Jacob and thoughts on the time of his death. (Genesis)

I was reading the end of Genesis ch48, this morning and I found a couple of scriptures that caught my attention. Jacob blessed Joseph's children, then blessed Joseph. Then in 48:16 he says "The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, ..." So, I looked at the cross reference verse and went to ch28:16. There it referred to the well know story of Jacobs Ladder. What caught my eye was the mention of the Ladder. The Angels of God were ascending and descending the Ladder from heaven, while God stood above and talked to Jacob. It made me think that Angels of God are 1) traveling back and from heaven to earth constantly,2) to do his will, and 3) they do not fly. Silly thoughts? Maybe. But, it made me stop and think. It also made me wonder if we will find quiet time, knowing that the angels are ascending and descending to minister to us, if we listen, can we hear the voice of God in our lives. I think it is worth a try to find quiet time with him.

The other thing I found in ch49 was after blessing Joseph and his sons, Jacob blessed his other sons. Then scripture tells that, "he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people." He was blessed to know it was his time and blessed with the opportunity to give his children and grandchildren blessing and guidance. I don't remember reading this as a blessing given to any one else in the Bible immediately prior to their death. But, then the Ladder happened to only him too. He was blessed to be the inheritor of Abraham's blessing and that led to his being blessed over and over in his life. It led to his descendants such as Joseph being blessed and touched by the hand of God many times over.

I think of the events leading up to the Exodus from Egypt. Moses being saved by the daughter of Pharoah. Moses and the burning bush. All the plagues poured upon the Egyptians as a result of their imprisonment of the children of Israel. The Passover. The amazing parting of the Red sea , the pillar, the cloud, the manna from heaven, the quail, and the water from the rock. They were blessed with the Aaronic priesthood during this journey, taught sacrifice for sin, healings by direction and so many other blessings. The Ten Commandments. Direction for the House of God, i.e., the Tabernacle. The Sabbath. Laws to live by as an organized society blessed by God. The Covenant. Praise God!~ Moses blessed to behold God's glory.

Even modern day physicians use the emblem of the pole with the snake on it, which is also from a Biblical promise that occurred during their journey. Gong back farther into Biblical events we know that Abraham believed God's promise of his children being born by barren elderly Sarah, his wife, and so all of his decendants were blessed. Just the descendants of Abraham. But God had promised Abraham that all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

Genesis 22:18.
And in they seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

And in one earth shattering life, Jesus was born, lived, was crucified on the cross, died and rose from the dead. By his blood sacrifice, all of mankind was blessed. I don't know why all of this is on my mind, but, here it is and I just thought I should write it down in my blog.