- There is something unusual in these passages which we have not seen in a long time?
- God refers to Jacob as Israel in the narrative, the name God had given him after the years of struggling and the victory that was finally achieved as he entered the land
- Why now?
- Jacob has been emotionally self-absorbed. He has spiritually plateaued, if possible.
- Now he is revived
- Now he is walking by faith
- Now he is worshipping again
- What had happened before at Beersheba?
- Jacob had stole the blessing from Esau at Beersheba with his mother's help
- Jacob once again realizes that it is not his deceit that got him where he is today (stealing birth right), but rather God is the one who has restored his life once again
- This is the fourth "do not be afraid" conversation that God has in Genesis (15:12-16 (to Abram); 21:17 (to Hagar); 26:24 (to Isaac)). Why does God speak to him now?
- Possibly, because he is out of the funk
- Read Gen 15:12-16 (ESV) As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, "Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."
- Jacob knew what lay ahead
- Jacob was leading his family out of the promised land
- That must have been really hard to do
- Without Joseph where he was, I'm not sure it could have ever happened
- APPLICATION: What is dragging us down spiritually?
- How does the math work?
- 33+16+14+7=70
- Verse 26: 66 who belonged to Jacob came into Egypt -- then you add Jacob, Joseph, Manasseh, and Ephraim to get 70
- Acts 7:14 says 75 (and some other texts) and may have also included the 3 grandsons and 2 great-grandsons of Joseph . (Or the seven grandsons and not Joseph and Jacob).
- "It can hardly go without notice that the number of nations in Genesis 10 is also 'seventy.' Just as the 'seventy nations' represent all the descendants of Adam, so now the 'seventy sons' represent all the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the children of Israel. Here in narrative form is a demonstration of the theme in Deuteronomy 32:8 that God apportioned the boundaries of the nations (Ge 10) according to the number of the children of Israel. Thus the writer has gone to great lengths to portray the new nation of Israel as a new humanity and Abraham as a second Adam. The blessing that is to come through Abraham and his seed is a restoration of the original blessing of Adam, a blessing which was lost in the Fall." (Sailhamer, The Pentateuch, p225, 1992)
- Actually, Egypt is a good place to keep the people, why?
- The Egyptians had a great disdain for shepherds
- Verses 47:3-4 suggest that the brothers were learning to be honest since they admit to being shepherds and to staying in the land for a long time. They also asked to live in Goshen (the best of the land) rather than allow deception to get them the land
- Jacob is "ready to die" -- might suggest that Jacob was debilitated by his son's "death"
- Or that he is content now, ready for the day of death
- Why did the Egyptians loath shepherds?
- They were agriculturally based
- Their fields were very organized and controlled
- Sheep, goats, and cows were difficult to control
- Also, there was a bias against nomadic people. Egypt was civilized, nomads were not
- It is an interesting place, this bias actually kept the two races distinct, and the Jews distinct religiously (all would be considered wrong today)
- The use of Rameses is a bit of an issue
- Critics point out that Rameses lived many years later, and so also want to re-date everything
- I Kings 6:1 and our knowledge of Solomon's reign put the movement of Israel into Judah as 1876 BC
- The name Rameses simply means "Ra [the sun God] has created it"
- The area was probably renamed after the Pharaoh later, but that does not mean it was named differently prior
- Finally, anything unusual about Jacob blessing Pharoah?
- I think the Patriarch's lived considerably longer than the Egyptians did (at least at this point)
- This is an example of God blessing the nation that blesses Israel
- Later Egypt will be an example of a nation that God curses (Exodus 1:8-11)
- Besides saving his people and his nation, what else did Joseph do?
- He saved Gentiles
- That is one reason why Joseph is a type of Christ (the first coming) because he suffered and then saved Jews and Gentiles from death
- How does this verse describe how Egypt treated Israel?
- Well (at least at first)
- The previous verses describe how God blessed Egypt, later, in Ex 1, we will see a later Pharaoh who forgets Joseph and a different attitude toward Israel, ultimately resulting in the near destruction of Egypt
- I'm not going to try to prove it or argue it from scripture, although I believe you can, but even now I still believe that God blesses the nation that blesses Israel
- Later, Joseph will also request o be buried in the promise land -- why didn't they bury him as they did Jacob (next chapter grand procession)?
- It could be that Joseph is already forgotten and that the Pharoah's attitude has already changed
- Scripture doesn't say, but in Exodus, when they finally leave the land, they make special mention of taking Joseph's bone with them
46 So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, "Jacob, Jacob." And he said, "Here am I." 3 Then he said, "I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. 4 I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph's hand shall close your eyes."
[We are skipping
the listing of the 66 persons.]
28 He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. 30 Israel said to Joseph, "Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive."
31 Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33 When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”
Genesis 47:1–12 (ESV) —
1 So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen.” 2 And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. 3 Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were.” 4 They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. And now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” 5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”
7 Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 11 Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents.
Genesis 47:13–26 (ESV) —
13 Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. 14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15 And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” 16 And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18 And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”
23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” 25 And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” 26 So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s.
29 And when the time drew near that Israel must 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 burying place." 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.
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