Genesis 46 - Joseph Moves to Egypt

This article is part of a series of articles that resulted from my time preaching through the book of Genesis. The commentary on the passage is my own, resulting from hours of research and exegetical study. It is my intent to draw a biblical theology chapter by chapter through the book of Genesis that places the events of the narratives into the broad picture of the entire Bible, demonstrating the progressiveness of theology and the sufficiency of every Word of Scripture. It is my prayer that these articles are helpful to those seeking a better understanding of the book of Genesis and of the Bible as a whole. The sermon series and other resources can be found at www.fbcroxana.com.

¹ So Israel set out with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. ² God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” ³ He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. ⁴ I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will close your eyes.”

Jacob took everything. He did not leave a contingent in the Promised Land. Nor did he leave any possessions. As Joseph had directed him, Jacob took his entire household to Egypt. When Jacob had left the Promised Land to go to Paddan-Aram when he was younger, he had taken nothing. But now he was leaving with a large family and a wealthy household. Jacob stopped in Beersheba to worship the LORD. He had greatly matured in His understanding of God through the years. God appeared to him to comfort him (just as before) that He would go with him to Egypt and protect his family in order to bring them back up again to the Promised Land.

⁵ Then Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their little ones and their wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶ They took their livestock and their property, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him: ⁷ his sons and his grandsons with him, his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.

Abraham had escaped a famine by going to Egypt. Now his grandson and all his descendants were doing the same. Whereas Abraham had lied about Sarah in order to gain favor in Pharaoh’s eyes, Jacob went into Egypt by Pharaoh’s invitation and with his blessing. God had prepared the way for the blooming nation of Israel to find a welcoming home in a foreign land outside of the land which He had promised to them.

⁸ Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn. ⁹ The sons of Reuben: Hanoch and Pallu and Hezron and Carmi. ¹⁰ The sons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. ¹¹ The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹² The sons of Judah: Er and Onan and Shelah and 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 and Puvvah and Iob and Shimron. ¹⁴ The sons of Zebulun: Sered and Elon and Jahleel. ¹⁵ These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, with his daughter Dinah; all his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three. ¹⁶ The sons of Gad: Ziphion and Haggi, Shuni and Ezbon, Eri and Arodi and Areli. ¹⁷ The sons of Asher: Imnah and Ishvah and Ishvi and Beriah and their sister Serah. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. ¹⁸ These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah; and she bore to Jacob these sixteen persons. ¹⁹ The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁰ Now to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. ²¹ The sons of Benjamin: Bela and Becher and Ashbel, Gera and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh, Muppim and Huppim and Ard. ²² These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; there were fourteen persons in all. ²³ The sons of Dan: Hushim. ²⁴ The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel and Guni and Jezer and Shillem. ²⁵ These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and she bore these to Jacob; there were seven persons in all. ²⁶ All the persons belonging to Jacob, who came to Egypt, his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons, 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 to Egypt, were seventy.

These seventy people would blossom into a very large nation in the midst of Egypt. God indeed was with them to bless them and protect them. It must have been hard for the covenant family to sojourn in a different land, away from the land of promise.

²⁸ Now he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out the way before him to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. ²⁹ Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; as soon as he appeared before him, he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time. ³⁰ Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.” ³¹ Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me; ³² and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ ³³ When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴ you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ that you may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is loathsome to the Egyptians.”

In this way, the people of Israel would live in land suitable to their vast flocks and herds. They would not be dispersed through the land. Neither would they be tempted to assimilate into the people of Egypt, for the Israelites were despicable to the people of Egypt because of their shepherding lifestyle. Now the family was back together and full of joy.