Jacob Enters Egypt
Jacob’s Move to Egypt (1-7)
The last chapters of Genesis move their attention back to Jacob and the final 17 years of his life. The plot takes up with Jacob beginning his move to Egypt from Hebron at Joseph’s urging (37:14). As Jacob made his journey to Egypt, he stopped at Beersheba, just on the border of Canaan. At Beersheba one can feel Jacob’s hesitation, maybe even thinking about telling his sons this was as far as he was going. Leaving Canaan, the land of promise, was a huge spiritual obstacle to cross for Jacob at that point in his life.
There his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham had made their home (22:19); it was the place where Isaac had offered sacrifices (26:25) and dug wells and where Jacob offered sacrifices to Yahweh (1).
In Beersheba, just before Jacob crossed over the boundary of Canaan, he was holding within his heart some doubt concerning the future of the covenant in relationship with the family’s move to Egypt. For the last recorded time, Yahweh appeared to Jacob in a night vision to calm his fears, reminding him:
Yahweh would be with him to take him to Egypt.
He would be with him to bring the family back up from Egypt.
Joseph would bury Jacob.
He would make Jacob into a great nation (2-4).
After the vision, Jacob set out from Beersheba with confidence, leading his whole family out of Canaan in the wagon supplied by Pharaoh, bringing with them all the family prosperity they had gained in the land (5-7).
The Family of Jacob (8-27)
Here are some notes regarding the list of Jacob’s family.
In Genesis 42:37 it suggests Reuben had only two sons, whom he offered up to Jacob at the beginning of the famine story. The list of names in chapter 46 gives Reuben four sons. Reuben either offered Jacob only two of his sons, or the other two were born in Egypt. Second, Benjamin’s ten sons are listed but were all likely Egypt-born. Finally, to get to the number of 70 who came to Egypt, Joseph’s two sons, born in Egypt, had to be counted, along with Jacob's daughter, Dinah, and the above-mentioned Egypt-born sons of Reuben (8-27).
Jacob Arrives in Egypt (28-34)
Judah went on ahead to alert Joseph to the family’s arrival and then to return and direct them toward the land of Goshen (28). Once Jacob arrived, Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet his family. The reunion with his father is the author’s focus in this passage.
The two men wept a good while, and at the conclusion of their reunion, Jacob announced he could die a fulfilled man, knowing his son Joseph was alive (29-30).
Goshen had only been given to Jacob and his family as a place to enter Egypt, not as a place to personally settle in.
Joseph counseled his brothers on how to secure the territory as a place for their family to thrive and grow with Pharaoh’s blessing. Joseph told them he was going to Pharaoh to announce the arrival of his family, but when they met with Pharaoh, they were to tell the king their trade and industry was livestock. Joseph warned his brothers that all who tended sheep were despised by Egyptians, as cows were far more indicative of prosperity and power and the profession more prestigious (31-34).
Joseph’s intention was to provide Goshen, a place separated from Egyptian life, to keep his brothers detached from Egypt, and especially to inhibit them from being controlled and corrupted by Egyptian culture. Joseph was encouraging his brothers to use deceit to deal with an empire he had become very familiar with.
I Wait for Yahweh
Psalm 39 is a “Lament Psalm” and is similar in mood to Psalm 38. In 38, David is actually sick; in 39, he is sick from what seems to be the curses of the wicked. It is reminiscent of the time when he was leaving Jerusalem and Shimei came out and began to curse David, and David had to hold his tongue, no matter what he was feeling internally (2 Samuel 16).
Psalm 39 is organized into four different segments:
Waiting to speak (1-3)
Waiting to act (4-6)
Waiting in hope (7-11)
Waiting as a guest (12-13)
Observation: David holds his mouth when cursed (1-3), but then asks the Lord to help him act in the present by showing him his outcome (4-6). He asks why he should wait but then reminds himself that his hope is in Yahweh. So he asks God to remove the discipline he is experiencing as a result of his sin (7-11). David ends by requesting the hospitality of being a guest in Yahweh's house (12-13).
Purpose: To teach us how to pray when our sin has led others to slander and curse us.