Genesis 47:27 – 48:7

²⁷ So Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land called Goshen. And they gained property in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.

²⁸ And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years he lived, were 147 years.

²⁹ And when the time drew near for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt,

³⁰ but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial plot.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.”

³¹ And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.

^48:1 After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

² And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel strengthened himself and sat up in bed.

³ And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,

⁴ and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.’

⁵ And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.

⁶ And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.

⁷ As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

_______________________

a lasting spiritual legacy

In his parting days, Jacob seeks a promise from Joseph that he would not be buried in Egypt. He knows that their stay in Egypt was God’s will, but only his temporary will. Later he blessed Joseph’s two sons, giving the greater blessing to Ephraim, and he also bequeaths a mountain slope in the promised land to Joseph’s tribes. Jacob was able to see beyond his own death to the lasting spiritual legacy he would leave.

LORD, grant it for us to leave a spiritual legacy among our children and others we influence.