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Hope Sabbath School
Israel in Egypt
This last section of the book of Genesis takes us to the end of the patriarchal period with the deaths of Jacob and Joseph. The whole clan of Jacob is now in exile in Egypt. The last words of the book are “a coffin in Egypt.” The history of salvation seems to have no happy ending. And yet, this is the part of the book that is the most redolent of hope.
This last section of the book of Genesis takes us to the end of the patriarchal period with the deaths of Jacob and Joseph. The whole clan of Jacob is now in exile in Egypt. The last words of the book are “a coffin in Egypt.” The history of salvation seems to have no happy ending. And yet, this is the part of the book that is the most redolent of hope.
The fact, however, that Israel “dwells” in exile, in Egypt as strangers, is in tension with the hope of the Promised Land.
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