Thursday Night Bible Study

-->

Genesis 46-Genesis 47:12 

"Jacob's Relocation" • 8.12.10 • Colton Christian Fellowship, Thursday Night Bible Study

Intro.

- In the last several chapters, the character of Joseph's brothers have been on display. Tonight, we will see that they were not the only ones that have changed.

- This whole story has been the story of Jacob. Moses is relaying how it was that Jacob and his family came to be in Egypt.

- Jacob has learned that Joseph was not only alive, but was the governor of Egypt, and upon hearing that Jacob said, "Say no more. I am on my way!"

- As Jacob journeys, I think we'll see a changed man from what we have seen before.

Text

• Genesis 46:1-4 : "So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, 'Jacob, Jacob!' And he said, 'Here I am.' So He said, 'I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.'" : Jacob began his journey with everything. He was coming to survive a severe famine. As he's going, the Lord started to impress the finality of this journey on his mind.

- That realization was on his mind as he came to Beersheba. Beersheba had been where Jacob grew up. He left Beersheba only after his split with Esau.

- Jacob had come to dwell in Bethel. Here he is, back in his homeland, on his way out to Egypt. The best thing to have done was to offer sacrifices to the Lord.

- Jacob had met the Lord often, but mostly by mistake and then mostly, out of desperation! Here, Jacob initiates relationship with the Lord by offering sacrifices to Him.

- He is seeking the Lord before he goes. He wants a blessing before he gets going. He is dependant on God's presence and peace. This is an older, wiser man!

- God had shown such faithfulness to him and I am sure that this was heavy on his mind during this time, but the moments left in the promised land brought fear to his heart again.

- As he went to sleep, it was time for the Lord to intervene. God spoke to Jacob and addressed what was on his mind.

- Jacob had come to fear this decision. He knew of the promises. He knew that God had promised his descendants this land.

- If he were to die in Egypt, what would happen to those promises? God tells him not to fear on account of two things. First, God had a purpose in moving them there.

- He was going to make them multiply in Egypt. As we'll see soon, Israel's family consisted of 70 people. This was a great sized tribe, but certainly not a great nation.

- In Egpyt, God would bring their numbers to a few million, maybe as high as three million!

- Second, God was going to go with them. God was not going to remain in the Promised Land, waiting for Jacob to return. He was going down there with Him. His presence was assured!

- It's a good thing to know: Unless the Lord goes with you, you might want to stay right where you are! God was in this and He wanted Jacob to go down with His blessing.

- Finally, God tells Jacob that He was going to bring Him back up again. Note that He uses the word "surely." You can bank on this. It will happen.

- There is no timetable. There is no assurance that Jacob will see this. God is talking about Israel as a nation, represented by Jacob.

- I mention this because often we hang onto promises as if God has to do them within our lifetime. He is not limited to that. We need not be alive for God to keep His promises!

- In fact, that is what is meant by what is said in verse 4. Joseph will put his hand on his eyes. In other words, Joseph will close Jacob's eyes at his death.

- Jacob will never again be in the land of Canaan, except in death. But God's promise will stand and His people will one day return.

• Genesis 46:5-7 : "Then Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the carts which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. So they took their livestock and their goods, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him. His sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt." : These verses provide a quick summary statement for the rest of this section.

- These wagons provided them with their transport, as well as all of their stuff, which was numerous. God had blessed this group of people in an amazing way there in Canaan.

• Genesis 46:8-18 : "Now these were the names of the children of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt: Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn. The sons of Reuben were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. The sons of Issachar were Tola, Puvah, Job, and Shimron. The sons of Zebulun were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the persons, his sons and his daughters, were thirty-three. The sons of Gad were Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. The sons of Asher were Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, Beriah, and Serah, their sister. And the sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel. These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob: sixteen persons." " : In this section, we begin with the people that came from Leah and her maid Zilpah.

- The next section will record those who came from Rachel and Bilhah.

- A few notes here. Simeon had also had a child with a Canaanite woman. The Canaanite culture, with the women around, was a formidable temptation for these men.

- Also note that among the children, the children of Perez and Beriah are mentioned. These are Jacob's great-grandchildren and in the case of Perez, the direct line of descendancy to Christ.

- Leah, despite not being loved by Jacob, had a wonderfully sized family, a blessing from the Lord and a testimony to His ability to bring good from a difficult situation.

• Genesis 46:19-27 : "The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife, were Joseph and Benjamin. And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him. The sons of Benjamin were Belah, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. These were the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: fourteen persons in all. The son of Dan was Hushim. The sons of Naphtali were Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob: seven persons in all.
All the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt, who came from his body, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy." : Jacob's 70 family members were the first to come into Egypt. The people of Israel would later read this as a tie in to their own heritage.

- Where did they fit in? Who was their family? This is great information to them.

• Genesis 46:28-30 : "Then he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen. So Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; and he presented himself to him, and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.
And Israel said to Joseph, 'Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive.'" : Goshen was located very near to the Mediterranean Sea, which would have made it a lovely place to live.

- You have to wonder what this might have been like for both Jacob and Joseph. This verse is beautiful: he presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while!

- The NIV translates verse 29 this way: "As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time."

- The idea here is that he repeated this action over and over again. Joseph was in no rush for this moment to conclude. Jacob needs nothing else in his life.

• Genesis 46:31-34 : "Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, 'I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and those of my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. And the men are shepherds, for their occupation has been to feed livestock; and they have brought their flocks, their herds, and all that they have.’ So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ that you shall say, ‘Your servants’ occupation has been with livestock from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.'" : You can consider this Joseph's orientation. The Egyptians were an interesting people. They really hated Shepherds.

- Joseph is preparing Jacob for what Pharaoh would ask and for the response that would engender among the Egyptians.

- He was to say that he worked with animals and that was something he had inherited from his fathers and had done since their youth.

- The idea seems to be, "This is all that they know. There is a rich history in this for them."

- For the Egyptians, hanging with animals was detestable. We'll explain more in a moment.

• Genesis 47:1-4 : "Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, and said, 'My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in the land of Goshen.' And he took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, 'What is your occupation?' And they said to Pharaoh, 'Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.' And they said to Pharaoh, 'We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.'" : Joseph had already set his family in Goshen, which put them in a place where their livestock could feed.

- Additionally, when they came to meet with the Pharaoh, since they were already there, he would be inclined to say, "Why don't you just stay there."

- When they came into the presence of the Pharaoh, he asked them what their profession was, just as Joseph had instructed them. This was likely the customary way to meet people.

- What is interesting here is the fearlessness of the men to call themselves shepherds.

- There are more than a few commentators who have come to hypothesize that this Pharaoh was not an Egyptian at all. They surmise that he was of the Hyksos dynasty.

- The Hyksos were Semitic usurpers who had invaded Egypt, perhaps as early as Abraham's life, and had been in power for some time. The native Egyptians called them the "Shepherd Kings"

- This would help to explain the disposition against shepherds.

- But it might also explain what is happening in this section. The men calling themselves shepherds would put them in a good position with the Shepherd Kings who were most likely their kin!

- That is a hypothetical way to look at this passage. Nobody is sure of which dynasty was in power, but it is intriguing to consider.

- On the other hand, there is something else here that is principally more relevant to us personally. Calling themselves shepherds would bring about an extra level of separation.

- The Egyptians, already racial supremacists, were also snobs regarding one's profession.

- The blunt truth of who they were would automatically put them in low standing. I like this as I consider the typology here.

- These men were coming into Egypt, a picture of the world. Joseph, often a picture of Jesus, has set them up as shepherds in the world.

- Israel, the tribe, representing God's people, have come into the world and the truth of who they are would cause a deep separation from the world!

- They were not afraid to exclaim what it was that they were, even though it meant that the world would look down upon them.

- That is a wonderful lesson. Jesus is the Chief Shepherd. The world hates Him, and as we have leared recently, when we represent Him, they'll hate us too!

• Genesis 47:5,6 : "Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, 'Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.'" : This Pharaoh gives them a place in the land of Goshen and even asks if there are any that could become chief herdsmen over his own flocks!

- God has brought them to a land of plenty and has set them in a good place. And, as if that was not enough, gave them jobs with the Pharaoh himself!

• Genesis 47:7-10 : "Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Jacob, 'How old are you?' And Jacob said to Pharaoh, 'The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty 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 pilgrimage.' So Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh." : Jacob has come to a special black tie sit down with the Pharaoh. Pharaoh asks about his age and Jacob tells him, "Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life."

- I wonder how old Jacob looked! With all that he had experienced, he might have looked rather old!

- My testimony that brought me here has been difficult. A cursory look over Jacob's life and one could indeed see a trail of wreckage.

- He comes from a wrecked home. He'd been on the run from his past when he came into contact with the ultimate con man, who he eventually fled from. That's not all. Ask about his sons!

- His sons destroyed an entire city, destabilizing relations, and then conspired to kill Jacob's favorite son! Add in the death of his favored wife and you can see what Jacob meant.

- Jacob says, "It's been hard up to now and I haven't even caught up to how long my Fathers lived! I've got some years to go it seems!"

- Jacob is saying that he's not as old as his Fathers and he is not as strong in his faith as them.

- This response was one of humility. The old Jacob might have bragged about his prowess and used the occasion to bolster his own image.

- The man known as Israel here, admits that there is nothing much to talk about! That is the kind of person that God wants to make of us.

- "There is nothing special about me. I am a lowly sinner that Christ has saved!"

- Jacob can point to the difficulty in his years, but even a Christian who has difficult years has the better position than the Pharaoh himself!

- Jacob blessed Pharaoh, notice, twice, and went out from before him. Those words seem to be so ordinary to us, but the greater blesses the lesser and the greater goes out from the lesser.

- In the economy of God, Jacob, because of the greatness of the promises that were given to him, though unrealized, was greater than the Pharaoh!

• Genesis 47:11,12 : "And Joseph situated 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. Then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with bread, according to the number in their families." : Joseph finally had his family within sight. They settled there and Joseph provided for them. Nothing lavish, but according to their family size.

Conclusion

- In all these things, throughout all these years, God has taken Jacob and used every circumstance to bring him right to this moment.

- He is dependant upon the Lord, humbled before Pharaoh, but confident in His Lord and in who God has made Him.

- That is the same journey that you and I are on. God is calling us to humbly submit to Him and to humbly present ourselves to others!