In Genesis 45:16-46:30, God displays His manifold providence to the
family of Jacob. As believers, we too
can trust that God is providentially at work in more ways than we could ever
imagine. My desire is that you and I
would come to the place today where we would trust God and His providence with
all of our hearts. Let’s consider four
reasons from this text why we should.
[16] When the report was heard in Pharaoh's
house, “Joseph's brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants.
[17] And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load
your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, [18] and take your father
and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land
of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ [19] And you, Joseph,
are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your
little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. [20] Have
no concern for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”
[21] The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph
gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions
for the journey. [22] To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes,
but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five changes of
clothes. [23] To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with
the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and
provision for his father on the journey. [24] Then he sent his brothers
away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.” (Genesis 45:16-24)
I.
God is Faithful to Provide Rescue for
His People (45:16-24)
Here God uses Pharaoh (and
Joseph) to provide rescue for Jacob’s family during
this famine in a remarkable way. Notice
God provision for Jacob’s family. They
are given provisions for the journey to Canaan and back (17, 21). They are given “the best of the land of Egypt” (18a, 19) and are told to have no
concern for their goods. They will eat
the fat of the land (18b). They are
given wagons for the weaker members of the family to travel to Egypt (19). The brothers are given a change of clothes
(22), and Benjamin given five changes of clothes and 300 shekels of silver. They also are given ten donkeys “loaded with the good things of Egypt”
(23) and ten more female donkeys loaded with provisions for the journey. And last but not least, this rescue provides
them with peace (24): Joseph instructs them not to quarrel because there will
be some explaining to do when Jacob learns that Joseph is alive.
To put it simply, God
causes this family to thrive in the
midst of famine. We learn a simple, but
powerful truth here: We can always trust
God to provide His people with the rescue that they need when they need it. Sometimes God’s provision for us is physical:
resources, healing, etc., and sometimes God’s provision for us is spiritual:
a word from Him, peace (Phil. 4:6-7),
sufficient grace (2 Cor. 12:9-10),
His keeping us from falling (1 Cor.
10:13), etc. When we appropriate
this provision by faith, we too begin to thrive in the midst of famine and to show
a watching world the all-satisfying worth of our Great God.
II.
God is Faithful to Provide Revival for
His People (45:25-46:4)
[25] So they went up out of Egypt and came to
the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. [26] And they told him, “Joseph
is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart
became numb, for he did not believe them. [27] But when they told him all
the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that
Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.
[28] And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will
go and see him before I die.”
[46:1] So Israel took his journey with all
that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his
father Isaac. [2] And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and
said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” [3] Then he said, “I am
God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I
will make you into a great nation. [4] I myself will go down with you to
Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph's hand shall close your
eyes.” (Genesis 45:25-46:4 ESV)
Here we see the good news
of a father’s “resurrected” son and a fresh Word from God revive Jacob. This is a
powerful passage. God is waking up the
desperate, gloomy soul of this Patriarch with His promises. After receiving the news that Joseph is
alive, Jacob packs up the family, heads toward Egypt and stops at the edge of
the Promised Land to worship God. Here
God comes to Jacob and speaks to him! This
“Theophany” is important for several reasons.
First, Jacob needs to know that it is OK to move to Egypt during this
famine. God had told his father Isaac not
to during a previous famine (26:1-5). Second, this encounter is connected with the
past in Genesis 15:13-16: [13] Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know
for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs
and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.
[14] But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward
they shall come out with great possessions. [15] As for you, you shall go
to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. [16] And
they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the
Amorites is not yet complete.” What
God says here to Jacob is reminding him of God’s faithfulness to keep His
promises. Egypt is where God is going to
make this family into a great nation.
A third reason this
theophany is important is its connection with the future in Exodus 3:6-8. The next time God will appear to someone will
be to Moses, when it’s time to fulfill these very promises: [6] And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for
he was afraid to look at God. [7] Then
the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt
and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings,
[8] and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians
and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing
with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the
Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. (Exodus
3:6-8 ESV)
We can take away another
simple, yet powerful truth here: We can
always trust God to revive us with His faithful promises. Psalm
19:7-11: “The law of the LORD is
perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the
simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the
commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is
clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous
altogether. More to be desired are they
than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the
honeycomb. Moreover, by them your
servant it warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” It is not wishful thinking but the sure Word
of God that revives our souls and rejoices our hearts with truths such as Him
being with us (Matt. 28:20) and for
us (Rom. 8:31). What truth of God do you need today? May it revive your soul and rejoice your
heart! Follow the example of Job and
esteem the words of His mouth more highly even than your daily portion of food (Job 23:12).
III.God is Faithful to Provide Reunion
for His People (46:5-30)
[5] Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The
sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives,
in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. [6] They also took their
livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and
came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, [7] his sons, and
his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters. All his
offspring he brought with him into Egypt.
[8] Now these are the names of the
descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. Reuben, Jacob's
firstborn, [9] and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
[10] The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, 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 died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of Perez were Hezron and
Hamul. [13] The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Yob, and Shimron.
[14] The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. [15] These are
the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his
daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.
[16] The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni,
Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. [17] The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah,
Ishvi, Beriah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and
Malchiel. [18] These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his
daughter; and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons.
[19] The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife: Joseph
and Benjamin. [20] And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh
and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, bore to
him. [21] And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman,
Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. [22] These are the sons of Rachel, who
were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all.
[23] The son of Dan: Hushim. [24] The
sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. [25] These are the
sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to
Jacob—seven persons in all.
[26] All the persons belonging to Jacob who
came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob's sons'
wives, were sixty-six persons in all. [27] And the sons of Joseph, who
were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who
came into Egypt were seventy.
[28] He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph
to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen.
[29] Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his
father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on
his neck a good while. [30] Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since
I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” (Genesis
46:5-30 ESV)
In this passage we see the
family of Jacob reunited with the family of Joseph. A word about genealogies in the Bible here:
most genealogies are not meant to communicate what modern genealogies are meant
to communicate. Modern genealogies are
meant to communicate hard facts and dates about all the members of a family. Biblical genealogies come in a variety of
types and are meant to communicate something different. Here, what is being communicated is the
relationship between the various tribes and how they are reunited in Egypt as
an embryonic nation. However the numbers
are arrived at, it is safe to say that 66 of Jacob’s descendants make this trip
to Egypt and once Jacob himself, along with Joseph and his two sons are added,
you end up with 70. Don’t view this as
contradictory, because Biblical genealogies are meant to communicate something
different than modern genealogies are.
But let’s not miss the
incredible emotion of this reunion because of a genealogy. In a very emotional scene, Jacob and Joseph
are reunited and weep “for a while.”
Imagine being a parent who has thought their child was dead for over 22 years. One day you receive news that you can hardly
believe: that they are alive! How sweet
is that moment when you are reunited? It’s
so sweet to Jacob that he says, “Now let
me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are alive.”
In the family of God, we
can trust that God will reunite us with the people that tragedy has torn away
from us, in this life or the next. This
is not true for everyone, and I would never want to exalt this reality above
the reality of enjoying God forever, but as an added bonus, it does warm my
heart to know that for those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ, not even
death will separate us. The Christian
widow will be reunited with their spouse.
The Christian parent will be reunited with their child who died in
Christ. And ultimately, we will be
reunited fully with our Creator and Savior Jesus Christ is a way that we have
never known here on earth. What a day
that will be!
IV. God is
Faithful to Provide Redemption for His People (46:1-4)
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