Gen 46:1-7, 28-34 · Read 10 min · think and write 15 min
After Jacob and Esau parted, Jacob returned to the land of Canaan. At Shechem, his daughter Dinah was humbled by Shechem, the prince of the land (Gen 34:2); her brothers Simeon and Levi “came upon the unsuspecting city, and killed all the males” (Gen 34:25).
God said to Jacob: “Arise, go up to Bethel” (Gen 35:1). There God appeared to him again and said: “Your name shall not be Jacob any more, but your name will be Israel” (Gen 35:10). They traveled on from Bethel, and “Rachel travailed. She had hard labor” (Gen 35:16); she bore Benjamin and died, and “was buried on the way to Ephrath (also called Bethlehem)” (Gen 35:19). Later Isaac died too, and “Esau and Jacob, his sons, buried him” (Gen 35:29).
“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children” (Gen 37:3). Joseph was sold by his brothers, and Jacob thought a wild animal had killed him; “he refused to be comforted. He said, ‘For I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning’” (Gen 37:35). For this, see Joseph, Lesson 1.
Later there was famine in Canaan, and Jacob sent his sons down to Egypt to buy grain (Gen 42:1-2). His sons came back and told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” “His heart fainted, for he didn’t believe them” (Gen 45:26). Then he saw the wagons Joseph had sent for him, and “the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived” (Gen 45:27). He said: “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die” (Gen 45:28). For these things, see Joseph, Lessons 5–7.
This lesson reads how Jacob set out to go down to Egypt.
1Israel traveled with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac.
2God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” He said, “Here I am.”
3He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation.
4I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”
5Jacob rose up from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
6They took their livestock, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt—Jacob, and all his offspring with him,
7his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and he brought all his offspring with him into Egypt.
The passage then lists the names of the children and grandchildren who came into Egypt, and ends: “All the souls of the house of Jacob, who came into Egypt, were seventy” (vv. 8–27).
28Jacob sent Judah before him to Joseph, to show the way before him to Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen.
29Joseph prepared his chariot, and went up to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen. He presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.
30Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”
31Joseph said to his brothers, and to his father’s house, “I will go up, and speak with Pharaoh, and will tell him, ‘My brothers, and my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.
32These men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.’
33It will happen, when Pharaoh summons you, and will say, ‘What is your occupation?’
34that you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers:’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”
Beersheba. “Israel traveled with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac” (v. 1).
Here I am. “God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, ‘Jacob, Jacob!’ He said, ‘Here I am’” (v. 2).
Don’t be afraid. God said: “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation” (v. 3). And: “I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph’s hand will close your eyes” (v. 4).
The whole family. “Jacob rose up from Beersheba,” and his sons carried their father and their wives and little ones “in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him” (v. 5). They came into Egypt, “Jacob, and all his offspring with him” (v. 6). “All the souls of the house of Jacob, who came into Egypt, were seventy” (v. 27).
A good while. Jacob sent Judah ahead to Joseph (v. 28). “Joseph prepared his chariot, and went up to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen. He presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while” (v. 29). “Israel said to Joseph, ‘Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive’” (v. 30).
Goshen. Joseph told his family that when they met Pharaoh they should say, “Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now,” so “that you may dwell in the land of Goshen” (v. 34).
Few and evil. Later, “Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh” (Gen 47:7). When Pharaoh asked his age, he said: “The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. The days of the years of my life have been few and evil. They have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage” (Gen 47:9). “Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh” (Gen 47:10).
God says to Jacob: “there I will make of you a great nation” (v. 3). The book of Exodus begins: “The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them” (Exod 1:7).
Readers can see this: when they went down into Egypt, “All the souls of the house of Jacob, who came into Egypt, were seventy” (v. 27); by the first page of Exodus, “the land was filled with them” (Exod 1:7).
Perhaps you, too, are about to go somewhere unfamiliar: moving house, emigrating, changing jobs — or, in old age, leaving the home you have lived in all your life.
This lesson does not say that once you hear God’s word, you won’t be afraid at all. What it shows you is this: an old man came to Beersheba and first offered sacrifices; in the night God called him by name, and he said, “Here I am” (v. 2); God said, “Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt,” and, “I will go down with you into Egypt” (vv. 3–4). A psalm says: “If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me” (Ps 139:9-10).
This week: If you are about to go somewhere unfamiliar, this week — as Jacob did at Beersheba — stop before you set out and entrust it to God. If someone near you has just moved or emigrated, go and greet them once this week.
Scripture: World English Bible.