Genesis 46:1-34
Genesis Study 128
GOD GOES DOWN WITH JACOB
Genesis 46:1-34
Key verse 46:4
"I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close your eyes."
Last week we studied that Joseph made himself known to his brothers. He was not angry with them. He said, "It was not you who sent me here, but God." This realisation made Joseph think how best he could help his brothers in God's point of view. Then instead of showing them human sympathy, he trained them harshly until they repented of their sins. But while training them he shed many tears in secret because he truly loved them. When they repented he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. He invited them to Egypt by saying, "Come down to me; don't delay. You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. I will provide you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute." In today's passage they all go down to Egypt.
Look at verses 1 to 4. So Israel, that is Jacob, set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. He wanted to meet his most beloved son Joseph as quickly as possible. However there was something that made him afraid. He was afraid to leave the Promised Land. This fear grew stronger when he reached Beersheba. This was a place where Jacob's grandfather Abraham dug his well. This was a place where Jacob's father Isaac and Jacob himself loved to stay. On reaching this place Jacob remembered his grandfather. Two hundred ago Abraham had gone down to Egypt because of a severe famine. There he solved his food problem. But he encountered so many other problems. The worst was his wife Sarah being taken by the king of Egypt. Once Jacob's father Isaac also faced a severe famine. He decided to go down to Egypt. But God stopped him. Now it was Jacob's turn. He was going to down to Egypt to meet Joseph and escape from the famine. But he was afraid to leave the Promised Land without God's permission. He said to himself, "If this is not God's will…if I can never be able come back to the Promised Land…if my sons lose their faith in Egypt…" Then he decided to offer sacrifice to God and seek his guidance.
God spoke to him in a vision at night and said, "Jacob! Jacob! I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close your eyes." God knew Jacob's fear. But God cleared all his fears. First God will make his small family into a great nation. Second God will go down to Egypt with him, and surely bring him back again. Third God will bless him to die in peace.
In the past God did not allow Abraham and Isaac to go down to Egypt even during the severe famine. But why did he allow Jacob? Was God changing his plan according to Jacob's convenience? No, this plan was already announced to Abraham two hundred years ago. The Lord said to Abraham, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." (Genesis 15:13-16) God allowed Jacob to leave the Promised Land and enter Egypt because his migration to the country was a part of God's plan. It took many centuries for the plan to be completed. By this time Abraham was no more and Isaac was no more. After seventeen years Jacob would be no more. However God himself would fulfil his plan. Had God failed to keep his promise, the Bible recording would have stopped in Genesis chapter forty-six. The movie Ten Commandments and the animation the Prince of Egypt would have never been made. But in Exodus, the second book of the Bible, we see God fulfilling his plan in the most marvellous way.
In human point of view Jacob's migration looks like a poor father rushing to meet his lost son and a poor family running away from the famine. But in God's point of view this was one of the most significant steps. It was a step to change a small family into a great nation that would fear God and serve him. For sometime they would enjoy their lives in Egypt as the family of the Prime Minister. But after the death of Joseph they would be enslaved and mistreated so badly. Their male children would be thrown into the Nile to be eaten by the crocodiles. Yet they would grow to be a great nation. They would come out of Egypt as great victors. How could it be possible? The answer is in God. Please listen to God's promise to Jacob, "I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again." It was not just Jacob's family who went down to Egypt. God himself went with them. When we become a part of God's family and our lives a part of his plan, we are not alone. God Almighty is with us. In each moment he takes a same step with us. He never leaves us until we grow to be a great nation.
How then can we be a part of God's family and God's plan? We learn the secret from Jacob. What drove him was not his emotion or calculation. Even though he was so eager to meet Joseph and the famine was so severe in the land, if it was not God's will he was ready to stop his journey. What drove him was the word of God. Whoever makes his decision based on the word of God will never fail. He will surely become a great nation because God is with him.
Look at verses 5 and 6. Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Israel's sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. They also took with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan, and Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt. Jacob had four wives—Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah. Jacob's offspring through Leah was thirty-three in all, through Zilpah sixteen in all, through Rachel fourteen in all, and through Bilhah seven in all. Verse 27 says, "With the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob's family, which went to Egypt, were seventy in all." It took more than two hundred years for one man Abraham to have seventy offspring in Jacob's time. Can we be patient if it takes two hundred years for our ministry to grow to be seventy in number? We need Abraham's faith. After four hundred years the seventy people would become a nation of two million people. In average five thousand people would be added to them every year. Can we believe that five thousand people will be added to our ministry every year? We need Jacob's faith. What matters is not number but faith. If we have faith in God, we will surely see God's promise coming true.
Look at verses 28 to 34. At last Jacob meets his most beloved son Joseph after twenty-two years. They wept for a long time. Israel said to Joseph, "Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive." Joseph did not provide his brothers government jobs. Instead he advised them to identify themselves as shepherds. In those days all shepherds were despised by the Egyptians. So by identifying themselves as shepherds Jacob's family would have very less chance to be mixed with the ungodly Egyptian culture. As for Joseph, keeping identity as God's chosen people was much more important than the luxury of the world. If we lose the best offer of this world in order to keep our identity, God will give us the best offer of his kingdom. May God help us make our decision not based on our emotion or calculation but based on his promise.
GOD GOES DOWN WITH JACOB
Genesis 46:1-34
Key verse 46:4
"I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close your eyes."
Last week we studied that Joseph made himself known to his brothers. He was not angry with them. He said, "It was not you who sent me here, but God." This realisation made Joseph think how best he could help his brothers in God's point of view. Then instead of showing them human sympathy, he trained them harshly until they repented of their sins. But while training them he shed many tears in secret because he truly loved them. When they repented he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. He invited them to Egypt by saying, "Come down to me; don't delay. You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. I will provide you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute." In today's passage they all go down to Egypt.
Look at verses 1 to 4. So Israel, that is Jacob, set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. He wanted to meet his most beloved son Joseph as quickly as possible. However there was something that made him afraid. He was afraid to leave the Promised Land. This fear grew stronger when he reached Beersheba. This was a place where Jacob's grandfather Abraham dug his well. This was a place where Jacob's father Isaac and Jacob himself loved to stay. On reaching this place Jacob remembered his grandfather. Two hundred ago Abraham had gone down to Egypt because of a severe famine. There he solved his food problem. But he encountered so many other problems. The worst was his wife Sarah being taken by the king of Egypt. Once Jacob's father Isaac also faced a severe famine. He decided to go down to Egypt. But God stopped him. Now it was Jacob's turn. He was going to down to Egypt to meet Joseph and escape from the famine. But he was afraid to leave the Promised Land without God's permission. He said to himself, "If this is not God's will…if I can never be able come back to the Promised Land…if my sons lose their faith in Egypt…" Then he decided to offer sacrifice to God and seek his guidance.
God spoke to him in a vision at night and said, "Jacob! Jacob! I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close your eyes." God knew Jacob's fear. But God cleared all his fears. First God will make his small family into a great nation. Second God will go down to Egypt with him, and surely bring him back again. Third God will bless him to die in peace.
In the past God did not allow Abraham and Isaac to go down to Egypt even during the severe famine. But why did he allow Jacob? Was God changing his plan according to Jacob's convenience? No, this plan was already announced to Abraham two hundred years ago. The Lord said to Abraham, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." (Genesis 15:13-16) God allowed Jacob to leave the Promised Land and enter Egypt because his migration to the country was a part of God's plan. It took many centuries for the plan to be completed. By this time Abraham was no more and Isaac was no more. After seventeen years Jacob would be no more. However God himself would fulfil his plan. Had God failed to keep his promise, the Bible recording would have stopped in Genesis chapter forty-six. The movie Ten Commandments and the animation the Prince of Egypt would have never been made. But in Exodus, the second book of the Bible, we see God fulfilling his plan in the most marvellous way.
In human point of view Jacob's migration looks like a poor father rushing to meet his lost son and a poor family running away from the famine. But in God's point of view this was one of the most significant steps. It was a step to change a small family into a great nation that would fear God and serve him. For sometime they would enjoy their lives in Egypt as the family of the Prime Minister. But after the death of Joseph they would be enslaved and mistreated so badly. Their male children would be thrown into the Nile to be eaten by the crocodiles. Yet they would grow to be a great nation. They would come out of Egypt as great victors. How could it be possible? The answer is in God. Please listen to God's promise to Jacob, "I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again." It was not just Jacob's family who went down to Egypt. God himself went with them. When we become a part of God's family and our lives a part of his plan, we are not alone. God Almighty is with us. In each moment he takes a same step with us. He never leaves us until we grow to be a great nation.
How then can we be a part of God's family and God's plan? We learn the secret from Jacob. What drove him was not his emotion or calculation. Even though he was so eager to meet Joseph and the famine was so severe in the land, if it was not God's will he was ready to stop his journey. What drove him was the word of God. Whoever makes his decision based on the word of God will never fail. He will surely become a great nation because God is with him.
Look at verses 5 and 6. Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Israel's sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. They also took with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan, and Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt. Jacob had four wives—Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah. Jacob's offspring through Leah was thirty-three in all, through Zilpah sixteen in all, through Rachel fourteen in all, and through Bilhah seven in all. Verse 27 says, "With the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob's family, which went to Egypt, were seventy in all." It took more than two hundred years for one man Abraham to have seventy offspring in Jacob's time. Can we be patient if it takes two hundred years for our ministry to grow to be seventy in number? We need Abraham's faith. After four hundred years the seventy people would become a nation of two million people. In average five thousand people would be added to them every year. Can we believe that five thousand people will be added to our ministry every year? We need Jacob's faith. What matters is not number but faith. If we have faith in God, we will surely see God's promise coming true.
Look at verses 28 to 34. At last Jacob meets his most beloved son Joseph after twenty-two years. They wept for a long time. Israel said to Joseph, "Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive." Joseph did not provide his brothers government jobs. Instead he advised them to identify themselves as shepherds. In those days all shepherds were despised by the Egyptians. So by identifying themselves as shepherds Jacob's family would have very less chance to be mixed with the ungodly Egyptian culture. As for Joseph, keeping identity as God's chosen people was much more important than the luxury of the world. If we lose the best offer of this world in order to keep our identity, God will give us the best offer of his kingdom. May God help us make our decision not based on our emotion or calculation but based on his promise.
posted by bunyan90 @ 8:20 PM
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