Genesis 46 Devotional
By Pastor Lawrence

With a sudden turn of events, Jacob comes to understand that his son Joseph is alive, that he holds a position of power and influence in Egypt, and that he is offering Jacob’s entire clan necessary provisions and a place to stay in the midst of the famine. One would expect that Jacob would jump at the opportunity, but there is some reluctance on his part. If you remember, his grandfather Abraham had a few complications in Egypt when the Pharaoh took his wife into his harem, and his father Isaac was explicitly told not to go to Egypt in search of grain but to remain in the Promised Land. And Jacob had already left the Promised Land for a number of years and wanted to remain there knowing that his years were about to come to an end, for like his fathers before him, he held on to the hope of the resurrection in obtaining his eternal inheritance.

Nevertheless, he wanted to see his son Joseph once more before he passed, so he made his way to Beersheba where both his father and his grandfather had worshipped the Lord on the very edge of the Promised Land, the last vestige of civilization prior to crossing the desert toward Egypt. And there the Lord appeared to him to comfort him and assure him that his journey to Egypt was part of the divine plan all along. That it would be in the land of Egypt that Israel would become a great nation and that Joseph’s own had would close his eyes in death.

Surely these words would have been a tremendous comfort to Jacob in his old age and they were the last words the Lord spoke to Jacob before he died. In fact, these are the last words the Lord speaks to all of Israel for over 430 years. It is not until Moses stands in front of the burning bush on Mt. Horeb that the Lord once again speaks to his people. The Lord never spoke to Reuben, Levi, Simeon or Judah or to any of the others in the same manner. And although the Lord revealed a part of his plan to Joseph through dreams, He never confirmed his covenant with him or spoke to him in the way that He spoke to the Patriarchs. Clearly, the Lord had a different path for the coming generations then he had for their fathers and yet the Lord would remain faithful to them even in the midst of their slavery and persecution, for this too was the Lord’s will.

After receiving this final revelation from the Lord, Jacob left Beersheba with his sons, their children and all that they owned making their way to Egypt. And Joseph gave them counsel on what to say to the Pharaoh in order to maintain their separation from the Egyptians as a people. Because the Egyptians despised shepherds, they were to identify themselves primarily in that way so that they could live apart from the pagans in the neighboring vicinity of Goshen yet still benefit from the wealth of Egypt. This would preserve God’s seed for the generations to come and solidify the nation of Israel. Nevertheless, we see that Jacob and Joseph also act as salt and light in Egypt with both men being or pronouncing a blessing upon the Pharaoh’s house and his people. Because the Lord’s people were there, their civilization was preserved.

This was indeed a strange way to bring about God’s promises to grow Israel into a great nation through the means of a famine and a long sojourn in a foreign country filled with suffering. But we must remember that there is more to this story then Israel’s comfort and preservation. It would be in Egypt that the Lord would reveal himself to be Israel’s redeemer, pointing them to the Passover Lamb and to the Exodus out Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Surely, there are many circumstances in our lives that we don’t quite understand through which the Lord is revealing Himself to us as well.