Day 25..."Endings and New Beginnings"

Congratulations...we have made it through the Book of Genesis! We began with..."In the beginning" and we end with a burial. Death was really acknowledged in Genesis. Jacob proclaims he is dying soon and lives 17 more years. Joseph also gives ample notice. Their lives and deaths signal an ending but also a new beginning for an entire people. Burials are not the end but a new beginning. We can see this as a metaphor even now. Jesus' burial prompted a new beginning through the resurrection! Jesus speaks of His burial in today's Matthew passage. Genesis is a Book of beginnings and even in death we have new beginnings! The Psalmist says..."His soul shall abide in well-being,and his offspring shall inherit the land." (13) The Bible does weave together themes. Jesus warns against leaving a clean house empty. Why? In this metaphor, we are to do more than rid ourselves of bad habits. We are to add new ones that fill the house. The concept is sublimation..."taking a lower nature and elevating to a higher nature." Well congratulations on reading through the first Book. Our voyage will move through Exodus beginning Friday.