· 45:6-7: There were still to be 5 more years of famine. But Joseph could reassure his family that God had already provided for them. There are many today whose testimony is that God used some period of serious trouble in their lives as the context in which they were brought to faith in Christ. Having come to Christ, they learned, as all believers learn, that they would continue to experience the trials of this life but that God would see them through and into eternity! As Ps. 23 tells us, our Shepherd meets every need all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
· 45:21-22: U-hauls were even provided for Jacob and the family to make the move. And new clothes for the trip. Now might be a good time to review Jacob’s words in Gen. 42:36!
· 46:1-3: As Jacob begins the move, he leaves Hebron (at times the home of Abraham as well as Jacob) and comes to Beersheba (significant site for both Abraham and Isaac). Jacob bows to worship the LORD. His heart is in the right place as he heads to Egypt. The LORD calls out to Jacob and he answers with the “availability” of a man of faith: here I am! God’s word puts Jacob at rest. The LORD had promised to make Abraham into a great nation (Gen. 12:1-3). Even though they are going to Egypt (something Isaac was not allowed to do, Gen. 26:2), the LORD promises that Jacob/Israel will become a great nation in Egypt. Let us meditate in advance of the story of the Exodus as to what “greatness” means. It is not only that Israel will become mighty in number. They will also have the cohesiveness that will be developed as God Almighty leads them out with a powerful display of His, God’s, greatness!
· 46:28: Again we see that Jacob has chosen Judah to lead the family.
· 46:31-34: This is interesting: every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians. Joseph had become an expert in dealing with the Egyptians, and with Pharaoh himself. The desire was that Jacob and his family should settle in Goshen, an area of Egypt closest to Canaan, and one that in good years would be perfect for raising cattle as well as sheep. Thus, he warned the brothers that the Egyptians didn’t care much for shepherds, which was not unusual. Shepherding, even in Israel, even in the time of the birth of Christ, was generally one of the lower stations of life. He tells the brothers to emphasize their expertise with cattle, but for Pharaoh to know that they were shepherds would make settlement in Goshen, far from Pharaoh, much more likely. (This explanation is the one used by Matthew Henry, and makes sense to me. I see a great application in this, both to Christ and to His under-shepherds in the Church. The world doesn’t have much use for them, and yet they are God’s provision for His people, Eph. 4:11-15; 1 Pt. 5:1-4; Ps. 23:1.)
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