GENESIS 45

In one of the most moving scenes in all the Bible, Joseph ordered his staff to go out of the room while, with an enormous emotional release, he revealed his identity to his brothers. He told them not to grieve for the way they had treated him, because God had overruled it for good. His great emotion showed that Joseph did not cruelly manipulate his brothers. God directed him to make these arrangements, and it hurt him to do it as well it broke Joseph. This is called situational ethics.

Joseph tells them to bring their father, their households, and their possessions to Goshen in Egypt for the remaining five years of famine. “Tell my father of all my glory in Egypt”—a command we too can obey when we worship before God the glories of His beloved Son. The fountains of the great deep of a broken heart were broken up as Joseph embraced Benjamin and then kissed all his brothers.

• This is a happy preview of the joy that awaits the people of Israel when the Christ of Calvary appears to them and reveals Himself as their Messiah-King. Unfortunately, many did not believe, but this is no surprise for our God.

All Joseph’s sorrows were for a purpose: God used them to preserve his family and provide the conditions for it to become a nation. Joseph was a victim of men, but God turned it around for His glory. None of it was for loss.

• Joseph realized God ruled his life, not good men, not evil men, not circumstances, or fate. God was in control, and because God is in control, all things work together for the good of those who love Him.
• If this family did not go into Egypt, then they would have assimilated among the pagan tribes of Canaan and cease to become a distinctive people. But God put them in a place where they could grow, yet remain a distinctive nation. God foreknew the Egyptians would not assimilate with or allow this Hebrew family to assimilate into them.

Genesis 45:9-28                                            New King James Version

9   “Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph: “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not tarry.

10   You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your children, your children’s children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have. 

11   There I will provide for you, lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty; for there are still five years of famine.” ’

12  “And behold, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 

13   So you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen; and you shall hurry and bring my father down here.”

• This was the message Joseph wanted his brothers to bring to their father. When Jacob eventually heard this, it was one of the greatest days of his life. He had the joy of learning that the favored son, who would save his brethren, who was given up for dead, is now alive.

14   Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. 

15   Moreover, he kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers talked with him.

• We have to ask ourselves what is Pharaoh going to say about the promises Joseph has been making to his family. No other Pharaoh in all history has been like this man. God knows and appoints leaders to lead weather they know Him or not, why? Because He knows them.

GENESIS 45:16-20

16   Now the report of it was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, “Joseph’s brothers have come.” So, it pleased Pharaoh and his servants well. 

17   And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and depart; go to the land of Canaan. 

18   Bring your father and your households and come to me; I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land. 

19   Now you are commanded—do this: Take carts out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and your wives; bring your father and come. 

• The sons of Israel received transportation, provision, garments, and riches because of who their favored brother was. Pharaoh blessed the sons of Jacob for Joseph’s sake.

20   Also do not be concerned about your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ ”

• “To return to Canaan with ‘carts from Egypt’ was the cultural equivalent of landing a jumbo jet among a tribe of isolated savages. It would be the stuff legends are made of.” (Boice)

GENESIS 45:21-28

21   Then the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them carts, according to the command of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey.

22   He gave to all of them, to each man, changes of garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of garments. 

23   And he sent to his father these things: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and food for his father for the journey. 

24   So he sent his brothers away, and they departed; and he said to them, “See that you do not become troubled along the way.”

25   Then they went up out of Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan to Jacob their father. 

• The idea behind the words “become troubled” is literally, become angry or quarrel. Joseph knew as soon as these men left his presence, they would be tempted to act in selfish, unspiritual ways. They had to anticipate and guard against this.

GENESIS 46:26

26   And they told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.” And Jacob’s heart stood still, because he did not believe them. 

• Jacob was told Joseph was dead and believed it. Then he was told Joseph was alive, and he did not believe it until his sons told him the words of Joseph and showed him the blessings that came to them through Joseph. Then he believed Joseph was alive, though he had not yet seen him.
• By analogy, we can say that the only way people will know Jesus is alive is if we tell them His words and show them His blessings in our lives.

GENESIS 45:27-28

27   But when they told him all the words which Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived. 

28   Then Israel said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

• Knowing that the favored son was alive: — back from the dead, as it were — changed Israel’s testimony from all these things are against me (Genesis 42:36) to, it is enough.
• This testimony of faith came from Israel: not Jacob. When Jacob was in charge, we saw a whining, self-pitying, complaining, unbelieving type of man. In contrast Israel, the man God had conquered, had a testimony of faith.
• Jacob often struggled with doubts and fears: but here he believed in Joseph the way we should believe in Jesus.
• Jacob believed: because he had enough evidence to convince him.
• Jacob acted: because he had conviction great enough to move him.

Genesis 46:1-7                                              New King James Version

Jacob’s Journey to Egypt

1  So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 

• Jacob left nothing behind and came to the southernmost outpost of Canaan on the way to Egypt. Israel (Jacob) stopped there to honor God with sacrifices
• Israel’s grandfather Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba many years before and had called on the name of the LORD there (Genesis 21:33). Isaac received a special promise from God and built an altar for sacrifice there, calling on the name of the LORD          (Genesis 26:24-25). It was probably at this very place Israel sacrificed, remembering what God had done before.

GENESIS 46:2-3

2   Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

• More than 40 years before, when Jacob was about to leave the Promised Land, God spoke to him in a dream (Genesis 28:12-17). Now, when he was about to leave the land again, God again brought assurance through a dream (visions of the night).

3   So He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there.

• Do not fear to go down to Egypt: This strongly suggests that Israel was afraid to go to Egypt. Jacob may have remembered that Abraham had gone to Egypt in a time of famine once before, and it was an expression of his unbelief, and much evil eventually came from it (Genesis 12:10-20). He also may have remembered God told his father Isaac not to go down to Egypt (Genesis 26:2)

GENESIS 45:4-7

4   I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.”

• The final assurance was for God Himself to tell Jacob that Joseph lived and would care for him until his dying day. This was a sweet assurance.

5   Then Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the carts which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 

• In the carts which Pharaoh had sent to carry him: In Genesis 45:27, we saw how important these carts were to Jacob. His spirit revived when he saw this impressive wealth and technology from Egypt.
• All his descendants he brought with him to Egypt: This shows the great faith Israel had. He brought the entire family down to Egypt. No one was left behind to continue a presence in Canaan. Jacob was both all in, and he knew they would be back.

6   So they took their livestock and their goods, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him. 

7   His sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.

Jacob Settles in Goshen

Genesis 46:27                                           New King James Version

27   And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy.

• The total number of males of this clan was 70. There were 66, plus Jacob himself, Joseph, and his two sons. This large family would become a nation of perhaps more than two million over the next 400 years.

1. Like many great works of God, Israel had a slow beginning.
2. From the time God called Abraham, it took at least 25 years to add one son — Isaac.
3. It took Isaac 60 years to add another son of Israel — Jacob.
4. It took 50 or 60 years for Jacob to add 12 sons and one daughter.
5. But in 430 years, Israel would leave Egypt with 600,000 men.
6. It took this family 215 years to grow from one to 70, but in another 430 years they grew to two million or more.

• In Acts 7:14, Stephen said that there were 75 who went into Egypt. This is because Stephen quoted from the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, which says 75. The number in the Septuagint is not wrong, they just arrived at in a different way, specifically adding five more sons (or grandsons) of Joseph born in Egypt.

GENESIS 46:28-31

28   Then he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen. 

• It was fitting for Judah, of the Messianic line, to do this. He demonstrated the true spirit of repentance and change of heart among Joseph’s brothers.

29   So Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; and he presented himself to him, and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.

30   And Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive.”

• This reunion of Israel with Joseph was more than he ever before dreamed. He had heard the news that the favored son lived; now it was fulfilled. This was a dramatic change from the attitude that said before, all things are against me (Genesis 42:36).

31   Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and those of my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 

• Joseph became the representative and the advocate for the whole family. They came to safety in Egypt, but needed Joseph to represent them. In the same pattern, the believer needs Jesus Christ to represent him or her.
• Indeed, the pharaohs after Joseph’s death forgot about Joseph and made the people of Israel slaves (Exodus 1:8-10). This shows what would happen (in theory) if we had no representative or advocate before God. But Jesus — not Mary, not saints — is our eternal representative and advocate, being the same yesterday, today, and forever.

GENESIS 46:32-34

32   And the men are shepherds, for their occupation has been to feed livestock; and they have brought their flocks, their herds, and all that they have.’ 

33   So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ 

34   that you shall say, ‘Your servants’ occupation has been with livestock from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

• God had a place for His people. He didn’t bring them to Egypt and give them no home. It wasn’t enough for Joseph to provide for their needs in Canaan; he had to bring them to the place He prepared for them.
• We see Jesus in both aspects — He takes care of us in the present, but has gone to heaven to prepare a place for us — and will receive us to Himself.
• The Egyptians were agricultural in the sense of farming crops. They considered sheep unclean, and therefore detested shepherds. God had a place for His people, but it was a different place and a sometimes-despised place.