Joseph’s family has now relocated to Egypt and Joseph has reunited with his father. Imagine the tears and the joy and the emotion that went down that day in Goshen. If you have ever been reunited with someone that you truly cared about after many years, then you know what Jacob and Joseph were feeling at this moment.
In verses 31-34 of chapter 46, we see Joseph talking with his family. They have just newly arrived in Egypt. He tells them that he is going to go to advise Pharoah of their arrival and that Pharoah will call them to him. At this time in Egypt, there was a certain group of people, who were shepherds, that were arriving in large numbers. This particular group of shepherds had made themselves detestable in the eyes of the Egyptians. Joseph wanted to make sure that his family did not get confused, in Pharoah’s eyes, with the other group, so he coaches the family on what to say to Pharoah.
Since the Egyptians had become disenchanted with shepherds, in general, because of this other group, Joseph knew that when Pharoah learned they were shepherds, they would be allowed (or required) to settle in Goshen. Goshen was a delta region in the lower northern part of Egypt and was across the Nile from where the rest of the population was concentrated. It was a rich area with wonderful pastures for the herds, and the Nile River allowed God’s people a certain amount of separation from the main Egyptian culture. This was the perfect place for them to settle. And there is archeological evidence in texts from that period of time, showing that Semites had settled in the area, confirming what the Bible tells us.
Moving on to chapter 47, verses 1-2 show us Joseph going to speak to Pharoah. He tells Pharoah that his father and brothers have arrived from Canaan and are now in Goshen. Then Joseph selects 5 of his 9 brothers to be interviewed by Pharoah. Read verses 3-6. The brothers go in unto Pharoah. They are very formal and respectful, in the spirit of servants, and answer according to Joseph’s advice to them. The meeting obviously goes well and Pharoah gives permission for Joseph to settle his family there, in the rich and desirable land of Goshen. Not only that, but Pharoah wants the most skilled among them to tend his flocks, as well.
Verses 7-10 then tell us what happened when Joseph followed up by bringing his father in to meet Pharoah. The Bible only tells us of one question being asked by Pharoah and discussed, “How old are you?” This is not the formal, business-like meeting he had with the brothers. Pharoah is interested in Jacob as Joseph’s father and wants to know more about him. This is a natural sort of question when you realize that Jacob is slightly older (130) than the average age Egyptians lived to at the time (100-110).
Jacob tells Pharoah that the years of his pilgrimage have been 130 years and that those years have been few and difficult. To Pharoah, this age would have seemed old but to Jacob, the years were few. His father Isaac had lived for 180 years (Gen 35:38) and his grandfather Abraham had been around for 175 years (Gen 25:7).
On the surface, it seems odd that Jacob would refer to his life as a pilgrimage. Psalm 84:5-7 speaks of God’s people on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. In the Bible, the term Zion is often used to speak of Jerusalem and is also used to describe God’s Heavenly eternal city at the end of time. On this pilgrimage it says that they pass through the Valley of Baca (Baca means weeping). They are looking for a better home. As believers, we can often think of our daily trials as passing through the Valley of Baca as we are marching on toward our final, heavenly home. Hebrews 11:14-16 tells us that the Patriarchs were longing for a better country… a Heavenly one, and as Christians, we also seek that better country, a Heavenly home with our Savior for eternity.
We also see here in these verses that Jacob blessed Pharoah twice, both before and after they spoke. It would have been expected that Pharoah would have been the one to bless Jacob, seeing that he was the dominant party, richer and in the position of power, but this is a tie back to God’s covenant promise. God had promised that he would bless all people through Abraham’s family (Gen 12:3) and so it is symbolic here that Jacob blesses Pharoah just as the coming Messiah will bless the Gentile people in the future. And in verses 11-12, Joseph settles his family into the land of Goshen and makes sure that they are provided for.
Read verses 13-26. The famine continues in Egypt. Slowly, little by little, the people of Egypt burn through their resources. First, their money. Then, their livestock. Then, their property and land. Soon, Pharoah owns them and everything in Egypt. Only the priests of Egypt are unaffected by this since their provisions are subsidized by Pharoah’s government. We see the people of Egypt becoming poorer and poorer until they are reduced to being tenant farmers or indentured servants. But even though they have been reduced to servitude, verse 25 tells us that they were grateful. Without Joseph’s food program, they would have died.
This food program is often a hot topic among Bible scholars. Did Joseph save the people’s lives at the cost of their freedom? Didn’t this food program eventually lead to the conditions which caused God’s people to become enslaved in Egypt? I will say this. It is man’s nature to become complacent when he gets too comfortable and it is possible that God had to arrange for things to get unpleasant enough in Egypt so that the people would be willing to leave and go back to Canaan. After 400 years, God’s people cried out to Him to deliver them from Egypt, which they might not have done had they remained comfortable there (Ex 2:23).
Verses 27 and 28 tell us that Jacob and his family prospered there in Egypt. They had come there, under God’s will, and under His provision. In the early years in Egypt, we see the covenant promises beginning to be brought to fruition. But the true fulfillment of these promises cannot be completed while they are in Egypt and, at some point, it will be God’s will for them to leave Egypt and return to Canaan. We see this being accomplished in later books (Exodus and Joshua, for starters).
Read verses 28-31. Jacob lived to be 130 years, spending the last 17 years in Egypt with his son, Joseph. This is the same number of years he spent with his son before Joseph became a slave in Egypt. But Egypt was never really Jacob’s home. There would always be Canaan and God’s promises, so when it was time to die, Jacob made Joseph promise to bury him in Canaan. Jacob knew that God’s promise of returning Israel to Canaan was a promise to be fulfilled in the future involving future generations. We see here again the same practice of placing a hand under someone’s thigh when making a promise that we saw early on with Abraham (Gen 24:2). This was to be a serious, binding promise upon Joseph. Jacob wanted to be buried in the cave in Machpelah with his ancestors. Egypt was not his home just as this world is not the believer’s home (Heb 11:13). And having received Joseph’s promise, Jacob began to worship God.
Responding to God: Worship God in His Holiness and acknowledge that He is Sovereign. Thank Him for His constant provision in times of need. Ask Him to help you to find an even greater spirit of gratefulness each and every day. Speak to God concerning your current levels of respect for authority and whether improvement is needed in this area. Seek His leading in all things and express your desire to Him to always be in His perfect will. Ask Him to help you along on your pilgrimage as you seek to find that Heavenly Country, recognizing that this world is not your home. Ask Him to give you an eternal focus.
Further Research: On the internet, do a search for ‘baba famine el-kab’. This will take you to archeological evidence of this Bible account.
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