Joseph—The Grand Finale, Part 1

 

In our previous episode, The Testing Finally Pays Off we covered Genesis 43-45 all in one lesson—a lesson that had…

• • Chapter 43 as our More Tests to Come segment;
  • Chapter 44 as our The Final Exam segment; and,
  • Chapter 45 as our The Big Reveal

In it, we watched as Joseph, before revealing himself to his brothers, put them through one test after another in an effort to determine if their character had really changed. On the other hand, it seems that God was using this testing to convict them of their sin and bring them to a place of forgiveness, so that they might be reconciled to one another and be reunited as a family.

In this first part of a two-part episode, we will attempt to cover Genesis 46-50 and bring Biopic #4 to a close.  This will be our Grand Finale episode for more than one reason, because in it…

• • Biopic #4, Dreams, Dungeons, and Destinies, the story of Joseph, a spin-off from the story of Jacob, will come to an end;
  • Biopic #3, As the Screw Turns, the story of Jacob will finally be resolved;
  • Act 1, Scene 2, Israel—the Beloved of God, our introduction to the ancestry and the birth of Israel, will be completed; and,
  • Genesis, the book of beginnings in the Bible, will also be concluded.

 

 

Episode #6 of Biopic #4
Cast:     Narrator     God     Jacob/Israel     Joseph     Pharaoh     Brothers     Egyptians  Messengers

When our last episode ended, Joseph’s brothers had returned home and told Jacob the good news that his son, Joseph, was still alive and was a ruler over Egypt. Although he didn’t believe them at first, when Jacob saw the wagons and supplies that Pharaoh had sent, he knew that they were telling him the truth. So, when this episode opens, we find Jacob leaving Hebron, the place where he has lived for many years, and heading for Egypt. Having some reservations about leaving the land God promised to his ancestors, however, he stops at Beersheba to seek God’s guidance concerning this move.

Narrator:  So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.  Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said…

God:  Jacob, Jacob!

Jacob:  Here I am.

God:  I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there.  I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.

 

 

Narrator:  Then Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the carts which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.  So they took their livestock and their goods, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him.  His sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.

[Now these were the names of the children of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt: Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn.  The sons of Reuben were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.  The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.  The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.  The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.  The sons of Issachar were Tola, Puvah, Job, and Shimron.  The sons of Zebulun were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the persons, his sons and his daughters, were thirty-three.

The sons of Gad were Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. The sons of Asher were Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, Beriah, and Serah, their sister. And the sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel.  These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob: sixteen persons.

The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife, were Joseph and Benjamin.  And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him.  The sons of Benjamin were Belah, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. These were the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: fourteen persons in all.

The son of Dan was Hushim. The sons of Naphtali were Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob: seven persons in all.]

All the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt, who came from his body, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all.  And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy.

Then he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen.  So Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; and he presented himself to him, and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.  And Israel said to Joseph…

Jacob/Israel:  Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive.

 

 

Narrator:  Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household…

Joseph:  I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and those of my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.  And the men are shepherds, for their occupation has been to feed livestock; and they have brought their flocks, their herds, and all that they have.’  So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’  that you shall say, ‘Your servants’ occupation has been with livestock from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.

Narrator:  Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, and said…

Joseph:  My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in the land of Goshen.

Narrator:  And he took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.  Then Pharaoh said to his brothers…

Pharaoh:  What is your occupation?

Brothers:  Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.  We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.

Narrator:  Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying…

Pharaoh:  Your father and your brothers have come to you.  The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.

Narrator:  Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.  Pharaoh said to Jacob…

Pharaoh:  How old are you?

Jacob:  The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.

Narrator:  So Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.  And Joseph situated his father and his brothers, 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.  Then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with bread, according to the number in their families.

*******************************************

Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.  And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.  So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said…

Egyptians:  Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For the money has failed.

Joseph:  Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if the money is gone.

Narrator:  So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year.  When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him…

Egyptians:  We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.  Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may live and not die, that the land may not be desolate.

 

 

Narrator:  Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh’s.  And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end.  Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands.  Then Joseph said to the people…

Joseph:  Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.  And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.

Egyptians:  You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.  

Narrator:  And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh’s.

So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly.  And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years.  When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him…

Jacob/Israel:  Now if I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.

Joseph:  I will do as you have said.

Jacob/Israel:  Swear to me.

Narrator:  And he swore to him. So Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.

****************************************

Our Review

 

The Most Important Points of the Story

Beersheba—about 40 miles to the south of Hebron and the last “exit” before leaving the land of Canaan. It was the place where Jacob had lived with Isaac, Rebekah, and Esau before fleeing to Haran—so it was a place filled with many memories for him. Given his age at the time, he would have known that this would be the last time he would see this place in this life. From here, he was still looking at a journey of over 200 miles to get to Joseph in Egypt.

He offered sacrifices—as much as he longed to see Joseph again, given his grandfather Abraham’s bad experience in Egypt, and the Lord’s command to his father not to go down to Egypt, Jacob must have had serious reservations about proceeding any farther on this journey. So when Jacob paused to seek God’s will in the matter, he was told not to fear—that God would go with him—the very same thing that God told him when he left Canaan and was fleeing to Haran.

Jacob and all his descendants with him—in the list of those traveling with Jacob, it is surprising to see that he had daughters—and not just the one daughter, Dinah, whom we learned about in Jacob—As the Screw Turns: Rape and Revenge.

Also surprising is the mention of the name of Job as one of the sons of Issachar. We can’t know for sure if this was the same man who was the central character in the Biblical book of Job, since no genealogy was given for him in that book. While some believe that Job was a descendant of Esau, others believe him to be a descendant of Abraham through his second wife, Keturah, and the same Job whose sufferings were documented for us in the book by the same name.

He sent Judah before him—although Reuben was actually the firstborn, Judah seemed to be stepping into that role here—perhaps because of his leadership in the previous episode of our story. Given that Judah was the tribe through whom the Messiah would eventually come, it stands to reason that he would begin to move into a position of prominence here.

You shall say—once Jacob and his family arrived in Goshen and were reunited with Joseph, he began preparing his father and brothers for their meeting with Pharaoh. When Pharaoh asked about their occupation, he instructed them to say that they were shepherds or “cattlemen”—one of the seven castes or guilds into which Egyptian society was divided. As one of the lowest castes, its members were not allowed to enter the temples or marry anyone outside of their caste.[1]

Having surveyed the entire land as part of his job, Joseph knew that Goshen would be the best place for them to live…

Not only was Goshen a fertile land, but it was on the eastern edge of Egypt in the direction of the land of Canaan from which the Israelites had come, as well as being a distance away from Pharaoh and his seat of power. The occupation of shepherding was detestable to Egyptians so, in this way, Pharaoh could keep these foreign herders away from him and his glory while still ensuring a steady flow of meat and wool.[2]

In Goshen, not only would Joseph’s family be kept away from Pharaoh and the Egyptians, but the Egyptians and their culture and religion would be kept away from them. In other words, God’s chosen people could be in Egypt but not of Egypt at the same time!

Jacob blessed Pharaoh—after his sons had their interview and were given the land of Goshen as their dwelling place, Jacob himself was presented to Pharaoh. In Egypt, where the men were meticulous in their grooming–removing all body hair as a sign of cleanliness—when Jacob appeared before Pharaoh, he would have had long hair, a long gray beard, skin tanned by the sun and wrinkled by age, and feet and hands calloused from hard work and a lot of hard travels. We can only imagine what a stir that must have caused in the court!

What Jacob did next, however, was sure to have created an even greater sensation. Instead of bowing and showing reverence to Pharaoh—whom the Egyptians believed to be the physical manifestation of their chief god—he blessed him. In Hebrews 7:7, we are told that when it comes to blessing, it is always the greater one who blesses the lesser one. So, in this situation, even though Egypt was the most powerful nation on the earth at the time, the Lord and Ruler over all the universe was being represented by this very old and weary patriarch. In fact, as God’s covenantal representative, Jacob was actually carrying out the divinely appointed assignment that God had given Abraham back in Genesis 12: 2-3, where He promised that…

I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Because Pharaoh had first blessed Joseph and then Joseph’s family by extension, Jacob could pronounce not one but two blessings of the Lord on him and his nation. As we will discover at another time, when a later Pharaoh ceases to be a blessing to God’s people, the curses mentioned in this promise will overtake him and bring destruction upon his nation.

Now there was no bread in all the land—with Jacob and his family settled in the land, our story switches its focus to Joseph’s administration of the famine. Becoming more severe with the passage of time, it wasn’t long before the people ran out of the money they needed to buy grain, so they approached Joseph who then offered to give them grain in exchange for their livestock. (Here we have the first mention of horses in the Bible). When the grain ran out again the next year, they returned and made another deal in which they agreed to sell their lands to Pharaoh and themselves to him as servants. As part of the deal, they were to continue to work the land and then when the harvest came in, they could keep all of it with the exception of a twenty percent tax to be paid to the government. Although some have found fault with Joseph for seemingly taking advantage of the people, we would do well to remember that…

• • • • It was the people’s idea to come to him for help;
      • A twenty percent tax was very fair both then and now, and is a lot less than what most of us pay today; and,
      • The people were extremely grateful to him for saving their lives.

So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt…and they multiplied exceedingly—having been blessed by God, what started out as just a small colony of people in Joseph’s time eventually grew into a great nation, possibly numbering over two million by the time of the Exodus.

I find it interesting that Jacob lived with Joseph in Egypt for seventeen years before his death—the exact number of years that Joseph lived with Jacob in Canaan before he was sold into slavery by his brothers! These two identical sets of years seem to have created something akin to “spiritual bookends” around the story of Joseph, marking off his Biopic as a spin-off of Jacob’s—the one needed to relocate his family from the ever-increasingly wicked Canaan and into Goshen, the place where God would grow them into the nation of Israel, His promised bride.

When the time drew near for him to die—Jacob called Joseph, the son whom he had designated as his “heir apparent,” in order to make arrangements for his burial. Instructing him not to bury him in Egypt but in the “family plot” back in Canaan instead, Jacob made Joseph swear to do this by putting his “hand under his thigh.” This was actually a nice way of saying that Jacob had him place his hand in the area of his genitals—an act signifying the importance of this promise. Back in Genesis 24, Abraham made his servant swear in the same way when he sent him off on mission to find a bride for his son, Isaac.

*************************************************

In Summary

As usual, let’s bring this episode to a close by looking for…

…any life lessons that can be taken away from it.
…any contributions it may make to the one big story of the Bible.
…any revelations of God that it may have to share with us.

Life Lessons—

Probably the most important lesson that we can take away from this episode is the need for us to always consult God before making any decisions, especially life-altering ones. No matter how good or “right” something may seem, we need to do what Jacob did in this episode—seek the will of God first before launching out on our own. Like Jacob, many of us have spent far too many years going our own ways and trying to fight our battles on our own, only to end up in one disastrous situation after another. Here, Jacob seems to have matured in his faith to the point where he was ready at last to rely on God rather than on his own tricks or clever maneuvers. Hopefully, we will all reach the same place sooner rather than later, and when we do, we’ll be sure to find God there waiting for us, with all the peace, protection, and provision we will need for the journeys ahead.

Contributions to the Big Story—

As we learned in our earlier episodes, the goal of God’s One Big Story of the Bible was to provide God with a Family to love. But before there could be such a family, God would “need” a “Wife” through whom this Family could come. Toward that end, God entered into a marriage covenant with Abraham in which He betrothed Himself to the nation that would eventually come through Abraham’s descendants—the nation of Israel. At this point in the story, however, Israel isn’t even a nation yet. Although her foundations have been laid by the relatively recent births of the Jacob’s twelve sons, the seventy people that currently make up his family do not a nation make. So, to give Jacob’s family the time and space needed to grow to maturity, God moved them out of Canaan and into Goshen.

Revelations of God—

When Jacob left home for Haran, God appeared to him in a dream at Bethel and made him the following promise…

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you. (Genesis 28:15)

Then in this episode, as Jacob set out on the final leg of his earthly journey, God appeared to him again, making the same promise…

I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes. (Genesis 46:3-4)

Even though years had gone by without any noticeable presence or activity of God in his life, Jacob was reminded that God had been there all the time—in the good, the bad, and even the ugly. In everything, God remained ever-present and ever faithful! So, even…

If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:13)

For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

Well, that brings this episode to a close but be sure to join us next time, when the stories of Joseph and Jacob will be brought to a conclusion in Joseph: The Grand Finale—Part 2!

 

[1] Phillips, John. 1980. Exploring Genesis. Loizeau Brothers, p. 348.
[2] What is the biblical significance of the land of Goshen? – Compelling Truth

Featured image, “Joseph Overseer of the Pharoah’s Granaries,” by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, courtesy of Wikimedia commons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joseph_Overseer_of_the_Pharaohs_Granaries.jpg
Other original images courtesy of Free Bible Images at FreeBibleimages :: Home.