August 16, 2007

• Discovering God’s Character – Part 23
  
  
  
  Jacob in Egypt

  Genesis 46 finds Israel (Jacob) setting out for Egypt with all he had
  and en route came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God of his
  father Isaac. God met with Israel there…

  
  God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, "Jacob, Jacob."
  And he said, "Here I am." He said, "I am God, the God of your father;
  do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make 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 close your eyes." Genesis 46:2-4
  (NASB)

  So we find that there were 67 persons in Jacob’s caravan headed for
  Egypt. There were 70 persons total in Jacob’s family counting Joseph
  and his two sons.

  
  Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with
  Jacob; they came each one with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and
  Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
  All the persons who came from the loins of Jacob were seventy in
  number, but Joseph was already in Egypt. Exodus 1:1-5 (NASB)

  Now Jacob sends Judah to have Joseph show them where in Goshen to go.
  Can you picture the sight when Joseph meets his father after so many
  years?

  
  Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father
  Israel; as soon as he appeared before him, he fell on his neck and wept
  on his neck a long time. Then Israel said to Joseph, "Now let me die,
  since I have seen your face, that you are still alive." Genesis
  46:29-30 (NASB)

  Joseph leaves and makes arrangements for his brothers and his father to meet Pharaoh. And as we enter
  Genesis 47, Pharaoh first meets with five of Joseph’s brothers (we are not told which ones). Pharoah tells them…

  
  The land of Egypt is at your disposal; settle your father and your
  brothers in the best of the land, let them live in the land of Goshen;
  and if you know any capable men among them, then put them in charge of
  my livestock.  Genesis 47:6 (NASB)

  Then Pharaoh meets with his father. Jacob tells Pharaoh he is 130 years old. Then Jacob blesses Pharaoh and leaves. 

  We find that the famine is so severe that all the Egyptians sell their
  lands and themselves to Pharaoh for food. So Joseph bought all the land
  of Egypt for Pharaoh except for the priests who had an allotment from
  Pharaoh and they lived off what they received from that.

  Now as far as Jacob’s life is concerned, he will be living in Egypt
  another 17 years before he dies at 147. (Genesis 47:28)  So Joseph
  would be about 39 when his father arrives in Egypt and about 56 when he
  dies.  As the time drew near to Jacob’s death, he has Joseph swear that
  he will not bury him in Egypt but instructs Joseph to bury him where his
  fathers were buried i.e. the cave in the field of Machpelah.

  Now it came to pass that Jacob became sick and would die soon, so
  Joseph comes and brings his two sons with him, Manasseh and Ephraim,
  neither one being more than three years old.  Now his father gathered
  his strength and sat up in bed. He tells Joseph something rather
  different than usual concerning his two sons. They will be considered
  his own sons in the matter of inheritance and will be as Reuben and
  Simeon, his own sons. Even Joseph’s own sons born after them would be
  named after these two sons in regards to that inheritance. He mentions
  the death of Rachel, Joseph’s mother, and interrupts himself when he
  sees Joseph’s sons and asked who they were.  Joseph presents them to
  his father and his father kisses and hugs them. He tells Joseph he is
  so surprised that he was able to see not only Joseph but his children
  as well. Joseph takes them from his father’s knees and presents them
  before his father. Joseph places Ephraim on the left and Manasseh on
  the right of Israel so that his father’s right hand would be placed on
  Manasseh’s head, him being the first born. Yet his father crosses his
  hands and this bothered Joseph and he tries to correct his father to
  have him switch the hands so that the right hand is on the firstborn. 
  His father tells him that he knew what he did and it was intentional.
  Both his sons would be great. It would be that the younger would be
  greater than the older.

  Jacob (Israel) announces to Joseph that he is about to die but God will
  be with him and bring him back to the land of your fathers. Joseph will
  receive one portion more than his brothers so that both Ephraim and
  Manasseh would each have a portion in the inheritance. Now it is here
  that we find that Joseph’s inheritance will be in the land of the
  Amorites. Do you remember Shechem in the earlier studies?

  
  Now they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought
  up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the piece of ground which Jacob had
  bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred
  pieces of money; and they became the inheritance of Joseph's sons. 
  Joshua 24:32 (NASB)

  In Genesis 49, we see Israel’s prophecy concerning his sons.  We had
  made mention of this in some earlier studies where we noted that Jacob
  had remembered Reuben’s sin with his concubine. Also, Simeon and Levi’s
  destruction of the men of Shechem was remembered. Also, it is here
  where we see the scepter will not depart from Judah, clearly
  prophesying through whom the Messiah will come. The rest of what Jacob
  says to his sons is recorded there and is worthy for study to see how
  it all comes about.  The scripture says that each blessing was
  appropriate to them. At its conclusion, Jacob tells his sons where to
  bury him, in the field of Machpelah in Hebron and then drew his feet
  into his bed and breathed his last.

  In Genesis 50, the mourning for Jacob begins. Joseph has his father
  embalmed (which took 40 days) and even the Egyptians wept for him for
  70 days. That’s quite a while for a people who didn’t hold much regard
  for Hebrews. (see Genesis 43:32)  After the mourning was over, Joseph
  asks Pharaoh for permission to bury his father in Canaan as he
  requested. Now it wasn’t just Joseph’s family and brothers, it was a
  huge company of the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household,
  and all the elders of the land of Egypt complete with chariots and
  horsemen. It was even noted by the Canaanites, who saw them in great
  mourning at the threshing floor of Atad. So they buried Jacob as he had
  told them in the cave of the field of Machpelah.

  After it was all over, Joseph’s brothers pleaded with Joseph through a
  message concerning forgiving them of their evil deed after their
  father’s death.  Joseph weeps upon hearing this. When they meet
  together, Joseph reassures them that God arranged all that had
  happened. While they had meant evil against him, God meant it for good
  to bring about the saving of many people. He tells them that he will
  care for them and their little ones.

  Now all of Jacob’s family stayed in Egypt and Joseph lived 110 years
  and saw the third generation of Ephraim’s sons and the second
  generation of Manasseh’s sons. As Joseph nears his own death, he made
  the sons of Israel swear to him that they would carry his bones up from
  Egypt when they leave.  So Joseph dies and was embalmed and placed in a
  coffin in Egypt.

  We have now reached the conclusion of the book of Genesis and the end
  of the “patriarchs”. While we have seen much and as we close on
  Genesis, we are not lost. We have learned the ancient beginnings of a
  nation that will emerge as “Israel” in the book of the Exodus. Where we
  leave off in Genesis is the beginning of the portion of time told to
  Abraham concerning the fulfillment of a promise and a covenant.

  
  God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be
  strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and
  oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom
  they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many
  possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you
  will be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation they
  will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete. 
  Genesis 15:13-16 (NASB)

  As we look forward into the book of Exodus, we find that things went
  well for Joseph and his family and his brothers’ families until they
  all died.

  
  Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the sons
  of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and
  became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.
  Exodus 1:6-7 (NASB)

  And all their trouble began when a new king arose over Egypt who knew
  nothing at all about Joseph and he began to worry about the people of
  Israel. So they took measures to beat them down and oppress them in
  order to prevent them from aligning with another nation that would come
  against them to fight against them and depart from the land. In
  reality, they just needed a lot of slave labor because we are told…

  
  So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor
  And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses. Exodus
  1:11 (NASB)

  but we will leave that part of the story for another time. 

  While we might only see the things before us in this story, the
  wickedness done to a brother, his being sold off in Egypt, a mourning
  father, an interpretation of a dream that leads to bringing the family
  back together, and things are resolved even though ominous things lie
  ahead, we see a strong parallel to what God is going to do with Israel
  again. Israel was cast out of the land and dispersed and according to
  prophecy God has been bringing her back into the land… even while
  ominous things lie ahead.  God seems to use every means of tying each
  part of history back with another piece so that it is very clear what
  He intends to do and will accomplish. God displays a masterful hand in
  His working throughout history and as we have seen in Genesis,
  everything fits so precisely even when looking forward in time.  It is
  clear that God is not in a hurry but will accomplish what He will in
  the time that He has deemed appropriate.

  We can clearly see that God is working toward “closure” with regards to
  providing a redeemer, the seed of the woman, and blessing all the
  families of the earth, making an end to sin and its defilement and
  bringing us into the glory that He had prepared for us to experience
  from the very beginning.  While it would be difficult see if we were at
  the point of time when Joseph was alive, it is much easier to see
  looking backwards in time and see how God actually pulls it off even
  with the opposition of the Enemy of God and man’s sin.  We see a God
  who is intent on redeeming man and will let nothing stop Him from
  delivering hope to a lost and dying world.  If He was that intent on
  delivering the solution to our sin problem, don’t you think He is just
  as intent on you receiving the blessing that comes from it and all the
  benefits that result from it? You better believe it.  Mr.Vee

  • 12:41 pm
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