Jordan - Genesis 48 and the next Book(s)

Was the custom of the time to give the firstborn the double portion at the time of the blessing or was the tradition to perpetuate that myth and then pull a fast one on the firstborn more often than not?  Perhaps this family was just a little odder than most, but doesn't it seem that each of these blessings are a bit of curveball?

Anyway, I've got a little curveball.  Instead of picking the next book in our journey, I thought I would pick a little collection of short books from the prophets (you know, make us feel like we are flying through this big book!) and we'll start the first on Tuesday:

Micah {7 chapters}: Left to ourselves, we turn God into an object. Micah, the last of the 8th century BC prophets (including Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos), was a master of metaphor. He was charged with keeping people alive to God and alert to listening to his voice.

Nahum {3 chapters}: God's characteristic way of working is in quietness and through prayer. If we are conditioned to respond to noise and size, we will miss God's word and action. In the 7th century BC, Assyria had the whole world terrorized, appearing invincible. Nahum's task was to free Israel from Assyrian paralysis to believe in and pray to a sovereign God.

Habakkuk {3 chapters}: Most prophets speak God's word to us. Habakkuk speaks our word to God. He articulates our puzzled attempts to make sense of things and faces God with our disappointment in him. In the 7th century BC, God was going to use Babylon, a godless nation, to bring his judgment on his own people. It didn't make sense. Habakkuk waits, listens, and prays, eventually realizing that he needs to believe and trust in God.

Zephaniah {3 chapters}: As humans, we are determined to find a religion that gives us an inside track with God, but leaves us free to deal with other people however we like. The root of the solid spiritual life is embedded in a relationship between people and God. We live in a vast world of interconnectedness, the connections have consequences, and all of the consequences come together in God on Judgment Day. Zephaniah reminds us of this reckoning.

Haggai {2 chapters}: There doesn't seem to be any connection between places of worship and the belief and behavior of the people who assemble in them. In noticing this, it is not uncommon for us to dismiss the buildings themselves. Haggai's single task was to get God's people to rebuild his temple, which had been destroyed seventy years earlier.