Through a season of hardship for Egypt and Canaan, God continues to bless the Israelite people according to His promise.

Transcript:

Thanksgiving is an opportunity for us to take stock of all the ways that God has blessed us. It's an invitation to pick up what we have taken for granted and to see it in its proper light. God's shining goodness toward us. It's also an opportunity to double down on our praise for all the awe inspiring, expectation defying ways that God has blessed us.

Those hardships he turned to occasions for rejoicing. The defeats that give way to victory. We have been following just that kind of storyline here in Genesis. Mankind has sold itself under sin's power for the lies of the devil. But God is trailblazing a path of redemption. God promised to bless the world through Abraham. An aged, childless couple, Abraham and Sarah were promised a child through whom would come forth a nation that would dwell in the promised land of Canaan. Against all odds, years of disappointment, they were given that son through whom that nation would arise. They were given Isaac. Isaac fathered two sons, Esau and Jacob. But God promised blessings for the younger son, Jacob, over the elder brother, Esau. Much drama ensued thereafter, sin and deceitfulness, and Jacob left the land of Canaan for Haran in search of a wife.

But he leaves it with the promise that he would return. And return he did, after many years of trouble, gaining four wives and twelve sons. Though in the land of promise, he experienced great heartache along the way. His beloved Rachel died in the return. His son Joseph was later thought to be killed by wild animals, though he was in fact sold into slavery in Egypt.

But now, Jacob has learned his son is alive. He's learned that he's in fact second in command of Egypt. Jacob could not see God's hand at work before, but he, but it appears clear as day now. Joseph is inviting him and all the family to live in Egypt. But there is a question hanging over all of this. What does it mean for them to leave the promised land of Canaan?

What is the future of Jacob's, of Israel's family? We'll begin to learn what is in store today by considering chapters 46 through 48. And the first several verses of chapter 46 have been read. I'll pick up in verse 5, chapter 46. God has made promises to Jacob. And it says, Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Israel's sons took their father Jacob and their children, sorry, lost my place, and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. So Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt, taking with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan. Jacob brought with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons and his daughters and granddaughters, all his offspring.

So, as was told in the first four verses, that were previously read, as Israel, as Jacob, you will remember that Israel is just a different name for Jacob that was given to Jacob after his encounter with God, meaning one who wrestles with, with God. As he's leaving Canaan, going towards Egypt, he offers sacrifices to God in Beersheba. And God meets him in a vision that night, and he has some things to communicate to him. One, the first thing that he assures him is that he should not be afraid to go to Egypt. And the reason why Jacob should not be afraid to go to Egypt is because some good things are going to happen there.

He's going to be made into a great nation while in the land of Egypt. And moreover, God promises his abiding presence. He's going to go with Jacob and he's going to bring him back to the land. Now that's significant because in ancient times it was very often thought that the gods were kind of geospatially located.

So, and each god almost had, like, their own territory. Territory is no problem for Israel's God, though. He's going with him and his family into Egypt, and he's promising to bring them back to the land. So what God is telling Jacob is, My promise is sure to you. You are to inherit this land. And this is the land of promise, but you're going to spend some time over here in Egypt and become a great nation.

And lastly, on a kind of a more personal touch, he's assured that his son Joseph, his beloved son, will in fact be the one who will close his eyes at his time of death. And so, in response to what God promises him, Jacob picks up all he has and brings it to Egypt. Now, remember Pharaoh had said you didn't have to bring everything, we'll take care of you, but they didn't do that. They brought everything that they had and they didn't leave anyone behind. Which is a telling step of faith because you might imagine that he might be tempted to leave kind of a rear guard behind, so that, okay, the rest of us are going to go to Egypt.

We'll make sure you guys get fed, but I need you to stay here, so that when we come back, our, our claims on the land are secure. Jacob doesn't do that. He leaves it all behind, trusting in God's promise. Moving on into verses eight through, going through, thirty, or twenty seven. We have a record of those that went down to Egypt with Jacob.

And I'm not going to read all the verses, but I'll just kind of summarize for you. In verses sixteen through eighteen we have, or rather, verses eight through 15 rather, sorry. We have the descendants of Leah, that were born by his wife Leah. In verses 16 through 18, through her handmaiden, Zilpah.

Verses 19 through 22, the children born through Jacob's wife, Rachel. And then, in verses 23 through 27, those born through Bilhah. Now, the thing that's interesting about this genealogical record is that it's not intended to be exhaustive. It doesn't include the names of the wives. And it's also interesting because when we look at another genealogy in Numbers 26, for instance, we notice some differences between the two.

For instance, if you were to look at in verses 19 through 22 where it talks about the children born of Rachel, and you look at Benjamin, and it look, and you look at the list of his sons, two of those sons listed there, Naaman and Ard, are listed in Numbers 26 as his grandsons. Now you might think, oh, like this is an error in the Bible.

That's, there's no error in the Bible. There's an error in our understanding of what the priorities are here, and the genealogy that's being given. This is not a census record. What it is, is really more of, it's almost like a charter document, saying this is the heads, these are kind of the leaders of this emerging nation.

so it's picking out some important personages that are being represented as they go down into Egypt. And some of them aren't even alive as they go down to Egypt, but they're included on this list because of their significance, and they're counted as part of that migration. Continuing on in verse 28, it says, Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen.

When they arrived in the region of Goshen, Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time. Israel said to Joseph, now I'm ready to die, since I've seen for myself that you are still alive.

So once again, we see in these verses how Judah is taking a progressively more significant role as kind of a leader within the family. At this point, Joseph's still going to outrank him because he is Jacob's favorite. He's also second in command of Egypt. But it's kind of foreshadowing, once again, the role that Judah is going to play in the nation of Israel.

And it's interesting to see how, you know, Jacob's mention of death. He's like, I'm ready to die now. And now it takes a positive turn. Up to this point, we've seen him just be really brought low because of all the misfortune he's experienced between thinking Joseph is dead, Simeon being imprisoned in Egypt, and he's like, I'm basically ready to die, but in a very negative sense.

But now we see things turn around positively, where he's like, now I can, I can go to my rest, because I know all is well. Continuing on in verse 31, it says then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him, my brothers and my father's household who are living in the land of Canaan have come to me.

The men are shepherds, they tend livestock and they have brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own. When Pharaoh calls you in and asks what is your occupation, you should answer your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on just as our fathers did. Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians. Joseph gives his family some tactical advice here in order to secure their settlement within the land of Goshen apart from the Egyptians. Now you ask, well, why would that be important? It would be important in order to retain their distinctiveness as a people. As the, as, in terms of kind of the big picture, as the people of God, this chosen people.

Otherwise, you could imagine that they might just kind of be absorbed into Egyptian society. Now it's interesting that it says that the, that shepherds are detestable to E...

God's Blessings Abide and Surprise - Pastor Tom Loghry