Living in a Strange Land—Genesis 46:31—47:31
If you have kids, you know the feeling. Saying goodbye on the first day of kindergarten. Dropping them off at college, and then finally forcing yourself to leave the campus. Praying for them as they move into their first job, or their own home. Wondering how they are handling the pressures of their new life.
They are no longer under our protection, and the world is not always safe or supportive of a Christian way of life. We know by our own experience that life offers many attractive options, and not all are healthy. The influences of the broader culture are not always good, and there are pressures to conform, and to please other people.
Jacob was facing a similar situation. About 20 years before, his sons had sold their brother Joseph as a slave, and in the providence of God, Joseph had risen to the highest position in Egypt. A couple of years before this time, a famine came, and Joseph’s sons made two trips to Egypt, to buy food. They were unaware that they were dealing with their long-lost brother, until he tearfully revealed himself to them.
Read Genesis 45:4-28.
Jacob was headed for Egypt, and yet, he was afraid to make the move. He wanted to see Joseph, and he needed to provide for his family. Pharaoh had made him an offer he could hardly refuse. Still, he was apprehensive for his family. He sacrificed to God at the family altar in Beersheba, and God told him not to be afraid to take his family to Egypt. With God’s blessing, the 70 members of Jacob’s family packed their belongings and rounded up their livestock, and went to Egypt.
How would Jacob’s family handle life in Egypt? They were moving from Canaan, an undeveloped area where their clan lived independently, to Egypt, one of the most highly-developed cultures of its time. The move was not without risk. The 70 people in Jacob’s family could easily be swallowed up by the pagan Egyptian culture, so that they would lose their identity, their uniqueness as God’s covenant people. What would they need to do to keep that from happening?
Imagine that your son or daughter is going off to college—a secular university, with a reputation as a party school, in a big city. You and your child have gone out for breakfast—just the two of you—for one last chance to talk about life. It is a special time, and you have your last opportunity to prepare your child for the challenges to come. What will you say about how to resist ungodly influences, and faithfully follow Christ?
That is the question on our minds, as we follow Jacob into Egypt:
HOW CAN WE STAY TRUE TO OUR IDENTITY AS GOD’S PEOPLE?
-DON’T BE TOO EASILY IMPRESSED.
Imagine Jacob with his grandkids in Canaan, as his sons come to him, each with new outfits. You can almost see them strutting around, with the young folks impressed by the new Egyptian styles. Then ten donkeys come into sight, loaded down with “the best things of Egypt.” The donkeys are followed by ten female donkeys pulling carts, loaded with provisions. You don’t see this every day in Canaan!
Jacob was a relatively rich man, by the standards of Canaan, but his wealth was mostly in the animals he owned. He was the kind of guy who made his fortune on the business side of his animals, and then came home to wash up a bit, eat a simple meal, and sit outside his tent until bedtime. He had traveled to his relatives in Mesopotamia in his early years, but that was nothing like Egypt. For a country bumpkin from Canaan, Egypt was like another world.
(Note; You could project of collage of Egyptian culture here.) Already at that time, Egypt had scholars, scientists, a written language with hieroglyphics, and a highly-developed, polytheistic religion. Egypt had a centralized government, with Pharaoh at the top, public administration, and a standing army. Egypt had fashion (weird to us!), artwork, and (already) pyramids and mummies.
Jacob and his people had none of those. Jacob’s family was naïve and outclassed, and they could easily have been overwhelmed by the ungodly culture of the Egyptians.
When Jacob first came to Egypt, he didn’t take his family into one of the cities. He sent his son Judah ahead, to get direction to Goshen, a more rural area where his family could settle and graze their livestock. His intention was to stay away from the Egyptians and their culture, because his family did not fit in.
Read Genesis 46:31-34.
After they were settled, Joseph arranged for Jacob to have an audience with Pharaoh. I am sure there were security checks, instructions on royal etiquette, and guidelines on how to address the Pharaoh. This was a big deal, and Jacob was expected to show appropriate deference to the supreme ruler of Egypt.
Jacob was respectful, but he was not over-awed. In fact, Jacob stole the spotlight from Pharaoh.
Read Genesis 47:5-10.
It would make sense for Jacob to ask Pharaoh to bless him! After all, this was Pharaoh’s house, Pharaoh’s court, Pharoah’s land, and Pharaoh’s people. Instead, Jacob blessed Pharaoh!
Jacob understood that Pharaoh was not the one who controlled the destiny of the world. Jacob had God’s promise of blessing, for God had said to Abram,
Genesis 12:2-3 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
When the God who created the universe is on your side, you are not as easily impressed by people who seem to be in power. As in Psalm 56:11 “In God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?”
God’s people must be more impressed by God than anything or anyone.
Imagine that you get out of school, and show up for your first job. It’s a sales job, and the office manager meets you at your desk with your company credit card, tickets for the Astros, and keys to the BMW you will be driving. You are impressed! Your boss tells you that there are more percs to come, if of course, you meet your sales goals. Then you begin your training, and it becomes clear that you are expected to do whatever is necessary to meet those goals. The sole ethical standard is success, and there are no rules, except for not being stupid enough to create trouble.
The question will be: What impresses you more, what your boss can give you, or what God can do for you? The answer to that question will guide how you act.
-DON’T BE TOO EASILY INFLUENCED
Should we pull out of our culture? Some things in culture, yes! If you go off to college or the military, you will be wise to understand that there are certain places and certain people you should avoid. Ephesians 5:11 says, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”
Initially, Joseph tried to protect his family from the Egyptian culture, by isolating them in Goshen. That was a wise move, at least at first. Eventually, however, that isolation led to marginalization, and by the time of Moses, the result was slavery.
Joseph, on the other hand, was anything but isolated. He was the head of the government, a dominant political force, with power and influence. Joseph used his power to make a positive impact in Egypt.
Read Genesis 47:13-25.
That doesn’t sound very good to our ears. Bondage is not a good thing, and God made clear to his people that no Israelite should be in bondage. In an ideal world, those who work would enjoy all of the fruits of their labors. In Egypt, however, the people were probably saying, “Only 20%? Pharaoh only wants 20%? It was common for rulers in that day to require 50% of the crop. (In fact, taxes today can be higher than 20%!) Perhaps Joseph was showing restraint.
Joseph’s life was complicated. He was operating in a political and economic environment where most people would try to use their leverage for maximum benefit to themselves. It was similar to a person in business who tries to maximize short-term profits, so he or she can get a bigger bonus, even while the long-term prospects of the company are lessened, employees are harmed, and society suffers.
Life is often complicated. You might find yourself in a pressure-packed work environment. Political choices can be complicated and difficult. Cultural pressures on families can challenge godly principles. Community organizations may compete for time and commitment with church activities.
Don’t be too easily influenced! Don’t lose who you are.
I know a young woman who found herself in a complicated environment. It was the height of the home finance bubble, when companies were offering all kinds of predatory loans: sub-prime, interest-only, refinancing portrayed as free money for a vacation. She took a sales job with one of the biggest companies in the industry. Immediately it became clear to her that she would have to define her ethical standards. She also understood that if she held to high ethical standards, she would have to excel in her work.
When the financial crisis hit in 2008, the company crashed, and she lost her job. Yet today, on her LinkedIn page, you can find this statement from her boss: “R. was a tremendous asset for both myself and my entire operation. She brings a unique skill set to any organization by having a very pleasant and friendly demeanor with a fiery competitive edge…She proved that being nice in a highly competitive industry doesn’t mean you can’t perform at a high level.”
Don’t be too easily influenced.
-DON’T BE TOO EASILY SATISFIED
The hottest course at Yale University in 2018 was a psychology course. 1200 students, almost a quarter of undergraduates, signed up for Psychology and the Good Life. People want to be happy and fulfilled; they want to live a good life, and a meaningful life.
A good life extends beyond death, and the ultimate goal for a person in Egypt was to be mummified, and to have one’s tomb well-stocked with food and bling for life after death! (You can project a picture of a mummified Egyptian body here, perhaps with items buried with the corpse.)
Joseph could have had an elaborate Egyptian burial, and his mummy could possibly be in a museum today. Joseph could have arranged a similar burial for his father, Jacob. Jacob was not interested.
Read Genesis 47:28-31. Jacob’s hope was not in Egypt, and not in his remains being preserved. He wanted to be buried in Canaan, where Abraham and Isaac were buried. It was more than sentimentality; God had made covenant promises to Abraham, to be passed on to Isaac, and then to Jacob, and then to his descendants. His hope was in God’s promises.
Joseph felt the same way. Read Genesis 50:24-26. Joseph had all of the power and prestige that Egypt could offer, but his ultimate trust was in God and his promises!
God’s people are not satisfied by what the world offers. They are focused on what God offers. As the book of Hebrews says about the Old Testament heroes of faith,
Hebrews 11:13-16 “All these people were…admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own….they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”
Living under the new covenant in Jesus Christ, we have even more reason not to be satisfied with what the world offers. As the Apostle Paul says,
Philippians 3:7-11 “Whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”
How do we stay true to our identity as God’s people?
We should not be…too easily impressed…too easily influenced…too easily satisfied.
Or, to put it another way, we can stay true to our identity when we understand the blessings God has for us, when we live a life focused on Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul says,
Ephesians 1:18-23 “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
When we understand what we have in Christ, we will not be easily drawn away by what others offer.
