GENESIS 46 RESETTLEMENT After reconciliation takes place, a whole new vista of life opens to those who have been reconciled. Restoration follows reconciliation and times of refreshing and restitution come when conversion brought by repentance is real. Jacob begins to act like Israel and is willing to go to Egypt as a dignified old man who is respected by his family and even the Pharaoh of Egypt. He and his family were able to settle in an area of Egypt that was separate from the mainstream of Egyptian life. Yet, it was the best land they could hope for to feed their flocks and herds. Their needs could be met in Goshen. They had left behind all that was not essential and were able to take of the good of the land before them.
When God’s people realize who they are before God, and do not seek to conform to the ways, habits and religious activities of the world, we will be able to be partakers of the “good of the land” that belongs to our Lord and King. Believers in Christ may be an “abomination” to the world system around us, but our “heavenly Joseph” is not ashamed to call us “brethren.” He calls His people by His name, and we say of Him, “The Lord is my God.”
Our inheritance in our Lord Jesus Christ is before us, and we have to claim it for ourselves. Then we can use it, promote it and display it as our Christian heritage and testimony, and labor to preserve it in its unchangeable integrity. Our Lord is the One who preserves life on all the earth and He maintains the orderliness of it so we can be blessed by it and use it to bless others. Disorder caused by selfishness and the imposition of human will and design on the life God gives, will create chaos, dysfunction and ultimate failure. Life maintained by the power of God is a blessing to all. The redemption our Lord Jesus bought with His own precious blood includes more than the redemption of our souls. In a day to come, creation itself will be reconciled to God and the earth will give forth from its fullness to meet the need that mankind has. There will be no more famine. Like the family of Jacob because of the Joseph, we begin a new walk by faith with a new life, with a new character and new desire as our Lord’s purchased possession that stands in the grace of redemption. This is a mere foretaste of millennial blessings yet to come when there will finally be peace on earth.
In the unfolding story of Israel’s four-hundred years in Egypt beginning with the journey of Israel’s family to Egypt to be with Joseph; Asenath, Joseph’s wife is not mentioned. She is a type of the church which is the bride of Christ and is a heavenly people whose life is bound up in our Lord Jesus
Himself, not in the millennial blessings that will come to God’s chosen earthly people the Jews. We are seen in Christ, not in any way separated from Him.
The journey to Egypt began a four-hundred-year sojourn away from the promised land for the children of Israel. Jacob went to Egypt with his sons and their families, and would leave as a nation. Those silent years were a preservation from the idolatry of the people of Canaan. However, as the generations passed, the children of Israel became servants to the gods of the Egyptians “who were on the other side of the flood.”
When they finally left centuries later and came back to the promised land, some were inclined to serve “the gods of the Amorites.” It is possible for those who have turned away from the world and the ways of the world, to see their own children and their descendants turn back to what we left. It is our responsibility to live before the Lord in faith and commitment to Him and His word. We do not have the authority or capability to make our children and grandchildren commit themselves to the Lord. He must be their own personal Savior and Lord in order for them to be saved from the eternal slavery of sin and its consequences.
GOD GAVE JACOB CLEAR GUIDANCE The Journey, v.1-7. For years Jacob had settled in Canaan and experienced the stability and security that likely would have given him a measure of contentment. The grave of Rachel wasn’t far away and he had memories and strong ties to Hebron. The promise of the land God gave to Abraham and Isaac had also been given to him. To leave that place and go to Egypt would have been difficult for him. When he stopped at Beersheba on the way, to offer sacrifices to God in the place where Abraham had a special revelation from God, and where he lived after offering Isaac, would have great significance to Israel.
When he approached God in Beersheba to worship, it was not a casual act on Israel’s part. God quickly responded to his worship and spoke to him personally by name. “Jacob, Jacob,” spoken to him in clear words, elicited an immediate response from him; “Here am I.” Whenever we get a word from the Lord that is personal and suits our situation, it is of great importance that we do not hesitate to respond to Him. Fellowship with God is evident in many ways in the lives of those who belong to Him. Obedience to a call, faith that quickly responds to that call and acts upon it are ways we experience the fellowship we have when we share our lives with our God.
God gave Jacob four promises that night: He would make a great nation of Israel’s seed. He would go with him to Egypt. He would bring the children of Israel out of Egypt in the future. Joseph would be with him when he died and would close his eyes. With those promises Jacob did not have to fear going to Egypt. The objective behind the journey was far more than mere survival for five more years. It was to make Israel a nation. They would learn how to establish a government and carry out the demands of those in authority. Laws would give order to the daily lives of the people of the nation who have different personalities, so they could live together in peace and with common consent to law and order.
The Family, v.8-27. A list of names is given to indicate any action taken by a leader affects a lot of other people. When one leads others, he needs to be sure of divine guidance. There was not question in Jacob’s mind that God wanted him to go to Egypt. It is likely the “seventy” that went there, was reflected in the fact that there were later, seventy elders in Israel, and seventy the Lord sent out to tell the children of Israel the kingdom of God was here.
The Meeting, v.28-30. Judah had taken the role of leadership among the sons of Jacob, so it was he who Jacob sent to Joseph before the slow-moving caravan of people and animals got to Goshen. Judah had proven to Jacob and Joseph that he could be trusted in the commitment he made to Jacob regarding Benjamin, and his changed attitude when he spoke to Joseph. He was a man who had been converted and could be trusted with important matters.
We often learn important things about ourselves when we make mistakes. The embarrassment, the pain and humiliation caused by our mistakes have an effect on ourselves and others. Lessons learned in that way are not forgotten. God has reasons for allowing us to “mess up” when we get self-assured, independent and opinionated. Judah had been given the responsibility of making the necessary arrangements for the meeting of Joseph and Jacob, and he did that well.
He would have been very gratified to see his long-lost brother reunited with his father. He was the one who had made the decision to sell Joseph as a slave to the Midianites. How good it must have been to see the joy of his father’s face when he said, “Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.” He had some years yet to live, but he was perfectly ready to die after seeing his beloved son. God’s providence, grace and truth to His people is always a wonder to us and a way He shows His interest and reveals Himself to us.
There is a great purpose behind God’s dealings with us. He intended to make a great nation of Israel. There may be a long time in our reckoning, between the time promises are given and they are fulfilled. When God promises good to His people, it is guaranteed to happen although it may be longer than we expect. There may be circumstances He uses that are hard for us to accept at times, but the outcome is positive and sure. Our faith is strengthened and our character is built and established during those times. God knows what He is doing and that is good enough for us.
The reality of God’s guidance is as precious today and as certain as it was to Jacob. When we deliberately place ourselves in the hands of God, we are assured of the reality of His guidance. The consciousness of God with us will take us confidently through hard times, stormy seas in life, times of potential fear and helplessness. He will not leave of forsake us when we abide in Him. He will guide in judgment and teach His way to those who are meek.
The wisdom of God’s love may not be easy for us to accept at first when it is tough love. But as time passes, we will see how good it was of Him to take us on the road of life He chose for us. Love fulfills promises and demonstrates itself in times of extremity and uncertainty. Our part is to have enthusiastic faith that is not short-circuited by us taking our own way. God is with us in the hard times of sorrow and suffering. At times He lets us see the light behind the clouds. He lives and loves, and will not leave or forsake His people.