remained in Chanaan, they would either have got scattered among the heathen, or they would have died out. They could not have developed into an independent nation. In Egypt it was different. The Israelites lived in a district of their own, cut off from and despised by the Egyptians, on account of their being shepherds: thus the danger of falling away from the true God was less. Besides this , God knew that His chosen people would be purified by their long course of servitude and suffering, and would be, as it were, forced by want and persecution, to place all their confidence in God and look to Him as their only Helper and Saviour. Lastly, Jacob’s descendants would learn much that was valuable from the Egyptians, these being far ahead of the Chanaanites in agriculture, the arts, and all social laws and institutions. By this means, the Israelites would be educated for their high vocation.
Application. Say the first words of the Our Father: “Our Father who art in heaven”, with great devotion. Excite in yourself a longing for heaven, and say: “Thy kingdom come.” To win heaven is the most important business of our lives.
Chapter XXXVII.
THE PROPHECY AND DEATH OF JACOB AND JOSEPH.
[Gen. 47— 50]
JACOB lived seventeen years in Gessen. When the day of his end approached, Joseph, with his two sons, Ephraim and Manasses[1], went to visit him. Jacob kissed the boys, blessed them, and prayed that the angel, who had delivered him from evil during life, might protect the sons of Joseph. To Joseph he said: “Behold, I die, and God will be with you, and bring you back into the land of your fathers.”
Then, his children and grandchildren having assembled round his couch, he blessed them all. To Juda[2] he gave a special
- ↑ Ephraim and Manasses. ‘Thy two sons shall be mine", Jacob said to Joseph, “and shall inherit with mine." What should they inherit? Joseph was much richer than his father, and neither he nor his sons required that which Jacob possessed in Gessen. The inheritance which he meant, was that which God had promised to his descendants, namely, the Promised Land. Of this land the two sons of Joseph were to have equal shares with the eleven brothers of their father, and thus Joseph was to have a double portion. In chapter XLV you will learn how precisely these last wishes of Jacob were carried out.
- ↑ Juda. Who, after Joseph, was the noblest of his sons.
