Genesis 46
McGeeCHAPTER 46THEME: Jacob and family move to Egypt; Jacob and Joseph reunitedJacob probably thought he was going to Egypt for only a few years, and even then it was with some reluctance and hesitation that he consented going there. God had instructed Abraham to stay out of Egypt, and Abraham had been in trouble down there. God had said the same thing to Isaac. So now the question is, should Jacob go down into the land of Egypt? He needs a little more encouragement than the invitation from his son Joseph or even from Pharaoh. He needs to have a green light from God.
Genesis 46:1
JACOB AND FAMILY MOVE TO EGYPTHere is the amazing thing: he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. The first time he left that land going to the land of Haran, he had come to Bethel. Was he looking for God? No, he thought he had run away from Him. He wasn’t seeking the mind of God at all, nor was he asking for His leading. What a contrast there is between young Jacob and the servant of Abraham. The servant of Abraham never took a step without looking to God, but Jacob didn’t think that he needed God in his life at all. It took a long time for him to learn that was not the proper way to go through life. How many Christians today go through the entire week and leave God pretty much out of their program. They make their own decisions and do what they want to do. Then they come to church on Sunday, are very religious and are willing to do God’s willthey think God’s will for them is merely to go to church and maybe teach a Sunday school class. Then they tell God good-bye on Sunday night. The rest of the week God is not in the picture for them. This man Jacob, for most of his life, had not been looking to God, but now, as he comes to Beersheba, he offers sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. Now God is going to be gracious and appear to him
Genesis 46:2
Now God is promising that He will make of Jacob a great nation down in the land of Egypt. You may be wondering if God did that. We find the answer in the next book of the Bible: “And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them” (Exo_1:7). There was a real population explosion of Israelites in the land of Egypt. What is the explanation of that? God is making good His promise to Jacob. “I am God, the God of thy Father: fear not to go down into Egypt: for I will there make of thee a great nation.” God made good that which He promised to him.
Genesis 46:4
Pharaoh, you recall, had sent these wagons from Egypt. They put Jacob in one of the wagons, and off they go. The life of Jacob can be divided into three geographical locations: the land of Haran, the land of Canaan, and the land of Egypt. These are not only geographical areas, but they denote three spiritual levels. Jacob left the land with just a staff. When he came into Haran, he was God’s man living in the flesh. He came out of Haran, running. He was running away from his father-in-law and was afraid to meet his own brother Esau. Then in the land of Canaan Jacob had his wrestling match, but he is God’s man who is fighting in his own strength. Now he is going to Egypt. He is not walking in his own strength, and he is not running away anymore. He is now walking by faith. Although Joseph is prominent in this section of Genesis, be sure to mark the evidences of the spiritual man of faith in the life of Jacob. Jacob has become the man that God wanted him to be, and only God can make this kind of man. Let me state this again. Jacob’s life in Haran typifies the man of God who is living in the flesh. Jacob’s life in the land of Canaan typifies the man of God who is fighting in his own strength. Jacob’s life in Egypt typifies the man of God who is walking by faith. This, I believe, is true also for a great many of us today. There was that time in our lives when we came in contact with the gospel, the Word of God, and we turned to Him. Then there was that period of struggle when we thought we could live our lives in our own strength. Perhaps that lasted for years. Then there came the time when we did grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and began to walk by faith.
Genesis 46:6
Because of the famine, Jacob had to take everyonechildren and grandchildren. And all of their livestock had to go with them since none could have survived the famine. The following verses give the geneaology of Jacob. It is very important because it is the genealogy which will lead to Jesus Christ and will be followed through the rest of the Bible. After a list of all of Jacob’s descendants, we read this:
Genesis 46:26
From Jacob there were sixty-six people who came with him from Canaan into Egypt. Of course, Joseph and his family were already in Egypt
Genesis 46:27
This brought the total household of Jacob to seventy souls. Notice that each son of Jacob and his offspring are listed by name. Why are these lists of names given to us in the Scriptures? Doesn’t God have more important information to give to us? My friend, there is nothing more important than our Lord Jesus Christ, and this is the genealogy that leads to Him. We will find some of these names in the genealogy in the first chapter of Matthew, at the beginning of the New Testament. Again, we will find some of these names in the genealogy given to us in Luke, chapter 3. These lists of names are important for that reason. There is another reason, and it is very personal. Have you heard of the Lamb’s Book of Life? The question is: Is your name written there? Just as you got into the line of Adam (and we all are in that line), you get into the line of Christthat is, by birth. But in the case of the Lamb’s Book of Life, you get there by the new birth which comes about by receiving Christ as your personal Savior. When you do that, you become a child of God. How important are you? Well, I don’t know youprobably have never heard of youbut God knows you. In fact, He has numbered the very hairs of your head! He knows you better than anyone else knows you. He knows you and loves you more than your mother ever didI don’t imagine that she ever counted the hairs of your head! God did. God knows you personally. In Jacob’s genealogy there are names that mean nothing to me. In watching the news on television, I saw the crowd of young folk at a rock festival, a mob of about two hundred thousand dirty, filthy folk. They may have needed a bath to begin with, but it had just rained, and they were covered with mud. As I looked at them, I thought, God knows each one of them, and God loves each one. They are not thinking of Him, but each one is precious in God’s sight, and Christ died for each one. My friend, here you are in the midst of a great population explosion with literally millions of people around you, yet you are an individual to God.
And the names listed in Jacob’s genealogy are people whom I don’t know. Candidly, I’m not interested in them. But God is. He delighted in putting their names down because they were His. This again causes me to ask you the question: Is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? Now here comes Jacob with all of his family to the land of Egypt.
Genesis 46:29
JACOB AND JOSEPH REUNITEDWhat a picture we have here Joseph fell on the neck of his father and embraced him, and he wept there. The Word of God says it was a good while. I don’t know how long a “good while” is, but it does mean that it wasn’t just a brisk handshake that had no meaning. The emotion was quite real. Oh, what a marvelous meeting this was!
Genesis 46:30
What a joy this was to old Jacob! Frankly, friend, I think that Jacob was an old man about ready to die. I believe he barely made this trip, but God sustained him. We will find that he is permitted to live for a few years in the land of Egypt. Israel and Joseph have these last years together. Notice that Jacob is now “the child of God who lives by faith.” Therefore, he is called by his name Israel.
Genesis 46:31
They had the same problem in Egypt in that day as we had in the western part of the United States. I remember when I was a boy in West Texas that, if a man tried to raise sheep in that area, he was in trouble. He found he didn’t have any friends at all, and I mean he was in real trouble. Just so, the Egyptians didn’t care for shepherds. It is interesting that the Word of God has had so much to say about shepherds. These people were shepherds who raised their own sheep, and they still do in the land of Israel. “Shepherd” is the figure of speech which is used to describe our Lord. He is the Good Shepherd who gives His life for the sheep. He is the Great Shepherd of His sheep who watches over them today. He is the Chief Shepherd who is yet to appear. He calls Himself the Shepherd. And, my friend, He is an abomination to the world. He is not received today. I am speaking of the real Jesus Christ. Liberalism has concocted a Jesus whom the world will accept. They have made an idol that doesn’t even look like the Lord Jesus of the Bible. The one they talk about is not virgin-born; he never performed miracles; he did not die for the sins of the world; and he was not raised bodily from the dead. The Jesus of the liberal never lived. There is no record of a Jesus like that. The only One we have records of was virgin-born, performed miracles, died for the sins of the world, and arose bodily from the grave. That is the Shepherd whom the world doesn’t like. He is still an abomination to the world. Shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians. Joseph tells his brothers to tell Pharaoh that they are shepherds and that they raise cattle. Actually, they had both cattle and sheep. We will find later that Pharaoh will give them the land of Goshen and will ask them to take care of his sheep so that the children of Israel became the shepherds in the land of Egypt. It is really quite wonderful to see that now the family of Jacob is living in the land of Goshen. This is to be their home for a long time. After the death of Joseph, they will become slaves in the land of Egypt, but God will be with them through all that time. They will become a great nation down there, and then God will lead them out under Moses. There is no record that God ever appeared to Joseph, yet we certainly see the providence of God in the life of Joseph. It is obvious to us now that he had to come ahead to prepare the way so that the entire family of Jacob could survive in the land of Egypt.