Jacob comes to Joseph
Genesis chapters 46 and 47
The end of chapter 45 gives to us this amazing picture of the brothers heading back to their father in Canaan with the carts and the clothes and the provisions and the donkeys that Joseph gave them and the prospect of having to announce to their father about Joseph being alive. They had been sent with a word of warning from their brother Joseph in verse 24 of chapter 45: “Don’t,” he said, “quarrel on the journey!” He didn’t want them to spend their time aggravating one another, and so they must’ve spent their time in some form of conversation.
But what ,” said one of the brothers as they were returning home from Egypt , “but what are we going to tell our father? How are we going to tell him in a way that preserves us and encourages him? Because it’s impossible for us to tell him that Joseph is alive without having to acknowledge the fact that we had lied and have lied over twenty years in an act of total deceit?”
When they told him that Joseph was alive he was stunned.
Did not his sons show him the blood stained robe and ask him to identify it. And didn’t he conclude that Joseph was dead torn by wild animals – Gen 37: 32-33. Now Jacob may have been old, but he was far from senile. While the carts from Egypt was convincing Jacob needed something more to set the record straight. Things just did not add up. There had to be some explaining by his sons. Painful though it was, I believe that the whole sordid story was spelled out. I am persuaded that confession was made because it was necessary in order to convince Jacob that Joseph was alive. And if we look into Gen 50: 15 -17 we find that Jacob is requesting Joseph ” to forgive the brothers for the sins and wrongs they had they had committed against you in treating you so badly” Now from where did he get all this information unless they had confessed their wrongs against Joseph to him. But this is speculation on my part. ( From my study “Joseph reveals himself”)
Jacob had hastily packed his belongings, gathered his family, and begun the long trek to Egypt, just as Joseph had urged (45:9). When he had gotten as far as Beersheba, Jacob seemed to feel the full impact of what he was setting out to do. Beersheba was also at the southern extremity of the land of Canaan. Later the land of promise would be spoken of as “from Dan to Beersheba” (e.g., Judges 20:1), Dan being at the northern border and Beersheba at the south. Once Jacob left Beersheba, traveling south, he would be leaving the land of promise, which was the land that God had promised Abraham (12:1-3; 15:7,18-21), Isaac (26:2-4), and Jacob (28:13; 35:12). How could Jacob be assured of God’s blessing if he was leaving the land of promise?
Beersheba was a place rich in the history of his forefathers. Abraham had called upon the name of the Lord here (21:33) and had settled in this place after offering up Isaac on Mt. Moriah (22:19). Here at Beersheba Isaac had been visited by God, and the covenant made with Abraham was reiterated (26:23-25). It would seem that Jacob lived at Beersheba when he deceived his father and obtained his blessing (chapter 27), for it was from this place that he had fled from Esau and departed to Haran (28:10).
At Beesheba God spoke to Jacob in visions of the night and confirmed, “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.” Then Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their little ones and their wives, in the wagons which 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 (Genesis 46:1-7).
God assured Jacob that it was His will for him to depart from Canaan to dwell in Egypt. Three assurances were revealed to confirm God’s approval of the move to Egypt. First, the God of Isaac (and, of course, Abraham, 26:24) promised Jacob that He would go with him to Egypt and in that pagan land would make of him a great nation. Many years before, God had assured Jacob at Bethel that He would be with him as he journeyed north to Haran (28:15). Now He would be with him as he traveled south to Egypt. Strangely, it would be in Egypt, not Canaan, that his offspring would multiply into a great nation (verse 3).
Second, God would bring Jacob back to Canaan, the land of promise. I do not think that Jacob felt he would bodily and personally return to Canaan so quickly, for he knew his death must be imminent. Furthermore, God told Jacob that Joseph would close his eyes, and it was unlikely that Joseph would be leaving Egypt for some time, if ever. It was necessary for the nation of Israel to return to the land of promise, for there all of God’s promises would be fulfilled concerning the land:
And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you And I will give the land to your descendants after you (Genesis 35:12).
Several observations seem necessary to understand the purpose for including the genealogy of Jacob at this point in the book of Genesis.
First, in later genealogical lists slight differences appear, but this is only to be expected and does not in any way affect the reliability of the accounts.
Second, by-and-large, women are not included in this list. This is not because they are unimportant, but because it does not fit the purpose of the listing.
Third, the expression “the sons of Israel” (verse 8) must be taken in the broader sense of “the descendants of Israel,” for more than his sons are named, and thus some of those named may not have been born at the time Jacob and his descendants went down to Egypt.
Fourth, all those named in Numbers 26 as heads of tribes or families are found in this listing of descendants in Genesis 46.
The explanation for all of these observations is rather simple: Moses here intended not to name every person who went into Egypt, but every leader of family or clan who would come forth from Egypt. It was vitally important for those who came forth from Egypt to know their “roots” since the land would be divided according to tribes. In addition to this, tasks were assigned and the nation was administrated by tribal and family divisions.
The purpose of Moses in this genealogy, therefore, is selective. It does not intend to name every person coming out of Canaan, but to name those who will become tribe and family heads. Thus there is a genealogical continuity throughout the entire sojourn in Egypt.
Judah had been sent ahead by his father to get directions to Goshen. Israel proceeded ahead, guided by Judah, until their party arrived in Goshen And 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 46:28-30).
Years of fears, regrets, and bitterness must have flowed from the soul of the patriarch as the tears flooded from his eyes. Much that could have been said of this reunion was not recorded, for it was an intimacy not to be invaded by curious eyes. Jacob, satisfied at the sight of his son, was now ready to die in peace (verse 30), but God still had 17 years of blessing in store for him (47:28).
Joseph is known to be a capable and efficient administrator. He is not about to become careless when it comes to settling his family in Egypt. The utmost care is given to seeing that the family is located in the land of Goshen. The meticulous details of Joseph’s instructions are followed exactly by his brothers.
And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me; and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ And it shall come about when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ that you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ that you may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is loathsome to the Egyptians.”
Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh,, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they have, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.” And he took five men from among his brothers, and presented them to Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.” And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, therefore, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 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 46:31-47:6).
Pharaoh had already promised Joseph’s family the best of Egypt (45:18), but Joseph was careful to see to it that this became reality. His family was sent to Goshen even before he greeted them or they were presented before Pharaoh. Possession may have been nine points of the law in those days as well. When Joseph reported the arrival of his family, he knew that Pharaoh would want an interview with them. They were told to stress the fact that they were shepherds and that this was their sole occupation, as it had been for generations. This would assure that they would be given the land of Goshen, not only because it would provide pasture for their flocks, but because it would keep the Hebrews somewhat removed from the Egyptians, who despised shepherds (46:34).
The conversation went as Joseph expected, and the result was that Pharaoh gave Joseph’s family the land of Goshen to dwell in. Furthermore, since Pharaoh owned herds also, some of Joseph’s family could be employed in caring for his livestock (verse 6). I doubt that this was the kind of job many of the Egyptians were willing to accept, disliking shepherds as they did.
But why was getting Goshen such an important objective that so many verses were devoted to the details of its acquisition, while such an emotional moment as the reunion of Jacob and Joseph was so sketchily described? Let me suggest several reasons, beginning with those least important. First, Goshen must have been some of the best land in Egypt. That is what Pharaoh promised (45:18) and what he professed to give (47:6). Second, it was located near enough to Joseph that he could see his family frequently:
And you shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children and your flocks and your herds and all that you have (Genesis 45:10).
By far the most important reason for settling in the land of Goshen was in order to keep his family isolated and insulated from the culture and religion of Egypt. Joseph was strong enough to survive life in the city and in the palace, he had already been given an Egyptian wife, the daughter of a priest, and an Egyptian name (41:45). What would become of the nation Israel if they were brought into the city and integrated into Egyptian life? That is why Joseph ordered his brothers to say that their only occupation was that of a shepherd. Joseph saw the disdain for shepherds as a blessing in that it would keep the two cultures from merging. To have lived and worked in the city with the Egyptians would have been disastrous. Joseph, I believe, clearly saw this, and thus he was diligent to have his family settled in Goshen.
God’s placement of Israel in Egypt, and specifically Goshen, was strategic. While in Canaan, infant Israel was beginning to conform to the ways of that nation. Jacob’s sons had murdered a village of men because one of their men raped the daughter of Jacob. Reuben, the firstborn, had slept with one of Jacob’s wives. Judah impregnated his daughter-in-law. Ten of Jacob’s sons had enslaved Joseph. Two of the sons married Canaanite women (Judah and Simeon; 38:2, 46:10). Such intermarriages would not have happened in Egypt due to the Egyptians’ extreme prejudice towards other nations and particularly towards shepherds. For these reasons, the Israelites were better off segregated from the Egyptians and allowed to dwell in Goshen. There they would grow into a great nation (Gen 46:3) and cultivate their religious distinctiveness. Egyptian society was built around a multitude of gods, one of whom was Pharaoh himself, but Israel would be built around the one God. Living in Goshen would allow them to be separate—set apart for God.
This is also true about our pilgrimage on earth as Christians. If we are going to live as pilgrims on earth, we must maintain our distinctiveness. We must be “in the world but not of the world” (John 17:15-16 paraphrase). We must never adopt the world’s sinful practices or ideals. We must develop and maintain the ideals and character which accords with our heavenly citizenship.
The difficulty of life is also important for us to recognize if we are going to live as faithful pilgrims on earth. For many, we are under the illusion that life becomes easier once we become Christians. Some might even believe the error of the prosperity gospel—that believers are promised health and wealth and happiness here on earth. However, that is not the true gospel message, and believing so can often cause great
discouragement when people do not experience the “promised” prosperity. Job said: “people are born to trouble, as surely as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7).
The narrator, Moses, contrasts the blessing and favor over the Israelites with the hardship that the Egyptians endured. Statements of God’s provision for Israel bracket the impoverishment of the Egyptians in Genesis 47:11-12, 27-29. Joseph gave his family property and food (47:11-12), and eventually the Israelites increased greatly in number and acquired even more property (47:27-29). However, the Egyptians were so impoverished in the final five years of famine, they first gave all their money to Pharaoh, then sold their animals, and finally themselves and their land (47:13-26). Some struggle with understanding Joseph’s enslavement of the Egyptians. However, it is important when studying the Bible to take off our cultural lenses and read it according to the lens of that particular ancient culture.
In Genesis 47:19, because the people did not want to perish, they asked Pharaoh to take their lands and enslave them. That was how they would survive. This was not uncommon in the ancient world, where people often struggled with extreme poverty. For many, slavery was a preferred institution. Compare slavery to the day worker: the day worker got paid at end of a day’s work, and it was usually only enough to buy food for that day—it did not pay for housing, medical, clothing, or other expenses. For slaves, their costs for housing, food, clothing, and medical needs were all covered by their master. Often slaves and masters had good relationships. For instance, Abraham’s chief servant would have received Abraham’s inheritance if Abraham never had a child (Gen 15:2-3). Instead of looking at their slavery as a negative experience, the Egyptians praised Joseph for saving their lives and giving them a reasonable deal (Gen 47:25). They only had to pay twenty percent of their harvest to Pharaoh, which was cheap for a tenant farmer in those days.
Now coming back to our story Joseph then brought his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many years have you lived”
The most surprising feature of Jacob’s interview with Pharaoh is Jacob’s appraisal of his life at this point in time:
So Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage 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” (Genesis 47:9).
This does not fit the contemporary concept of a good testimony. In essence, Jacob told Pharaoh that his life has been short and sour. That isn’t a very good case for his testimony is it? The thrust of much evangelism today is that trusting Christ and following God makes your life happy, joyful, and free from trials and tribulation. If it hadn’t been for the testimony of Joseph, Pharaoh would have thought very poorly of the God of Israel.
And yet what Jacob said was true. His earthly experiences were part of his life. He struggled with his brother in the womb ( (He did not know this but was told later by his family 25:21-26) He lived in a home where the parents were divided in their affection for their children (25:28). He gained the blessing of his father by deception and then was alienated from his family because of the hatred of Esau (chapter 27). He spent years in exile, serving his deceitful uncle Laban. He sought one wife and ended up with four (29:18ff.), and the outcome of this was continual competition and strife (29:30ff.). He finally fled from his uncle and eventually had to make a non-aggression pact with him lest further conflict arise (chapter 31). He suffered the loss of the purity of his daughter Dinah at Shechem and feared the reprisal of the Canaanite kinsmen when his sons killed the men of the Schehem and took the women, children, and cattle as booty (chapter 34). Rachel, his most beloved wife, died prematurely along the way to Bethlehem (35:16-19). His oldest son lay with one of his concubines (35:22), and his favorite son was tragically lost and presumed dead. Finally, there was the famine which threatened the existence of his family, and the second in command to Pharaoh appeared to be taking even his youngest son away.
Jacob, you see, was correct in his evaluation of his life.
There was a significant difference between the suffering which Jacob alluded to and that which Joseph endured. Joseph’s suffering was undeserved; Jacob’s was not. Jacob suffered virtually every painful experience because of his willfulness and foolish choices. He deceived his brother. He chose to live near Shechem rather than to go up to Bethel. He unwisely showed preference for Joseph. The suffering which Jacob experienced was due almost entirely to his sinful decisions and responses.
Jacob did not see the hand of God in his adversity, but Joseph did. Jacob became more fearful and protective, while Joseph was forgiving and eager to serve others, even at his own expense. In his adversity Joseph grew closer to God, while Jacob seemed to drift farther and farther away. In this interview with Pharaoh all of these bitter experiences may have begun to come into focus. He was wrong when he had concluded that “all these things are against me” (42:36). His statements did not conform to the facts.
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 (Genesis 47:11-12).
I see this as the great turning point in Jacob’s life. Just as his sons had to come to the place where they acknowledged their sins and turned from their wicked ways,. The things which Jacob tried to withhold and protect (Rachel, Joseph, Benjamin) were the very things that were taken from him. It was only by giving up Benjamin that he gained him. And in giving up Benjamin he preserved not only Benjamin’s life, but that of the entire family and the nation of Israel.
I see Jacob’s path of suffering and sorrow as the result of an entirely wrong concept of Christianity (if you prefer, we will call it a relationship with God). In chapter 28 God first outlined his promises to Jacob as the heir of the covenant with Abraham:
And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (Genesis 28:13-15).
This was an unconditional covenant, and the benefits were assured, regardless of Jacob’s actions. (Indeed, we must agree that all of the blessings Jacob has experienced thus far were in spite of his actions rather than because of them. God’s promise was one of pure grace, but Jacob’s concept was one of works.
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God. And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house; and of all that Thou dost give me I will surely give a tenth to Thee” (Genesis 28:20-22).
Jacob’s vow was a bargain with God. His obedience and faithfulness to God were conditional. He would serve God only if God protected him, prospered him, and brought him back to Canaan safely. Also , Jacob would serve God and would give a tenth to Him. God never took Jacob up on this proposition. Never was the tithe given, nor was it asked for. Jacob would not be allowed to bargain with God.
You see, God does not work with men on the basis of works or bargaining power. . His grace is not conditioned by our faithfulness, but guaranteed by His. He does not want or need our contributions; He desires only our trust and our worship. Of course there are commands to obey and standards to be kept, but these are not what merit God’s blessings. Instead, these are the proper response to grace. Indeed, these are the evidence of grace working in and through the believer.
As Jacob stood before Pharaoh, he recognized that all of his striving had been for nothing . So far as I can tell he never enjoyed the fruits of his deceptive labors. The blessings which he did experience were not the result of his activity (such as peeling those poles, 30:31ff.), but of divine grace, sovereignly wrought (32:11-13). Now Jacob was old, and in the face of famine he was helpless and hopeless. As he entered Egypt, he could not rely on his former devices to provide for and protect him and his family. In short, Jacob had to trust in God and not himself.
This was the beginning of a whole new life. It was for only 17 more years, but it was life lived in the blessings which only grace can give. Those 17 years were the happiest, most fulfilling years of Jacob’s life. He did not live in Canaan, but he had entered into “Canaan rest,” that rest which is obtained only by faith, and it is forfeited by unbelief (cf. Hebrews 3-4). We must desist in our efforts to earn salvation and the promised eternal rest, we also “make every effort to enter that rest” by choosing to depend solely on God, to trust Him implicitly, to yield totally to the promises of God through the free grace of His salvation. Why? So “that no one will fall by following their [the Israelites’] example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:11). We either trust ourselves to save ourselves, or we trust God to do that for us through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. By failing to trust God fully in His promises, we become disobedient and fail to enter the rest that is eternal life, just as the children of Israel became disobedient when they failed to enter the Promised Land.
The life of rest is not the life of ease or of freedom from pain and sorrow. Joseph, like Jacob, suffered much hardship, but Joseph suffered innocently and in a godly way. God does not offer you a life of ease, but a life of learning to rely upon Him, of looking for Him to exalt you in the proper time, rather than you getting ahead at the expense of others.
The primary lesson I have learned from the life of Jacob is the greatness of the grace of God. Surely it was nothing else, nothing less than grace which saved and sanctified Jacob. And so it is for you and me. We cannot bargain with God, for we have nothing to offer. We cannot get ahead by striving in our own strength, but only by resting in Him. We cannot enter into that rest by our works (Hebrews 4:1), but by His strength, not ours. That is the lesson which Jacob learned. And this is the truth which made the last chapters of Jacob’s life the best. I do not know what chapter your life is in. Perhaps you are in one of the early chapters, perhaps the last. But this one thing I know: every chapter of our life can be a blessing if it is marked by humble dependence and grateful obedience.
Perhaps you have not yet come to know God as Jacob did. For you the message of the gospel is clear, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved” (Acts 16:31). Recognize that your striving has only led to struggle and suffering. Believe that God’s offer is one of free grace, that it is only He who can give you peace, rest, and the assurance of blessing and salvation. That lesson is a prerequisite for walking with God. May you learn it today.
