Genesis 46:3

In Genesis chapter 46 Jacob started his journey to Egypt, and during the journey God spoke to him. Jacob needed God to speak to him, especially at a time of such great change. Canaan was the promised-land, and Jacob was going to leave that land. Was God going to be with him? Was God going to help him? Was God going to be displeased with him? Great promises had been made to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob about the land of Canaan. What about those promises now? God said to Jacob in Genesis 46:3-4, “And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.”

The promise was affirmed. They would be in Egypt for four hundred years, but that was not going to disannul the promises of God. God always keeps His promises no matter what man does, and no matter what happens on this earth. That is why it is so important to know the promises of God, and to keep them near and dear to your heart. You might travel to the other side of the earth and terrible things might happen; but God will keep His promises. In the day in which we live it is especially important to remember the promises that Jesus made. For example, Jesus said in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Jesus also said in John 14:2-3, “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

God promised Jacob that even in Egypt God would continue to fulfill His promise to the children of Abraham. God said to Jacob in Genesis 46:2, “Fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation.” Jacob and his family went into Egypt as a family of twelve sons with their children. Genesis 46:26 tells us that there were a total of sixty-six people in the family when they entered into Egypt. Four hundred years later they came out of Egypt as a nation of perhaps a million people. God always keeps His promises.

The Bible says in Genesis 46:5-7, “And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him: His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.” In Genesis 46:8-25 the genealogies of the sons of Jacob are listed. The sons of Jacob were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issashar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph (whose sons were Manasseh and Ephraim), and Benjamin.

We are told in Genesis 46:26-34, “All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six; And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten. And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive. And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father's house, I will go up, and shew Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me; And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have. And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation? That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.”

Joseph made sure that his family members would be given a place to live that was separate from the Egyptians. Joseph chose the land of Goshen. Joseph said, “that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.” The children of Israel came into the country of Egypt, but they stayed separated from the Egyptians as much as possible. Joseph had lived in Egypt for many years. Undoubtedly he had seen first hand the degree to which the Egyptian culture departed from the true way of purity and faith in the Living God. It is always important that believers maintain the right kind of separation from the people of the world. The New Testament says in Second Corinthians 6:14-18, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” Believers should be in the world, but not of the world. Believers should love unbelievers, but avoid following any ungodly ideas or activities that people of the world might engage in. The Bible says in First John 2:15-17, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

In Genesis chapter forty-seven we are reminded of how much God blessed everything that Joseph did. God always blesses those who trust in Him, and makes their efforts fruitful. Jesus said in John 15:7-8, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” Jesus also said in John 15:16, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” Joseph knew that his father Jacob and the rest of the family of Israel needed to live in the land of Goshen in order to be prosperous and to live separated from the Egyptians. Evidently God put this very thing on Pharaoh’s heart because the Bible says in Genesis 47:1-6, “Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen. And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers. They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee: The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.”

The Bible says in Genesis 47:7-12, “And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh. And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to their families.”

Even though Jacob lived to be a very old man by today’s standards; the statement that he made in Genesis 47:9 shows a lot of insight. Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” Jacob had already lived to be 130, and he would live another 17 years in the country of Egypt, but he called his years on this earth “few.” The truth is that we all live a very short life compared to eternity. The Bible says in James 4:14, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” We live on this earth for such a short time compared to eternity. Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Jacob was well aware of the fact that he had not lived as long as his “fathers.” Abraham, Jacob’s grandfather, lived to be 175 years old. And Isaac, Jacob’s father, lived to be 180 years old. Perhaps because of his shorter lifespan Jacob was also thinking of his own sinfulness and the results of those sins. Death is definitely a result of sin. All death can be traced to Adam and Eve and the consequences of their sin in the Garden of Eden. Many people have had their lives cut short because of sin. It says in First John 5:16-17, “…There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.” It also says in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Twice Jacob called his life on this earth a “pilgrimage.” He was well aware that his life was temporary. If more people thought about the fact that life is short and temporary, maybe they would realize their need to get their hearts right with the Lord Jesus Christ before they appear lost in their sins before Him to be judged.

Jacob said that the years of his life had been “evil.” He knew that his life was short, and he knew that he had been a sinful man. It says in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Of course, there is a wonderful answer to the sin problem: forgiveness that can be received from the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Romans 3:23-27, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.”

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