Jacob Goes to Egypt
by Pastor Jake
After departing Egypt the eleven sons of Jacob returned home to their father in Hebron, upon their arrival, they began to tell him that Joseph was still alive; surely they must have been apprehensive as they told him that not only was Joseph alive, he was the ruler over all the land of Egypt. It was difficult for Jacob to believe Joseph was still alive after all those years of thinking he was dead, now these same sons (except for Benjamin), who had convinced him that Joseph was dead, were now trying to convince him that not only was Joseph alive, he was also the ruler of Egypt; “he was stunned, for he did not believe them.” But when they told him all that Joseph had spoken to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him to Egypt, the spirit of Jacob was revived. Then he said, ‘It is enough; my son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die {Gen. 45:25-28 NAS}.’“ Jacob’s life of many troubles had caused his spirit to despair, but the good news about Joseph renewed his hope. He could only think now of seeing Joseph before death came upon him.
No doubt Jacob was very anxious to see Joseph, but he must have had many concerns as he set out on his journey down to Egypt. He was about to do something he never expected to do, that is, to leave his home in the Land of Promise and settle in another country. Such a move would be of great consequence to his family for a long time to come. While still in the land of Canaan he decided to stop off at Beersheba, the place where his father Isaac had lived, and there he would offer sacrifices to the God of his father {Gen. 46:1}. Most likely he chose that place as he had remembered the communion that his forefathers had with God there. His grandfather Abraham called on God there {Gen 21:33}, so did his father Isaac {Gen 26:25}, and therefore Jacob made it the place of presenting his sacrifice, that he might gain the mercies and grace of his God, and the forgiveness of sin before going down to Egypt.
He would also make sacrifices of thanksgiving, and offerings of praise and worship; because of the news of Joseph he was reminded that he had much to be thankful for, and great cause to worship. In his time of devotion he called upon God as the God of his father Isaac, that is, a God in covenant with him, for Isaac entailed the covenant upon him. It is possible that he knew of, and remembered, what God had said to his grandfather Abraham many years before {Gen. 15:13}, and how God had forbidden his father Isaac to go down to Egypt when there was a famine in Canaan {Gen 26:2}, and he also knew that Canaan, not Egypt, was to be the inheritance of his family {Gen 12}, perhaps, because of these things, Jacob desired to consult God and obtain his approval and blessings before continuing his journey.
God hears Jacob’s supplications,
“And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, ‘Jacob, Jacob.’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ And 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 {vs. 2-4 NAS}.’“
Jacob responds to his Lord as a willing servant ready to do whatever He commands. Here is a visual revisiting of the covenant, and an assurance of its blessings. God comforts him with his blessings to enter Egypt without fear, for He would go to Egypt with him and make him “a great nation there” and would also deliver him up from there. Certainly Jacob understood that the promise of deliverance would be accomplished after the time of making his posterity a “great nation” and that Joseph would close his eyes in death to be “gathered to his people” long before such a deliverance took place.
The book of Genesis, chapter 46, verses 8 through 27, gives us, by name, a role call census of the men in Jacob’s family that were in Egypt with him, including Joseph and his two sons, 70 persons; but not including Joseph’s five grandsons {1 Chr. 7:14-22}, which would be a total of 75 persons {Acts 7:14}. The number of persons given in verse 27 also does not include the adult women, wives and children {v. 26}, but were all his family that went into Egypt with him {v. 7}.
And so what we see here is the gathering together of a large company of people in hope of escaping starvation in a land of famine and being brought to the land of plenty to be fed the bread of life. They would embark upon a journey into a strange land, on the word of promise of a man they had never seen, they only knew him through the word spoken to them by Jacob and his sons; thus theirs would be a journey of faith. Kind of reminds one of the people of the church of today, doesn’t it?
Now Jacob had chosen Judah to go before him to obtain directions to the land where they would reside {Gen. 46:28}. This action would also announce their impending arrival and serve as a precautionary measure that was obviously proper for informing the king of the entrance of so large a company within his territories. After receiving instructions from Joseph, Judah apparently returned to Canaan to act as guide to his people.
“Then Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their little ones and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. And they took their livestock and their property, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him: his sons and his grandsons with him, his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt {Gen. 46:5-7 NAS}.”
Meanwhile Joseph prepared his chariot {v. 29f}. Now the difference between a chariot and a wagon was not only in the lighter and more elegant construction of the chariot, but also horses drew the chariot while oxen drew the wagon. The wagon drawn by oxen was the more crude and humble way of travel. Being the ruler of Egypt Joseph was required by tradition to appear everywhere in a horse-drawn chariot suitable to the dignity of his high office. But it has been well established that Joseph was a humble man, not proud and haughty---it was God who had exalted him to a position of authority for the obvious purpose of serving as a savior to his people.
Joseph, in all his magnificent splendor, “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 {v. 29ff}.”
Here we have an account of a large company of kindred arriving in Goshen, maybe some walking, while others are in wagons drawn by oxen, with Jacob, the old man of the family in the lead wagon accompanied by his sons. Then we see Joseph, with probably a great host with him, arriving in his chariot, hurriedly dismounting and falling upon his father’s neck. What a beautiful sight to behold!! No doubt there were tears of joy mixed with laughter as the whole company of kindred reaped the rewards of their faith. All of their hearts must have been filled with excitement as they observed a wonderful and glorious expression of the great joy that love brings!! Could this be a glimpse at what it will be like when Christ receives His church?
Up to this point in Jacob’s life God had met with him on a number of joyous occasions, but he had also seen many troubles and had suffered much adversity and grief; but now at the event of seeing Joseph, whom he had believed to be dead, his joy had once again been so greatly renewed he felt his life had been fulfilled and his prayers answered beyond his greatest expectations---he thinks he has reached his pinnacle---he was at total peace and he felt this was a good time for him to die {v. 30}.
It seems here that Jacob wished to die immediately, but death does not always come when we call for it, whether it is called for in an overwhelming emotional state of sorrow or in the mist of the overpowering beauty of great love and joy. Our times are in God’s hand, and not in our own; we must depart our earthen tabernacle when it pleases God to beckon us home, and not when we think we are filled with the pleasures of life or either when we are overwhelmed with its grief’s. God had much yet for Jacob to do, and so he would live another seventeen years.
After Joseph had arranged it with Pharaoh for his people to settle in the land of Goshen he brought his father to meet him (Gen. 46:31-47:7}. It was a custom of that time that the older men bless the younger when greeting them, thus Jacob upon seeing him for the first time blessed the younger Pharaoh. Also, the Hebrew people had a history of longevity while the Egyptians lives were relatively short.
Jacob’s countenance was that of an aged man, thus “---Pharaoh said to Jacob, ‘How many years have you lived {v. 8 NAS}.’“ “So Jacob said to Pharaoh, ‘The years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty; few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have they attained the years that my fathers lived during the days of their sojourning’ {v. 9 NAS}.”
In answering Pharaoh, Jacob referred to himself and to the life of his fathers as sojourners or as pilgrims, as if he and they knew that they were “strangers and pilgrims on this earth” seeking a home not of this world, and not prepared by the hands of man, but by the hands of God {Heb. 11:8-16}.
“And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from his presence {10 NAS}.”
“So 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 ordered. And Joseph provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to their little ones (Gen. 47:11-12 NAS).”