Episode 317 - Jacob begins his journey to Egypt - Genesis 46:1-27

Gen. 46:1 So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” 3 Then he said, “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. 4 I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.”

Gen. 46:5 Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, 7 his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters. All his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

Gen. 46:8 Now these are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, 9 and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Yob, and Shimron. 14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.

Gen. 46:16 The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. 18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons.

Gen. 46:19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. 20 And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, bore to him. 21 And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22 These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all.

Gen. 46:23 The son of Dan: Hushim. 24 The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 25 These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all.

Gen. 46:26 All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. 27 And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.

This story of God’s sovereign work in moving Jacob and his family to Egypt continues with Jacob’s agreement to go with his sons down to Egypt, where he anticipates being reunited with his long-lost son, Joseph. You may recall that Pharaoh is insisting they come down and reside so they can all be provided for. Pharaoh even instructed them not to worry about bringing their possessions, as they would be provided for (Gen 45:20). I suggested that in Pharaoh’s response, we see a manifestation of God’s promise to Abraham about blessing those who bless Abraham and his family.

So, Jacob and his family set out for Egypt. Verses 8-27 list the names of Joseph’s sons, grandsons, and other family members. I didn’t consider it essential to read all the names. If you’re interested, you can either read them in this blog post or in your translation of the Bible. However, I will discuss its significance to the greater narrative.

The first thing to notice is that Jacob “took all that he had.” It’s unclear why he took his belongings when Pharaoh said that the best of Egypt was at his disposal and he didn’t need to worry about them. Perhaps he didn’t want to leave it behind for the Canaanites to take. Maybe he felt that leaving it behind was disregarding the LORD’s blessing him with it, and took it anyway.

His first stop en route to Egypt was Beersheba. This was the southernmost city in Israel and a place where his grandfather dug a well and resided for a while. He offered sacrifices to “the God of his father Isaac” (Gen 46:1). I suspect that Jacob did this to give thanks to God that Joseph was still alive and seeking his protection on this trip. Whatever the reason, Jacob was a man who’d learned to trust God.

God appeared to him in a dream and clearly identified himself as the God of his father. This expresses that when Jacob acts to worship the God of his father, who had protected him and blessed him, recognized and heard Jacob, and responded to let him know that he was accessible. He told Jacob not to be afraid to go to Egypt. God would take care of him. Then, God told him that He would make Jacob into a great nation in Egypt. This echoes the promise that God had first made to Jacob’s grandfather Abraham, and has passed down through Isaac and now to Jacob. In verse four, God promises to go with him and will bring him up again to the land God had given him. The final part of his revelation was that Joseph would close Jacob’s eyes. This is a promise that his beloved son would be with him until his death.

Genesis 46:5-7 provides a summary of how Jacob took all his goods and his entire family to Egypt. This is then followed by a detailed list of the family members who went with him to Egypt. The strange thing is that Moses even listed the two sons of Judah who had died in Canaan before these events. I don’t think this means that Jacob exhumed their bodies and took them along. I believe the point is to suggest that every single member of Jacob’s family went to Egypt with him, and no one stayed behind. They, as a whole family, were obedient to this leading of the LORD.

The primary thing that becomes evident through this text is that the chosen family, who were descendants of Abraham, end up in a foreign land. (See Gen 15:13-14) This text makes it pointedly clear that the whole group of the covenant family is on its way to Egypt. Why is this important? Because it shows evidence that what God said would happen was really happening. Remember, the primary audience of this story was the descendants of Jacob’s family who went to Egypt. When they return to the promised land 400 years later, they need not wonder if the people in the land are cousins, and they can trust the God who led them there.

Today, we can gain confidence that the God we worship in the Bible is the same God, and we can trust him in all things.