Genesis 46:1-34

May 7, 2017

Lord’s Day Worship

Sean Higgins

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The sermon starts at 18:30 in the audio file.

Or, The Start of Israel’s Sojourn in Egypt

Genesis 46 is about Israel, the man and the nation. From the start of Genesis 37 we’ve mostly been following the story of Joseph, but even though Genesis 46 wouldn’t happen without Joseph, Joseph is not the main character.

Israel, the name God gave to Jacob, has been around for more than half of the book of Genesis. He is one of the patriarchs, the father of the twelve Tribes of Israel, one who had been away from the Promised Land with his uncle Laban, then made it back into the Promised Land without too much hassle from his brother Esau. Now he is leaving the Promised Land, never to see it again. But his descendants, some of whom we meet in this chapter, will make it back to Canaan. This is just the start of Israel’s—as a nation—long sojourn in Egypt.

It could be argued that Genesis 46:1 through Genesis 47:12 should be taken as one section. The first twelve verses of chapter 47 do connect with Joseph’s instructions at the end of chapter 46, but we’ll stick with the chapter divisions for sake of covering a more equal amount of verses.

I said Joseph is not the main character here but he is the main motivation. Israel moved because of Joseph’s position. Israel moved because Joseph was still alive and because Joseph graciously forgave his brothers and invited the whole family to Egypt where he could take care of them. God tells Israel, “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation” (verse 5). Yet this is only possible because God sent Joseph before them to preserve life (Genesis 45:5). Joseph recognized and told his brothers, “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors” (Genesis 45:7). It was this perspective, born out of humble submission to the sovereign God, that caused Joseph to receive his brothers even after their hatred of him so many years ago.

Chapter 44 showed repentance. Chapter 45 showed reconciliation. Chapter 46 shows not just Israel’s relocation, but God’s grace in starting to make this small, sinful family into a great nation. We’ll see Israel’s journey as part of God’s plan to make a great nation (verses 1-7), Israel’s descendants when he came into Egypt from which the great nation came (verses 8-27), and Israel’s reunion with his son Joseph (verses 28-34).

Israel’s Journey (verses 1-7)

It took Jacob 20 years to get back to Canaan. After he had deceived his father and brother he left for Paddan-aram. He worked for 14 years to get two wives, with two more he didn’t bargain for, and then another 6 years for a flock of his own. He narrowly escaped Laban and Esau, surviving stupid sons (think Levi and Simeon after Dinah, as well as Judah and Tamar, etc.) and the loss of a son (or so he thought). Canaan was his inheritance, a hard fought for land he’d lived in for now for almost three decades. And he moves out. So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, the southern-most location before heading into the barren stretch of land on the way to Egypt.

Before leaving Canaan entirely he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. He stops to worship. He’s thankful, and expresses his faith in the LORD. He doesn’t worship after the LORD appears, the LORD appears after he worships. And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here am I.” We’ve seen this pattern before, though God hasn’t spoken since chapter 35 to Jacob when he entered back into Canaan and won’t again until in the burning bush to Moses (Exodus 3).

”I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close y[...]