This is week eight’s message from the nine-week series “Joseph – What God Intended For Good” that focuses on the life of Joseph and his family as authored by Moses in Genesis.
Last week, we sawthe process of Joseph’s forgiveness of his brothers.This week, we will discover God’s plan to keep the Israelite’s from intermarrying with the Egyptians.
Message
The story in a nutshell. First Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. He came to be in charge of his master’s (Potiphar) household in Egypt until he was falsely accused of assaulting his master’s wife – for which he was thrown into prison. While in prison, he accurately interpreted the dreams of two fellow inmates. One of the inmates (the cupbearer) was restored to Pharaoh’s service and two years later mentioned Joseph to Pharaoh when Pharaoh had two dreams that needed to be interpreted. Joseph was then brought before him and with God’s help interpreted the dreams. Joseph was then put in charge of Egypt and carried out his plan to prevent starvation for the Egyptians and the rest of the world during a seven-year famine. The story then unfolded with Joseph’s brothers coming to Egypt for food so that their family could survive. Now on to how God preserved Jacob’s family.
We are really coming to a section which is the beginning of the end. The last couple of weeks, we have focused on the providential reunion engineered by God, in this family which had been fractured by distrust and mutual loathing. A family which had been plagued by favoritism on the part of Jacob toward some of his sons and over against other of his sons. A family which had been separated for many years and we marveled in the way that God’s providence worked to bring them back together. But now we see that as a part of the greater purpose of God. God was preparing to create a nation out of this family. However great a family it was, it wasn’t a nation. And God was preparing to make a nation out of the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was preparing to place them in a situation where they would be isolated enough that they could remain religiously pure. And yet, in which they would also experience the discipline of oppression and they would learn the glory of being able to freely serve the God of their fathers, and they would learn the glory of the freedom of the Lord’s day as they are brought out of oppression in the land of Egypt. And so he had so many providential lessons to teach this particular family. As much as Joseph is the main person in this story, it is much more than him. God Himself, in His providence, is the main character throughout the whole story of Joseph. Now we come to a passage in which the family of Jacob settles in the land of Goshen. And we sense the beginning of the end of this part of the history of Israel, as we come to Genesis 47.
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 Pharaoh, 8 Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?”
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 Pharaoh and went out from his presence.
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.
Joseph and the Famine
13 There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine. 14 Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh’s palace. 15 When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is all gone.”
16 “Then bring your livestock,” said Joseph. “I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.
18 When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we perish before your eyes—we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.”
20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, 21 and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.
23 Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground. 24 But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children.”
25 “You have saved our lives,” they said. “May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.”
26 So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt—still in force today—that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh’s.
27 Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.
28 Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven. 29 When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.”
“I will do as you say,” he said.
31 “Swear to me,” he said. Then Joseph swore to him, and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.”
There are five scenes in this chapter. Moses, over and over, presses two themes throughout each of these scenes in the chapter. The first theme is the kindness of God’s providence. Three times in this chapter, Moses through what he describes emphasizes the wisdom, the goodness of the purposes of God towards the family of Jacob, whether from Pharaoh, or from Joseph, or seem to be directly from God. God’s providence is operating for the good of His people and it is emphasized over and over in this chapter. As the theme of providence is a general theme emphasized throughout this story of Joseph, so it is specifically emphasized once again here in Genesis.
The other theme which is emphasized is the faith of Jacob. Jacob, in many ways, is coming here to the pinnacle of his career. In terms of earthly attainments, Jacob could have well been satisfied with the temporal blessings of the land of Egypt and with the favor of the Pharaoh. But we see, in both of his statements in this passage, the divine discontentment of faith. He is not satisfied with the things of this world, and will only be satisfied when the promises of God are brought to bear upon his descendants in accordance with the word of God to Abraham. And he is going to remind Joseph, of that word which God gave to Abraham. Not only in Genesis 12 but especially in Genesis 15 and Genesis 17. And so the ease of Egypt does not loosen Jacob’s grasp upon the promises of God.
So let’s look at these five scenes that Moses reveals to us in the passage. First, in verses 1-6, in verses 1-6, we see this interview between the sons of Jacob and the Pharaoh of Egypt, and we are struck again by the kindness of Pharaoh. This is not what would expect. Here we are told again of the kindness of Pharaoh. But Moses pauses here to remind us of the kindness of Pharaoh. But really behind that kindness which is recorded here in verses 1-6, is something more significant. It is the kindness of God’s providence in the acceptance of Pharaoh, of Jacob’s family.
In verses 1 and 2, Joseph makes an introduction of five of his hand-picked brothers to the Pharaoh. Joseph has already prepared the way. He had not only told them in verses 31-34 of the previous chapter how they ought to approach Pharaoh, he told them in fact, exactly what Pharaoh was going to ask them. The first question, he said, that Pharaoh was going to ask was, what do you do, what are you people? What is your occupation? And he said, now let me tell you something, the Egyptians hate livestock holders. They can’t stand shepherds. So here is what you need to do. First of all, I am going to tell him what you do, before you tell him what you do. I am going to smooth the way. And then you be strictly honest with him. You tell him exactly what you do, and you tell him exactly what you want. And then we will just leave ourselves in his hands for mercy.
In verse 3, the very first question that Pharaoh asked is what is your occupation? And though these livestock keepers are despised in the sight of the Egyptians, Jacob’s brothers’ truthfulness and straightforwardness are honored by Pharaoh.
And we see here, not only the wisdom of Joseph’s council and Joseph’s strategy, but we see here, the evidence of God’s providential kindness to His people. Humanly speaking, we would not have expected a warm reception for Jacob’s family. But humans aren’t in control here. And Pharaoh considered a god by his own people, is not in control here. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is in control here.
God doesn’t always show us that our decisions have been the right decisions by rewarding us immediately providentially. Just because we do the right thing, doesn’t mean that everything will immediately turn outright. There are many times in our lives, where in fact, doing the right thing, provokes the evil one, or provokes the world against us. But in God’s goodness, in this passage, God rewards the faith of Jacob. Think of the tremendous thing that Jacob has done. He has uprooted himself from the land of promise. He has committed himself to dying in a strange land, a pagan land. He will never again see the land of his fathers with his own eyes. And God rewards the faith to obey in Jacob with kindness in His providence. He confirms that His hand is upon Jacob’s family.
And then in verses 5 and 6, Pharaoh responds with a blessing. He welcomes them, the tells them that the land is at their disposal. He settles them in the best of the land and he even says is there anyone in your crowd who would like to be in charge of my livestock?
And then in verses 7-10, we come to a second scene. Here, we see the interview between Jacob himself, and the Pharaoh of Egypt. We had seen five of his representatives, sons as they went in chosen by Joseph to speak with him.
This is a fascinating passage. This old man makes his way into the presence of Pharaoh and he blesses Pharaoh. And Hebrews 11:7 says, without doubt, the lesser is blessed by the greater, speaking of Melchizadek’s blessing of Abraham. But the same principle holds here. Pharaoh is the lesser. He is the ruler of the land. But in God’s providence, his hand is upon Jacob. This is not merely a nicety on Jacob’s part. Jacob is not merely blessing favor in the sense of thanking him for his goodness, though he is certainly doing that. This is a picture of God’s covenant head acting in fulfillment of Genesis chapter 12, verses 2 and 3. For when God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans, he said, you will be a blessing to the nations. And you will bless them. And we see here, not only the superiority of Jacob, he may not be the greatest in the eyes of the world in the presence of Pharaoh. But in God’s economy, he is the head, and we see here the fulfillment of God’s word to Abraham. This was a partial fulfillment of that promise which He had given him all the way back in Genesis 12.
And then in the third scene in the passage, verses 11 and 12, we see Joseph’s provision for his family in accordance with Pharaoh’s gifts. And again, Moses highlights the kindness of God’s providence, both in the favors of Pharaoh and in the favors of Joseph. In accord with Pharaoh’s order, Joseph settles his family in Egypt in the land of Goshen. And verse 12 shows us his continued kindness to them. We don’t see any hint that Joseph’s kindness towards his brothers is anything but genuine. It has been induced by a realization of the providence of God and it does not vary. And later, after his father has died and his brothers are still a little bit shaky about how he is going to treat them when their father is gone, his kindness continues, because he is able to be kind, he is able to magnanimous, because he has come to grips with the sovereignty and the purposes of God in His providence. And thus in this passage, while the rest of Egypt is subjugated to Pharaoh because of the famine, Jacob’s family is able to grow and prosper. They are provided for by Joseph and his kindness. They are provided for by Pharaoh and the gift of the land. But in this passage, primarily, we see the kindness of God’s providence, in the favor of Joseph and Pharaoh, towards the family of Jacob. Again, the theme of God’s providence is emphasized.
And then there is this long passage, in verses 13-26. The fourth section and scene of the passage in which Joseph’s famine policy is set forth. We see something of Joseph’s economic policy. How he expanded the power and the influence and the wealth and the rule of Pharaoh, through the way he managed the famine and the relief policy of the famine. And we also see the enhancement of Pharaoh’s power through this particular policy.
But again, Moses’ main point for sharing this, is not only apparent when you contrast, verse 12 and verse 13, but it is apparent when you look at verse 20. Look at verse 12. Joseph provided his father, and brothers, and all his father’s household with food. Look at verse 13. Now there was no food in all the land. Why is this long-involved tale of Joseph’s economic policy shared? First of all, to let you know just how severe the famine was. It lets us know just how great the danger was for the family of Jacob. It lets us know how severe the famine was even in the land of Egypt. So that we can appreciate just how gracious and necessary was God’s providence in bringing the family of Jacob down into Egypt. But it also sets us up for a contrast. Even as all of Egypt is becoming enslaved, to Pharaoh, the family of Jacob is free through the provision of Pharaoh and the provision of Joseph in God’s good providence.
Verse 20 seems to be the explanatory word of the passage. Look at that: So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his field because the famine was severe upon them. In contrast to that, Joseph’s family, we are going to be told in the very next section was able to buy land, not to sell it, but to buy land and to plant and to live and to have food. This again is a passage that stresses the kindness of God’s providence in sparing Jacob’s family in the great famine. Contrast God’s dealing with the Egyptians and see His special providence towards His people. This will not be the last time in Israel’s sojourn in Egypt where we see God deal one way with the Egyptians and another way with His people. God is kind and good to all, it is true. And he was even kind to the Egyptians through Joseph. And they were thankful for it. Genuinely thankful for it. But his special providence is for his people. This is a living breathing historical illustration of Romans 8:28. God causes all things to work together for those who are called according to His purpose, those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
And then in the fifth section of the passage, we see this covenant between Jacob and his son, Joseph’s covenant with his father, and we see Jacob’s trust in the covenant promises to the very end. Having stressed God’s kind providence three times in this passage. Now for the second time, as Jacob speaks, Moses will emphasize the faith of a Jacob in the face of death. Even as Jacob had shown his faith in the promises of God, even in the presence of Pharaoh, even in the presence of great temporal blessings, now he shows his focus upon the promise of God in the hour of his death. For the second time in this book, this strange ceremony of placing the hand under the thigh is repeated. You remember the first time is Genesis 24:12. As Abraham sends out his servant to gain a wife for his son, it is a modest way of reminding one of the covenants of circumcision. Jacob is saying, Joseph, my son, do not forget what God has sealed to us, in the promise of the Covenant of Circumcision. He has promised us the land. He has promised the land descendants. He has promised to prosper us. He has promised to make us a great nation, and therefore, do not bury me here.
Notice that Israel is not fearful that by being buried in Egypt, he will be separated from his eternal reward. This is not an act of superstition. In fact, look at verse 30, and see how he says it. When I lie down with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place. He doesn’t think by being buried in Egypt he would be separated from his fathers. When he dies, his soul is going to be immediately with his fathers. But he wants the symbolism of his burial in the land of Canaan, in the land of his fathers, to stand as a testimony to his descendants that their hope is not in Egypt. Their hope is in the promise of God, and for them, that means the land of Canaan. One scholar has said that” this dying Israelite seems to be less concerned about the unknown world he is entering than about the future of God’s people indeed.” His great concern is that Joseph and his descendants would be focused upon the promise of God given to his grandfather, Abraham and that they would never ever forget it.
Concluding Remarks and Application
Our job is to set our hope on that city which has foundations, not here, but on that city which has foundations and on the fulfillment of God’s plan for all the saints. Is that the center of our discipleship? Is our hope there rather than here? Is our hope in the fulfillment of God’s plan for all His people? Or are we wrapped up in smaller things? Jacob, here, sets an example for us. For those of us who are pilgrims, wandering in a strange land, our sight must be on the city with foundations, and our hope must be in the promise of God, and nothing else. And if our sights are off, and our hope is off, we are just not pilgrims, and we are just not disciples of the same God who is the God of Jacob. May God enable us to be pilgrims despite all the enticements of the world, set our hope on that place which is to come, and trust in His promises more than all the earthly blessings which we could possibly obtain.
