Gen 46

1 So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2  And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”

“Here I am,” he replied.  

3 “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 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.”

5 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.  6 So Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt, taking with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan. 7 Jacob brought with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons and his daughters and granddaughters—all his offspring.

8 These are the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob and his descendants) who went to Egypt:

Reuben the firstborn of Jacob. 9 The sons of Reuben: Hanok, Pallu, Hezron and Karmi.

10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.

11 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

12 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez and Zerah (but Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan).

The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.

13 The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub and Shimron.

14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon and Jahleel.

15 These were the sons Leah bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, besides his daughter Dinah. These sons and daughters of his were thirty-three in all.

16 The sons of Gad: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi and Areli.

17  The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi and Beriah. Their sister was Serah. The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malkiel.

18 These were the children born to Jacob by Zilpah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Leah—sixteen in all.

19 The sons of Jacob's wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

20 In Egypt, Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.

21 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.

22 These were the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob—fourteen in all.

23 The son of Dan: Hushim.

24The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer and Shillem.

25 These were the sons born to Jacob by Bilhah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Rachel—seven in all.

26 All those who went to Egypt with Jacob—those who were his direct descendants, not counting his sons' wives—numbered sixty-six persons. 27 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.

28 Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. When they arrived in the region of Goshen, 29 Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time.

30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive.”

31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, “I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him, 'My brothers and my father's household, who were living in the land of Canaan, have come to me.

32 The men are shepherds; they tend livestock, and they have brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own.' 33 When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, 'What is your occupation?' 34 you should answer, 'Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.' Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.”

Gen 47

1 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.” 2 He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh. 3 Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?” “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.”

4 They also said to him, “We have come to live here for a while, because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants' flocks have no pasture. So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen.”

5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you,

6 and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed Pharaoh, 8 Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?”

9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.” 10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.

11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed. 12 Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their children.

13 There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine. 14 Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh's palace. 15 When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is all gone.”  16  “Then bring your livestock,” said Joseph. “I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.

18 When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we perish before your eyes—we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.” 20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh's, 21 and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other.

22 However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

23 Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground. 24 But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children.” 25 “You have saved our lives,” they said. “May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.” 26 So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt—still in force today—that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh's.

27 Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.

28 Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven. 29 When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.” “I will do as you say,” he said. 31 “Swear to me,” he said. Then Joseph swore to him, and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

51 A BEERSHEBA RUN (sorry, had to)

Jacob and the tribe head to Egypt. He stops in Beersheba to do an offering to God.  Beersheba was the last chance saloon city before leaving the Israeli territory (Fun fact:  “From Dan to Beersheba” is a way of saying border to border in OT times).  I think it is sort of funny that Jacob travels all that way before talking to God about the trip.  God had previously told Jacob not to go there, so asking for permission should have been on his list before packing. But he did not even ask for permission in Beersheba, he instead offers an offering.  God so loves sacrifice over obedience. Not.  But then, I totally do the same thing.   I am about to do this God, please bless it.  But in this case, the whole thing was set up by God, so He is good with it.  

When I think of any nation becoming dependent on another, I always think it weakens that nation.  But God always does things the unexpected way.  He tells Israel to go to Egypt and that He will make them a great nation there.  Totally anti-intuitive.  But God often works like that.  

Verse 5 reads like that old St. Ives riddle:  I met a man with 12 sons, every son had a wife, every wife had sons, every son had a cow, how many people were headed to Egypt?  Here the answer is around 70 because the cheat code is in verse 26.  You are welcome.  

Joseph gets in his fancy sports chariot and zips out to meet Dad, who is sort of looking for directions to Goshen.  Why Goshen? Because they plan to tell Pharaoh that they are just lowly shepherds – nothing to see here.  God disguises some of his best leaders as shepherds like:  Moses, David, Jesus… Note to the world: beware of leaders wearing shepherd clothing.  I also see a repetition of the time Jacob used an animal skin to con his brother out of a birthright.  Here he is figuratively tricking Pharaoh by covering the nation of Israel with animals.  

A few thoughts on Egypt. It is very interesting to see these early interactions between Israel and Egypt. They still have an interesting relationship today, not good but not entirely hostile. From Jacob's perspective, Egypt could squash them like bugs. They are looked down upon because they are foreign (recall the meal segregation) and because they are filthy shepherds. Now think about Egyptians reading this story. A small nomadic tribe wanders into Egypt. They bring in yet another God. They claim to be chosen. They take credit for saving Egypt. They take credit for creating a tax system that creates wealth and land-bound slavery that would result in the pyramids. As Christians, this backward progress by God seems completely consistent with our Shepherd King. To Egyptians it would sound crazy. I am not surprised there is such a struggle in that region. Politics have deep roots there.

Chapter 47.

Pharaoh falls right in line with Joseph's plan.  But he is wise as well, and he asks to put the best of Joseph's brothers in charge of his own livestock.    Certainly, Egypt is benefiting from having Joseph around and Pharaoh is smart enough to capitalize on this.  Then Joseph brings his dad in for a visit.  

I noticed that Jacob was called Israel most of this section but snapped back to Jacob when he met Pharaoh. That was odd to me, but I am not sure what it means.  The 130-year-old man grumbles about how short and hard his life has been. But then he blessed Pharaoh.  I wonder what Pharoah makes of this.  Through this tricky Jacob-like maneuver, Israel is saved from starvation.  

The famine continues and Joseph sells food for money, then livestock and then land. He ends up creating a system where the government owned all of the land and got 1/5 of all crops. While Israel finds salvation and prosperity in Egypt, Egypt is sold into slavery to the Pharoah.  Oh, the irony.

When we think of God's gifting areas in our lives, we think of things like healing, prophecy and teaching. Here Joseph is gifted by God in two significant areas. The first is the dream reading, which gets him into the palace door. But the real significant gift is the gift of administration. It keeps all of Egypt alive, all of Israel alive, show's God's power to Pharaoh, and changed the framework of Egypt. Gifts can come in so many forms, it is important to value and use those God gave you rather than wishing you had a cooler gift.

After 17 years, Jacob asks Joseph to swear to bury him with his forefathers rather than in Egypt.  Joseph agrees.    The thigh swear is unusual for me.  Maybe a local custom – like a pinky swear or crossing the heart.  But I was thinking that the thigh was probably extra significant to Jacob who had a permanent injury in his hip from wrestling with God.  

Do you know what they called someone back in those times who always followed through on promises?  A thigh master.  Ok, I may have made that up.