BibleNote

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God was with Joseph

(Jacob goes to Egypt) Lesson 28

Genesis 45:1-47:31

Key Verse: 46:3

1. Look at 45:1-28. How did Joseph react to his brother’s sincere repentance? What enabled Joseph to forgive his brothers? (5-8) What can you learn from Joseph here? How did Pharaoh respond to Joseph’s reunion with his family?

1. Joseph could not control himself any longer and made himself known.

   Joseph comforted his brothers from fear. He told his brothers that it is God who sent him ahead of them to save lives.

2. Joseph saw his life from God’s point of view. We also should see our lives in the view of God’s redemptive history.

3. Pharaoh was very pleased by Joseph’s reunion with his family and promised to give the best part of Egypt for Joseph’s family.

Joseph Makes Himself Known

45 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. ² And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it. ³ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.

⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! ⁵ And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. ⁶ For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. ⁷ But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.^[a]

⁸ “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. ⁹ Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. ¹⁰ You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. ¹¹ I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’ ¹² “You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. ¹³ Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.” ¹⁴ Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. ¹⁵ And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶ When the news reached Pharaoh’s palace that Joseph’s brothers had come, Pharaoh and all his officials were pleased. ¹⁷ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan, ¹⁸ and bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can enjoy the fat of the land.’ ¹⁹ “You are also directed to tell them, ‘Do this: Take some carts from Egypt for your children and your wives, and get your father and come. ²⁰ Never mind about your belongings, because the best of all Egypt will be yours.’”

²¹ So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them carts, as Pharaoh had commanded, and he also gave them provisions for their journey. ²² To each of them he gave new clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels^[b] of silver and five sets of clothes. ²³ And this is what he sent to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other provisions for his journey. ²⁴ Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, “Don’t quarrel on the way!” ²⁵ So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. ²⁶ They told him, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.” Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. ²⁷ But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. ²⁸ And Israel said, “I’m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

1. Look at 46:1-27. Why did Joseph bring Jacob and his family back to Egypt? (45:11) What was God’s plan for Jacob’s family behind Joseph’s invitation? (3-4) How many people from Jacob’s family went down to Egypt? (27, Ref; Num 1:46)

1. ^45:11 I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’ There will be five years of severe famine to come. So, Joseph wanted to bring Jacob and his family to Egypt. King Pharaoh also provided a land for them.

2. Go wanted to make Jacob into a great nation. God wanted to fulfill his promise with Abraham (Ge 15:13-16) God wanted to multiply Jacob’s descendants’ number remarkably in Egypt and make them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex 19:5,6)

   It was difficult for the Israelites to become a big nation not only because of famine, but also many enemies in the land of Canaan. There will be also danger to lose the identity while living with the pagans, the Canaanites. But in the land of Goshen, the Israelites could prosper and increase in number under Joseph’s care without any threat of surrounding enemies and temptation. God provided the best environment for Jacob’s family to increase in their number and grow as a nation.

   God commanded Jacob to go down to Egypt with confidence because God would be with him, go down to Egypt with him and bring him back again.

3. The members of Jacob’s family who went down to Egypt was seventy in all.

   ⁴⁶ The total number was 603,550. This number does not include women and children. So all together was maybe more than a million.

Jacob Goes to Egypt

46 So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. ² And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he replied.

³ “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. ⁴ I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”

⁵ Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Israel’s sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. ⁶ So Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt, taking with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan. ⁷ Jacob brought with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons and his daughters and granddaughters—all his offspring. ⁸ These are the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob and his descendants) who went to Egypt:

²⁶ All those who went to Egypt with Jacob—those who were his direct descendants, not counting his sons’ wives—numbered sixty-six persons. ²⁷ With the two sons^[h] who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family, which went to Egypt, were seventy^[i] in all.

1. Look at 46:28-34. How did Jacob react when he met Joseph? Why did Joseph provide the land of Goshen for his family? (33-34, 47:11) Look at 47:1-12. Describe Jacob’s encounter with Pharaoh. How did Jacob describe his life? (9)

1. They had a very emotional reunion in Egypt. Jacob never expected to see Joseph again because he thought that Joseph had been killed more than 13 years ago. But now he met Joseph alive and hugged him.

   When Simeon saw the baby Jesus who was presented in the temple, he confessed the similar in Luke 2:29-32)..you may now dismiss your servant in peace.”

²⁸ Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. When they arrived in the region of Goshen, ²⁹ Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father^[j] and wept for a long time.

³⁰ Israel said to Joseph, “Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive.”

1. Goshen is the best part of Egypt, It is the eastern part of Nile Delta. It was very fertile, but the Egyptians didn’t reside because it was the pasture land with shepherds.

   Verse 18 says that it is the fat of the land.

   ³³ When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴ you should answer, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.”

   ^{47: 11} So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed. ¹² Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their children.

³¹ Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were living in the land of Canaan, have come to me. ³² The men are shepherds; they tend livestock, and they have brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own.’ 

47 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.” ² He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh. ³ Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?” “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.” ⁴ They also said to him, “We have come to live here for a while, because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants’ flocks have no pasture. So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen.” ⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you, ⁶ and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock.” ⁷ Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed^[k] Pharaoh, ⁸ Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?”

1. Jacob described his life as a pilgrimage, which means ‘traveler’. Indeed, our lives is a pilgrimage from this earth to heaven. Jacob struggled with men and with God. He got all he wanted. He became rich and had a big family. He experienced many ups and downs in his life. Now, he is old and weak. It is time for him to die and go back to his fathers’ land. Like Jacob’s life we effort to survive and enjoy in this world and will go back to our homeland, where is the kingdom of God.

   ⁹ And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.” ¹⁰ Then Jacob blessed^[l] Pharaoh and went out from his presence.

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