Jesus restored under the New Covenant (Gn. 2:24; Mt. 19:5; 1 Tim. 3:2), this sin was against God who strictly prohibited it under the Law (Lv. 18:, of which we have examples was known at least in essence among ancients before it was fully given and codified, and is a type of sin that is especially deleterious to the family. This is the same sin, and in a continuous way, that the Corinthians tolerated, and in response necessitated  delivering the offender “unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 5:5). But in Reuben's case this is no indication that his fornication was continuous, and beside other suffering, the stated penalty here is that he will not “excel, or receive the elevation that was his normal right as the first born.  “Reuben lost the leadership in Israel; so that his tribe attained to no position of influence in the nation” - K+D. Though under Moses his descendants still received some posterial blessing (Dt. 33:6). Thus both Esau and Reuben lost their birthright due to carnality. And no unrepentant fornicators and such like, shall inherit the kingdom of God (Eph. 1 Cor. 6:9; Eph. 5:5), nor lay claim to being part of “the church of the firstborn” (Heb. 12:23).

Simeon and Levi are called brethren, likely not simply because there were both of Leah (Gn. 29:33, 34); but were much of the same heart and disposition, and in the manifestation of which they became   instruments of cruelty, which their wanton vengeance of Gn. 34 illustrates, and which Jacob has not forgotten. The “man” of v. 6 may principally mean Shechem, who defiled Dinah, but it also includes all the men of his city he slew in so doing, while wall can mean the actual wall of his house).

Israel disassociates himself with them, like as true Bible believing Christians must in regards to the atrocities of vengeance and unholy means in crusades and inquisitions by men and a church using the name Christian by denying His words and means, by which denial and carnal criteria and means true Bible believing Christians themselves would be imprisoned or slain today.

V:7: “Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.”  Instead of a blessing, they receive a curse, and take note of Israel's power to do so.

The character of Simeon and Levi: they were brethren in disposition; but, unlike their father, they were passionate and revengeful, fierce and uncontrollable; their swords, which should have been only weapons of defense, were (as the margin reads it, Gen_49:5) weapons of violence, to do wrong to others, not to save themselves from wrong. Note, It is no new thing for the temper of children to differ very much from that of their parents - Henry

Judah, whose name signifies praise, was the fourth son of Leah, after which she left having children for awhile, and he was the decedent to receive a rich and unmixed blessing, one of dominance and power.  God was praised for him by Leah in birth (Gen_29:35), and praised by him, and would be praised in him; and therefore his brethren would praise him.His brethren would bow down to him, but not so much personally in the sense of this life as pertained to Joseph, though Judah seemed to have already become their leader (Gn. 43:4, 8; 44:14, 16, 18) but through his descendants. Judah certainly was not without his faults, which the Bible plainly declares in his taking of a Canaanite wife (Shua), his poor judgment in not giving his son Shelah as a husband to his daughter in law Tamar, and then laying with her as prostitute (Gn. 38). “But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.“ (Heb. 6:), and Judah acknowledged his guilt  toward Tamar (38:26), and it was he who also sought the welfare of Joseph (Gn. 37:26) and Benjamin, even being willing to take the latter's place as a indentured servant (44:18-34). In relation to that,  his most notable blessings is that

V. 10 “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.sceptre” (cf. Num. 24:17; Ps. 60:7);

Note, Those that are to God for a praise shall be the praise of their brethren. Judah should be a strong and courageous tribe. Judah is compared, not to a lion raging and ranging, but to a lion enjoying the satisfaction of his power and success, without creating vexation to others; this is to be truly great. Judah should be the royal tribe, the tribe from which Messiah the Prince should come. Shiloh, that promised Seed in whom the earth should be blessed, “that peaceable and prosperous One,” or “Saviour,” he shall come of Judah. Thus dying Jacob at a great distance saw Christ's day, and it was his comfort and support on his death-bed. Till Christ's coming, Judah possessed authority, but after his crucifixion this was shortened, and according to what Christ foretold, Jerusalem was destroyed, and all the poor harassed remnant of Jews were confounded together. Much which is here said concerning Judah, is to be applied to our Lord Jesus. In him there is plenty of all which is nourishing and refreshing to the soul, and which maintains and cheers the Divine life in it. He is the true Vine; wine is the appointed symbol of his blood, which is drink indeed, as shed for sinners, and applied in faith; and all the blessings of his gospel are wine and milk, without money and without price, to which every thirsty soul is welcome. Isa_55:1.

Gen_49:14 -15
“An ass of bone,” and therefore, of strength. “Couching between the hurdles” - the pens or stalls in which the cattle were lodged. Rest in a pleasant land he felt to be good; and hence, rather than undertake the struggle for liberty and independence, he became like the strong ass a bearer of burdens, and a payer of tribute. He is thus a hireling by disposition as well as by name Gen_30:18. - Barnes

Gen 49:13-18 -
Concerning Zebulun: if prophecy says, Zebulun shall be a haven of ships, be sure Providence will so plant him. God appoints the bounds of our habitation. It is our wisdom and duty to accommodate ourselves to our lot, and to improve it; if Zebulun dwell at the heaven of the sea, let him be for a haven of ships. Concerning Issachar: he saw that the land was pleasant, yielding not only pleasant prospects, but pleasant fruits to recompense his toils. Let us, with an eye of faith, see the heavenly rest to be good, and that land of promise to be pleasant; this will make our present services easy. - Henry

The two burdens literally mean the two sacks or panniers, one on each side of the animal’s body; and couching down between these refers to the well-known propensity of the ass, whenever wearied or overloaded, to lie down even with its burden on its back. - Clarke

Dan should, by art, and policy, and surprise, gain advantages against his enemies, like a serpent biting the heel of the traveller. Jacob, almost spent, and ready to faint, relieves himself with those words, “I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord!” The salvation he waited for was Christ, the promised Seed; now that he was going to be gathered to his people, he breathes after Him to whom the gathering of the people shall be. He declared plainly that he sought heaven, the better country, Heb_11:13, Heb_11:14.  - Henry



Continued..

[daniel1212av]

Gen 49:19 - Gad, “a troop shall overcome him,”.... There is a paronomasia, or an allusion to the name of Gad almost in every word of the verse, which signifies a troop: the whole is a prediction that this tribe would be a warlike one, and have the common fate of war, sometimes be conquered, and at other times conquer, but however should be at last entirely victorious; all the three Targums refer this to this tribe passing over Jordan at the head of the armies of Israel, into the land of Canaan, in Joshua's time, which, when they had subdued, they returned to their own inheritance on the other side Jordan, Jos_1:12

“but he shall overcome at the last;” as the Gadites with the Reubenites and half tribe of Manasseh did overcome the Hagarites and Arabians, the war being of God, and succeeded, and they dwelt in their stead until the captivity of the ten tribes, 1Ch_5:18 and thus it is with the people of God in their present warfare state, who are often foiled with sin, Satan, and the world, their spiritual enemies; but at last they are more than conquerors over them all through Christ that has loved them.  - Gill

Gen 49:19-21 -
Concerning Gad, Jacob alludes to his name, which signifies a troop, and foresees the character of that tribe. The cause of God and his people, though for a time it may seem to be baffled and run down, will be victorious at last. It represents the Christian's conflict. Grace in the soul is often foiled in its conflicts; troops of corruption overcome it, but the cause is God's, and grace will in the end come off conqueror, yea, more than conqueror, Rom_8:37. Asher should be a rich tribe. His inheritance bordered upon Carmel, which was fruitful to a proverb. Naphtali, is a hind let loose. We may consider it as a description of the character of this tribe. Unlike the laborious ox and ass; desirous of ease and liberty; active, but more noted for quick dispatch than steady labour and perseverance. Like the suppliant who, with goodly words, craves mercy. Let not those of different tempers and gifts censure or envy one another. - Henry

Gen 49:22-27 -
The blessing of Joseph is very full. What Jacob says of him, is history as well as prophecy. Jacob reminds him of the difficulties and fiery darts of temptations he had formerly struggled through. His faith did not fail, but through his trials he bore all his burdens with firmness, and did not do anything unbecoming. All our strength for resisting temptations, and bearing afflictions, comes from God; his grace is sufficient. Joseph became the shepherd of Israel, to take care of his father and family; also the stone of Israel, their foundation and strong support. In this, as in many other things, Joseph was a remarkable type of the Good Shepherd, and tried Corner Stone of the whole church of God. Blessings are promised to Joseph's posterity, typical of the vast and everlasting blessings which come upon the spiritual seed of Christ. Jacob blessed all his sons, but especially Joseph, “who was separated from his brethren.” Not only separated in Egypt, but, possessing eminent dignity, and more devoted to God. Of Benjamin it is said, He shall ravin as a wolf. Jacob was guided in what he said by the Spirit of prophecy, and not by natural affection; else he would have spoken with more tenderness of his beloved son Benjamin. Concerning him he only foresees and foretells, that his posterity should be a warlike tribe, strong and daring, and that they should enrich themselves with the spoils of their enemies; that they should be active. Blessed Paul was of this tribe, Rom_11:1; Phi_3:5; he, in the morning of his day, devoured the prey as a persecutor, but in the evening divided the spoils as a preacher; he shared the blessings of Judah's Lion, and assisted in his victories. - Henry

The sons of the man Israel are not the only ones to receive an inheritance, but as the Israel of God  who suffer with Him shall be glorified together (Rm. 8:17)  ”Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, {4} To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, {5} Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. {6} Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: (1 Pet 1:3-6).

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(Gen 50)  And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. {2} And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel. {3} And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days. {4} And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, {5} My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again. {6} And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear. {7} And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, {8} And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. {9} And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company. {10} And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days. {11} And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim, which is beyond Jordan. {12} And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them: {13} For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

{14} And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father. {15} And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. {16} And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, {17} So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. {18} And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. {19} And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? {20} But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. {21} Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

{22} And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years. {23} And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph's knees. {24} And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. {25} And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. {26} So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

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Vs. 1 - 13: Josephs father dies, and is embalmed after the manner of the Egyptians, and given a most honorable state funeral in the land of Canaan, and buried in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

Vs. 14 - 21: Joseph returns to Egypt and his brethren then fear that his grace toward them was only due to his love for his father, but Joseph reassures them of his love and care, and that while they thought evil against him, yet “God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”

Vs. 22 – 26: Joseph - lives till 110 years old in Egypt, and sees the third generation of Ephraim and Manasseh brought up upon his knees. Before his death Joseph foretells of the time when god would visit them in deliverance, and they would be brought up out of  Egypt, carrying his bones with them. Joseph then dies and is himself embalmed and put in a coffin in Egypt.

Gen 50:1-26 -
 - The Burial of Jacob
10. אטד  'āṭâd Atad, “the buck-thorn.”
11. מצרים אבל  'ābêl-mîtsrayîm, Abel-Mitsraim, “mourning of Mizraim,” or meadow of Mizraim.
This chapter records the burial of Jacob and the death of Joseph, and so completes the history of the chosen family, and the third bible for the instruction of man.
Gen_50:1-3
After the natural outburst of sorrow for his deceased parent, Joseph gave orders to embalm the body, according to the custom of Egypt. “His servants, the physicians.” As the grand vizier of Egypt, he has physicians in his retinue. The classes and functions of the physicians in Egypt may be learned from Herodotus (ii. 81-86). There were special physicians for each disease; and the embalmers formed a class by themselves. “Forty days” were employed in the process of embalming; “seventy days,” including the forty, were devoted to mourning for the dead. Herodotus mentions this number as the period of embalming. Diodorus (i. 91) assigns upwards of thirty days to the process. It is probable that the actual process was continued for forty days, and that the body lay in natron for the remaining thirty days of mourning. See Hengstenberg’s B. B. Mos. u. Aeg., and Rawlinson’s Herodotus.
Gen_50:4-6
Joseph, by means of Pharaoh’s courtiers, not in person, because he was a mourner, applies for leave to bury his father in the land of Kenaan, according to his oath. This leave is freely and fully allowed.
Gen_50:7-14
The funeral procession is now described. “All the servants of Pharaoh.” The highest honor is conferred on Jacob for Joseph’s sake. “The elders of Pharaoh, and all the elders of the land of Mizraim.” The court and state officials are here separately specified. “All the house.” Not only the heads, but all the sons and servants that are able to go. Chariots and horsemen accompany them as a guard on the way. “The threshing-floor of Atari, or of the buck-thorn.” This is said to be beyond Jordan. Deterred, probably, by some difficulty in the direct route, they seem to have gone round by the east side of the Salt Sea. “A mourning of seven days.” This is a last sad farewell to the departed patriarch. Abel-Mizraim. This name, like many in the East, has a double meaning. The word Abel no doubt at first meant mourning, though the name would be used by many, ignorant of its origin, in the sense of a meadow. “His sons carried him.” The main body of the procession seems to have halted beyond the Jordan, and awaited the return of the immediate relatives, who conveyed the body to its last resting-place. The whole company then returned together to Egypt.
Gen_50:15-21
His brethren supplicate Joseph for forgiveness. “They sent unto Joseph,” commissioned one of their number to speak to him. now that our common father has given us this command. “And Joseph wept” at the distress and doubt of his brothers. He no doubt summons them before him, when they fall down before him entreating his forgiveness. Joseph removes their fears. “Am I in God’s stead?” that I should take the law into my own hands, and take revenge. God has already judged them, and moreover turned their sinful deed into a blessing. He assures them of his brotherly kindness toward them.
Gen_50:22-26
The biography of Joseph is now completed. “The children of the third generation” - the grandsons of grandsons in the line of Ephraim. We have here an explicit proof that an interval of about twenty years between the births of the father and that of his first-born was not unusual during the lifetime of Joseph. “And Joseph took an oath.” He thus expressed his unwavering confidence in the return of the sons of Israel to the land of promise. “God will surely visit.” He was embalmed and put in a coffin, and so kept by his descendants, as was not unusual in Egypt. And on the return of the sons of Israel from Egypt they kept their oath to Joseph Exo_13:19, and buried his bones in Shekem Jos_24:32.
The sacred writer here takes leave of the chosen family, and closes the bible of the sons of Israel. It is truly a wonderful book. It lifts the veil of mystery that hangs over the present condition of the human race. It records the origin and fall of man, and thus explains the co-existence of moral evil and a moral sense, and the hereditary memory of God and judgment in the soul of man. It records the cause and mode of the confusion of tongues, and thus explains the concomitance of the unity of the race and the specific diversity of mode or form in human speech. It records the call of Abraham, and thus accounts for the preservation of the knowledge of God and his mercy in one section of the human race, and the corruption or loss of it in all the rest. We need scarcely remark that the six days’ creation accounts for the present state of nature. It thus solves the fundamental questions of physics, ethics, philology, and theology for the race of Adam. It notes the primitive relation of man to God, and marks the three great stages of human development that came in with Adam, Noah, and Abraham. It points out the three forms of sin that usher in these stages - the fall of Adam, the intermarriage of the sons of God with the daughters of men, and the building of the tower of Babel. It gradually unfolds the purpose and method of grace to the returning penitent through a Deliverer who is successively announced as the seed of the woman, of Shem, of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah. This is the second Adam, who, when the covenant of works was about to fall to the ground through the failure of the first Adam, undertook to uphold it by fulfilling all its conditions on behalf of those who are the objects of the divine grace.
Hence, the Lord establishes his covenant successively with Adam, Noah, and Abraham; with Adam after the fall tacitly, with Noah expressly, and with both generally as the representatives of the race descending from them; with Abraham especially and instrumentally as the channel through which the blessings of salvation might be at length extended to all the families of the earth. So much of this plan of mercy is revealed from time to time to the human race as comports with the progress they have made in the education of the intellectual, moral, and active faculties. This only authentic epitome of primeval history is worthy of the constant study of intelligent and responsible man. - BARNES

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(Exo 1)  Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob. {2} Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, {3} Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, {4} Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. {5} And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. {6} And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. {7} And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.

{8} Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. {9} And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: {10} Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. {11} Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. {12} But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. {13} And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: {14} And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour. {15} And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: {16} And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. {17} But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. {18} And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive? {19} And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. {20} Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. {21} And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. {22} And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.

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Joseph's brethren and their decedents have seen freedom, blessing and great increase in numbers, but after a “change of administration” the new Pharaoh has little confidence in the loyalty of these multitudinous immigrants in time of war, and decrees to subjugate them. Thus comes bitter slavery and by which great projects were built.

Additionally, the Pharaoh institutes a genocidal ethnic policy similar to partial birth abortion, whereby the Hebrew heads of ”obstetrics” where commanded to destroy the Hebrew children at birth. But in the first case (i can recall) in the Bible of principled “civil disobedience,” “the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive” (7. 17). Being called on the carpet by Pharaoh on this issue they lie, in seeking to save lives and risking their own lives, and for which love God rewards them with houses. Pharaoh's next recourse is one of more blatant murder, that of commanding “all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river” (v. 21), while the daughters they were to save alive. It was not an easy time to be Hebrew, and was a precursor to prolonged suffering, and other times when the decedents of Jacob would see the wrath of the devil who seeks to make God a liar, but which suffering Israel has often suffered and yet suffers in punishment from God due to their disobedience (1 Ths. 2:16; Jude 5).

Exo 1:1-7 - During more than 200 years, while Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived at liberty, the Hebrews increased slowly; only about seventy persons went down into Egypt. There, in about the same number of years, though under cruel bondage, they became a large nation. This wonderful increase was according to the promise long before made unto the fathers. Though the performance of God's promises is sometimes slow, it is always sure. - Henry.

V. 5: This  as well as Gn. 46: 26 states 70 souls, while Acts 7:14 states 75, but,
“Jacob's children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren amounted to sixty-six (Genesis 46:8-26). Adding Jacob himself and Joseph with his two sons, we have seventy. If to the sixty-six we add the nine wives of Jacob's sons (Judah's and Simeon's wives were dead; and Joseph could hardly be said to call himself, his own wife or his two sons into Egypt, and Jacob is specifically separated by Stephen) we have seventy-five persons as in Actsx, and adding the 9 wives of Jacob's sons makes 75 (Judah's and Simeon's wives were dead).” See http://www.searchgodsword.org/com/bcc/view.cgi?book=ac&chapter=007 See this also on other similar problematic texts.

V. 8: “There arose up a new king..” -  Stephen calls him another king, Act_7:18 one of another family, according to Josephus (g); who was not of the seed royal, as Aben Ezra; and Sir John Marsham (h) thinks this was Salatis, who, according to Manetho (i), was the first of the Hycsi or pastor kings that ruled in lower Egypt; but these kings seem to have reigned before that time; see Gill on Gen_46:34 and Bishop Usher (k) takes this king to be one of the ancient royal family, whose name was Ramesses Miamun; - Gill.

The want of trustworthy accounts of the history of ancient Egypt and its rulers precludes the possibility of bringing this question to a decision. - K+D.

V. 11: “They built for Pharaoh treasure cities” --These two store-places were in the land of Goshen; and being situated near a border liable to invasion, they were fortified cities (compare 2Ch. 11:1-12:16). Pithom (Greek, Patumos), lay on the eastern Pelusiac branch of the Nile, about twelve Roman miles from Heliopolis; and Raamses, called by the Septuagint Heroopolis, lay between the same branch of the Nile and the Bitter Lakes. These two fortified cities were situated, therefore, in the same valley; and the fortifications, which Pharaoh commanded to be built around both, had probably the same common object, of obstructing the entrance into Egypt, which this valley furnished the enemy from Asia [HENGSTENBERG]. - JFB.

Exo 1:8-14 - The land of Egypt became to Israel a house of bondage. The place where we have been happy, may soon become the place of our affliction; and that may prove the greatest cross to us, of which we said, This same shall comfort us. Cease from man, and say not of any place on this side heaven, This is my rest. All that knew Joseph, loved him, and were kind to his brethren for his sake; but the best and most useful services a man does to others, are soon forgotten after his death. Our great care should be, to serve God, and to please him who is not unrighteous, whatever men are, to forget our work and labour of love. The offence of Israel is, that he prospers. There is no sight more hateful to a wicked man than the prosperity of the righteous. The Egyptians feared lest the children of Israel should join their enemies, and get them up out of the land. Wickedness is ever cowardly and unjust; it makes a man fear, where no fear is, and flee, when no one pursues him. And human wisdom often is foolishness, and very sinful. God's people had task-masters set over them, not only to burden them, but to afflict them with their burdens. They not only made them serve for Pharaoh's profit, but so that their lives became bitter. The Israelites wonderfully increased. Christianity spread most when it was persecuted: the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church. They that take counsel against the Lord and his Israel, do but imagine a vain thing, and create greater vexation to themselves. - Henry
Exo 1:15-22 - The Egyptians tried to destroy Israel by the murder of their children. The enmity that is in the seed of the serpent, against the Seed of the woman, makes men forget all pity. It is plain that the Hebrews were now under an uncommon blessing. And we see that the services done for God's Israel are often repaid in kind. Pharaoh gave orders to drown all the male children of the Hebrews. The enemy who, by Pharaoh, attempted to destroy the church in this its infant state, is busy to stifle the rise of serious reflections in the heart of man. Let those who would escape, be afraid of sinning, and cry directly and fervently to the Lord for assistance.- Henry

Jacob's children are now suffering persecution and hard labor, whereas before they knew favor and blessing. Suffering in Scripture is instructive both to motivate us to avoid chastisement as well as to endure victoriously suffering that is designed to mold us into Christ. As concerns the latter, we may talk today of fellowship with Christ, but few of us know about “the fellowship of His sufferings” (Phil. 3:10), and it is there that the richest and deepest fellowship is to be found. For what fellowship hath Christ with frivolity? There is indeed joy and rejoicing in the Lord and such ought to be constant, but this can often be superficial, or dependent on circumstance, but it is usually those who have walked in the valley of the shadow of death with their Lord that know Him most deeply and effectually as their all sufficient Shepherd. And along with joy in Christ, a deep agony for souls and or physical suffering  can exist, as it did in our Lord, the man of sorrows who rejoiced in spirit (Is. 53:3; Lk. 10:21), and as it did in His apostle who exhorted us to rejoice in the Lord always, but who had continual sorrow in his heart for his lost brethren (Phil. 4:4; Rm. 9:3). And then there is the joy in God's word, yet horror and grief “because of the wicked that forsake thy law (Ps. 119:11, 53, 158). May we thus “rejoice with trembling” (Ps. 2:11), “walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost”  (Acts 9:31). 

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(Exo 2)  And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. {2} And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. {3} And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. {4} And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. {5} And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. {6} And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children. {7} Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? {8} And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother. {9} And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.

{10} And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water. {11} And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. {12} And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. {13} And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? {14} And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.

{15} Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well. {16} Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. {17} And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. {18} And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day? {19} And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock. {20} And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread. {21} And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. {22} And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land. {23} And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. {24} And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. {25} And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

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“By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment” (Heb. 11:23).

After revealing Himself through such men as Abraham Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, here begins the even fuller revelation of the LORD in both word and deed through Moses, “the man of God.” His father and mother were of the house of Levi, a son of Leah Jacob's first wife and next younger brother to Judah. Being born under the Pharaoh who had decreed that every Hebrew son should be killed, his mother hid this future great leader among the reeds in a homemade “ark.” We ought not to forget the pit from whence we were delivered out of. With Moses' sister watching nearby, the daughter of Pharaoh providentially comes with her maids to bathe in the river and hears the infant cry. Her material compassion overrules the murderous decree of Pharaoh,  and she chooses to adopt him, while the sister enters the act and offers to obtain a Hebrew nursemaid for the child. Pharaoh's daughter accepts, and  the sister of Moses calls their mom to nurse the child. After weaning, he is brought to Pharaoh's daughter who calls him Moses,  “mo-sheh'  From H4871; drawing out (of the water)” - Strongs.

Exo 2:1-4 - Observe the order of Providence: just at the time when Pharaoh's cruelty rose to its height by ordering the Hebrew children to be drowned, the deliverer was born. When men are contriving the ruin of the church, God is preparing for its salvation. The parents of Moses saw he was a goodly child. A lively faith can take encouragement from the least hint of the Divine favour. It is said, Heb_11:23, that the parents of Moses hid him by faith; they had the promise that Israel should be preserved, which they relied upon. Faith in God's promise quickens to the use of lawful means for obtaining mercy. Duty is ours, events are God's. Faith in God will set us above the fear of man. At three months' end, when they could not hide the infant any longer, they put him in an ark of bulrushes by the river's brink, and set his sister to watch. And if the weak affection of a mother were thus careful, what shall we think of Him, whose love, whose compassion is, as himself, boundless. Moses never had a stronger protection about him, no, not when all the Israelites were round his tent in the wilderness, than now, when he lay alone, a helpless babe upon the waves. No water, no Egyptian can hurt him. When we seem most neglected and forlorn, God is most present with us. .- Henry .

v. 10: Many who, by their birth, are obscure and poor, by surprising events of Providence, are raised high in the world, to make men know that God rules. - Henry .

“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. (Heb 11:24-27). 

Moses grows up in Pharaoh's household, and the future law-giver's sense of brotherly love and justice and his present means and temperament thereof is partly revealed when he sees an Egyptian beating one of his Hebrew brethren, which wording intimates that he knew to whom he belonged. Tactically checking that no man would see him, he slays the Egyptian and buries him in the sand. The second  day he sees two Hebrews fighting amongst themselves and question how the aggressor could harm on of his won. With a defiance of authority and reproof to one who sought his welfare, and cynicism born of resentment that was indicative of future reactions that Moses would experience from his brethren, the Hebrew challenges Moses authority and basically charges him with malevolent spirit due to his slaying of the Egyptian the day before. Realzing his unlawful deed was known and with Pharaoh seeking his life, Moses flees and dwells in the land of Midian. There, like unto a similar  intercession by Jacob, he meets the seven daughters:of the priest of Midian and defends them against shepherds who drove them away from watering their flock, and waters them himself. After they tell their father Reuel of his deeds he has them call him home for dinner, and contently dwells with him, who gives his Zipporah to Moses for a wife, and by whom he has a son Gershom,  = “exile”  - BDG. 

V. 23  And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died..” according to Bishop Usher (b), this was the same king of Egypt under whom Moses was born, and from whose face he fled, who died in the sixty seventh year of his reign, Moses being now sixty years of age, and having been in the land of Midian twenty years; and it was about twenty years after this that he was called from hence, to be the deliverer of his people; for things are often put close together in Scripture, which were done at a considerable distance. - Gill

Vs. 23b, 24: “and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

It seems that the Hebrews had realized a partial lessening of the intensity of their persecution but as   in the case of Kim Jong 2 of N. Korea (http://christianconservative.blogspot.com/2004/09/north-korea-on-radar.html), sometimes the son of a despot is worse than his father. And for such we must pray, as the book of Hebrews exhorts us, “Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body” (13:3). God is ever mindful of His people, and “remebers” here denotes a time of action. “And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?” (Luke 18:7) 

Exo 2:23-25 -Sometimes the Lord suffers the rod of the wicked to lie very long and very heavy on the lot of the righteous. At last they began to think of God under their troubles. It is a sign that the Lord is coming towards us with deliverance, when he inclines and enables us to cry to him for it. God heard their groaning; he made it to appear that he took notice of their complaints. He remembered his covenant, of which he is ever mindful. He considered this, and not any merit of theirs. He looked upon the children of Israel. Moses looked upon them, and pitied them; but now God looked upon them, and helped them. He had respect unto them. His eyes are now fixed upon Israel, to show himself in their behalf. God is ever thus, a very present help in trouble. Take courage then, ye who, conscious of guilt and thralldom, are looking to Him for deliverance. God in Christ Jesus is also looking upon you. A call of love is joined with a promise of the Redeemer. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, Mat_11:28. - Henry.

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Exo 3)  Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. {2} And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. {3} And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. {4} And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. {5} And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. {6} Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. {7} And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; {8} And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. {9} Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. {10} Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. {11} And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? {12} And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. {13} And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? {14} And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. {15} And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. {16} Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: {17} And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. {18} And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God. {19} And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand. {20} And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go. {21} And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: {22} But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

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Exodus 3 -
This chapter marks the commencement of the series of events which immediately preceded the Exodus. Hitherto, the narrative has been studiously brief, stating only what was necessary to be known as preparatory to those events; but from this point Moses dwells minutely on the details, and enables us to realize the circumstances of the catastrophe which in its immediate and remote consequences stands alone in the world’s history.- Barnes

Vs. 1 - 5: When not know what a day may bring forth, and how God may reveal Himself and work, as we seek and yield to Him, and light shall be given to those who obey the light they have and continue patiently in well doing (Rm. 2:7). Moses, as a good shepherd, is tending the flock in the backside of the desert “and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb” and the angel of the LORD appears unto Him by a burning bush that is not consumed. See Psa 104:4: “Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire” (cf. Heb. 1:7), and  “the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar” (Jdg. 3:20). “For our God is a consuming fire” (Hec. 12:29; cf. Dt. 4:24; 9:3), and while the LORD graciously condescends to the place where we may have fellowship with Him, we must not allow our sinful hearts to treat Almighty God with irreverent familiarity, nor regard the privilege of communion with Him who is holy and true as a causal thing. Moses is intrigued by the burning – but -– not – consumed bush phenomenon, and when the Lord sees Moses response He calls to Moses who, like Joseph's answer to his father Jacob (Gn. 37:13), and Samuel's to God's unseen call (1 Sam. 3:4), responds, “Here am I.” God then commands Moses not to draw closer, but to take of his shoes, for the place where God  speaks to him is holy, sanctified ground.

The years of the life of Moses are divided into three forties; the first forty he spent as a prince in Pharaoh's court, the second as a shepherd in Midian, the third as a king in Jeshurun. How changeable is the life of man! The first appearance of God to Moses, found him tending sheep. This seems a poor employment for a man of his parts and education, yet he rests satisfied with it; and thus learns meekness and contentment, for which he is more noted in sacred writ, than for all his learning. Satan loves to find us idle; God is pleased when he finds us employed. - Henry.

Vs. 6 – 8: The LORD identifies Himself as the God of Joseph his father, and of Joseph's fathers, and to which revelation Moses hides his face, fearing to look upon God, and who then reveals that He has heard the cry of Moses' oppressed brethren, “for I know their sorrows;” and will deliver them out of Egypt, and will lead them unto “a good land and a large, land flowing with milk and honey;” to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites. Moses' response to the Divine presence is paralleled in John's even more awe struck response to the even more glorious revelation of the glorified risen Christ (Rv. 1:17), who Himself sent forth His angel of revelation (Rv. 22:16). 

V. 8: The land to which the Israelites were to be taken up is called a “good” land, on account of its great fertility (Deu_8:7.), and a “broad” land, in contrast with the confinement and oppression of the Israelites in Egypt. The epithet “good” is then explained by the expression, “a land flowing with milk and honey” (זבת, a participle of זוּב in the construct state; vid., Ges. §135); a proverbial description of the extraordinary fertility and loveliness of the land of Canaan (cf. Exo_3:17; Exo_13:5; Exo_16:14, etc.). Milk and honey are the simplest and choicest productions of a land abounding in grass and flowers, and were found in Palestine in great abundance even when it was in a desolate condition (Isa_7:15, Isa_7:22; see my Comm. on Jos_5:6). The epithet broad is explained by an enumeration of the six tribes inhabiting the country at that time (cf. Gen_10:15. and Gen_15:20, Gen_15:21). - K+D.

Exo 3:8 - I am come down to deliver them - When God doth something very extraordinary, he is said to come down to do it, as Isa_64:1. This deliverance was typical of our redemption by Christ, and in that the eternal Word did indeed come down from heaven to deliver us. - Wesley.

Exo 3:7-10 - God notices the afflictions of Israel. Their sorrows; even the secret sorrows of God's people are known to him. Their cry; God hears the cries of his afflicted people. The oppression they endured; the highest and greatest of their oppressors are not above him. God promises speedy deliverance by methods out of the common ways of providence. Those whom God, by his grace, delivers out of a spiritual Egypt, he will bring to a heavenly Canaan. - Henry.

Vs. 9 – 14: In the light of the cry of his suffering brethren the LORD then calls Moses to be the man to go to Pharaoh and deliver his brethren. Moses reaction (cf. 4:1, 10) reveals he has not imagined himself a hero, and had it not been for this call he likely would have died a shepherd of sheep, as he protests this call as one inadequate. The LORD essentially reveals that it is not who Moses is, but who God is that matters in this, and prophetically provides that a sign of this Divine call will be that when he brings forth the people out of Egypt, they shall serve God upon this mountain.  Moses, who before sought to use his own strength to deliver his brethren, but found they needed deliverance from themselves, then essentially asks how he shall identify the God in whose authority he is to act. The answer from He who inhabits eternity is I AM THAT I AM: “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Ex. 3:14; cf. Jn. 8:24, 28, 58; 13:19; 18:5), and which sacred name denotes the eternal self existent and immutable God, who always was and ever shall be. “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God”  (Psa 90:2; cf. Mic. 5:2). And it is He who seeks to show Himself strong on the behalf of those who heart is perfect towards Him (1Chr. 16:9), in whom God is “at home” (Jn. 14:21; Eph. 3:14) “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isa 57:15).

Exo 3:11-15 - Formerly Moses thought himself able to deliver Israel, and set himself to the work too hastily. Now, when [though] the fittest person on earth for it, he knows his own weakness. This was the effect of more knowledge of God and of himself. Formerly, self-confidence mingled with strong faith and great zeal, now sinful distrust of God crept in under the garb of humility; so defective are the strongest graces and the best duties of the most eminent saints. But all objections are answered in, Certainly I will be with thee. That is enough. Two names God would now be known by. A name that denotes what he is in himself, I AM THAT I AM. This explains his name Jehovah, and signifies, 1. That he is self-existent: he has his being of himself. 2. That he is eternal and unchangeable, and always the same, yesterday, to-day, and forever. 3. That he is incomprehensible; we cannot by searching find him out: this name checks all bold and curious inquiries concerning God. 4. That he is faithful and true to all his promises, unchangeable in his word as well as in his nature; let Israel know this, I AM hath sent me unto you. I am, and there is none else besides me. All else have their being from God, and are wholly dependent upon him. Also, here is a name that denotes what God is to his people. The Lord God of your fathers sent me unto you. Moses must revive among them the religion of their fathers, which was almost lost; and then they might expect the speedy performance of the promises made unto their fathers. - Henry.

Continued..

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Vs. 15 – 22: Moses is told to announce to the children of Israel that the God of Abraham and their fathers Isaac and Jacob has sent Moses, and that that name (I AM) is “my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.”  Moses is now told to GO, and tell the elder of Israel (which reveals something of their social stricture) that God has appeared to him, giving them the message of vs, 7, and 8. The LORD assures Moses that the elders will hearken, and that he and they are to go to Pharaoh and announce that the God has appeared to them, and request they be allowed to go three days' journey into the wilderness, to sacrifice to the LORD their God. The LORD goes on to foretell of Pharaohs stubborn refusal, and that in response “I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go” (v. 20). And not only that, but when they go the children of Israel will find favour with the Egyptian people, and shall “borrow” of their neighbours, and of her that sojourneth in their house,”jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.”

Exo 3:16-22 - Moses' success with the elders of Israel would be good. God, who, by his grace, inclines the heart, and opens the ear, could say beforehand, They shall hearken to thy voice; for he would make them willing in this day of power. As to Pharaoh, Moses is here told that petitions and persuasions, and humble complaints, would not prevail with him; nor a mighty hand stretched out in signs and wonders. But those will certainly be broken by the power of God's hand, who will not bow to the power of his word. Pharaoh's people should furnish Israel with riches at their departure. In Pharaoh's tyranny and Israel's oppression, we see the miserable, abject state of sinners. However galling the yoke, they drudge on till the Lord sends redemption. With the invitations of the gospel, God sends the teaching of his Spirit. Thus are men made willing to seek and to strive for deliverance. Satan loses his power to hold them, they come forth with all they have and are, and apply all to the glory of God and the service of his church. - Barnes.

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Due to mechanical problems and resultant time restrictions, and increasing loss of dexterity, i am foregoing todays posting,    Sorry. But to God be the glory whose grace is sufficient.