Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

Israel was determined to see his long lost son. But he did not go. Not at first. Instead he travelled with everything he owned and went to Beersheba to offer sacrifices to God. Heading out of the Land of Promise was a big deal. Hr didn’t want to go – not even to see Joseph – if it wasn’t God’s will. It is the same principle that Moses used two centuries (and a bit) later. It is the same principle we should use today. If God isn’t going, we’re not going (Exodus 33:15). If it isn’t Jesus’ thought, we’re not taking it either (Matthew 6:25-26, 33-34). God appeared to him in a dream (the sixth time he had encountered God in a visible way) and told him not to be afraid to go. His descendants WOULD inherit the promise of the land. He had permission to go and enjoy his son. So Israel brought his WHOLE crew and went to Egypt.

Reuben & his four sons. Simeon & his six sons (including one by a Canaanite). Levi & his three sons. Judah & his three surviving sons (two were replacement sons had by Tamar). Issachar & his four sons. Zebulun & his three sons. Gad had seven sons. Asher had four sons and a daughter. Dan had one son. Naphtali had four sons. Benjamin had ten sons. Add to that Israel himself, and Joseph & his two sons already in Egypt; and a total of seventy (70) people who could hold property by the custom of the day ended up in Egypt. Wives and daughters weren’t counted, so there could have been a minimum of another eleven and as many as double just for wives. Add daughters and this could have been a LARGE group of people.

Israel had Judah go ahead of them to Joseph and get directions to Goshen. Shortly they arrived in the area Joseph had selected for them: Goshen. Goshen is also called the Land of Ramses (not the Pharaoh) which was in the Tell el-Dabʿa region (or Avaris). This is a rich delta area and removed from Lahun (about 200km) where the Pharaoh of Joseph’s time made their capital. Tell el-Dab’a is also in the region where Ra’amses (also not the Pharaoh) and Pithom were (the storage cities the Israelite slaves would build a century or so later). The eastern part of Egypt, east of the Nile. The area is called Wadi Tumilat today. It was also called Wadi as-Sadir in ancient times (the Aramaic translation of Wadi as-Sadir is ‘the land of Goshen’ Goshen meaning ‘drawing near’). It was a tributary of the Nile and is still used for grazing today, although it is MUCH drier than it used to be. This whole area was along major trade routes linking Egypt to the sea as well as overland to more than one kingdom. It would make sense that Joseph’s palace and main workplace was closer to Goshen than to Lahun where Pharaoh dwelled because Joseph oversaw all the trade and grain distribution. It was prime real estate in more than one way.

“So he blessed them that day, saying, Through you Israel shall pronounce blessing, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’”” (Genesis 48:20)

Joseph came up to Goshen and for the first time in twenty-two years, he saw his father. The Regent of Egypt, coming in his personal chariot, with his guards. With fanfare and authority. The whole caravan bowed to him. The dreams had been fulfilled. Joseph – always about love and not ceremony – leapt down, ran his Daddy, and they embraced, weeping for joy and releasing decades of pent-up emotions. Israel was content. He could go to God now (but didn’t for seventeen years) because he had seen and recovered his lost son.

Joseph had some orders. He would select five brothers. They and his father would come with Joseph to visit Pharaoh. Joseph instructed them to give their profession as shepherds (the Egyptians looked down on them) and it would guarantee they were set apart from the main populace, and where better than Goshen? When they get to Pharaoh, it goes as Joseph planned. Pharaoh also asks Joseph to appoint brothers as watchers of Pharaoh’s flocks and herds – which would have given them some status and legal protections, at least more than despised foreigners. Israel also interacts with Pharaoh and then blesses him – which shows that spiritually Israel was the greater (Hebrews 7:7) and in the natural, that Pharaoh was a humble man in letting Israel bless him. The real question in all this is how Pharaoh could arbitrarily decide what happened with the land? Enter Joseph and the famine. Pharaoh also re-iterated his (prophetic) promise that all the best of the land of Egypt would be theirs.

Remember back when the people came to Pharaoh saying they were hungry and he pointed them toward Joseph (Genesis 41:55)? Well, this is what happened. First, he sold them grain for money. Then they traded their animals. Then they sold themselves and their land. The only ones exempt were the priests. So Joseph gave them grain to eat and to plant (after the famine). In return, they had to give Pharaoh a fifth (20% blanket tax). They were happy to do it because he had saved the nation. This was a total complete transfer of wealth, but they were alive.

Israel had lived in Egypt for seventeen years. He was a hundred and forty-seven. He called Joseph to himself and made Joseph promise to bury him in Canaan where his forefathers were buried (the cave of Machpelah that Abraham purchased Genesis 23:17). Joseph swore to do it.

Sometime after this Joseph is told that Israel is dying, so he brings his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim (aged twenty to twenty-five) to be blessed by Israel. He blesses them, but gets it crossed. He gives the younger son the birthright blessing. Ephraim’s descendants were more numerous and more dominant than Manasseh’s. Perhaps a choice led by the Lord since a LONG time from now when Judah and Israel split, the Tribe of Manasseh is split in two, greatly reducing their effectiveness. Also in this blessing Israel places these boys in the place of Reuben and Simeon (Genesis 48:5) – more on that tomorrow.

Israel ends here by giving Joseph an extra portion over his brothers. He calls it the portion taken from the Amorites with sword and bow. There is no record of this in scripture. However, that is the area where Shechem lies and they certainly took that place. Scholars are divided on it. Either it refers to that incident or it refers to one that happened, but was not recorded for our benefit.

Summary

Key Players: Joseph, Israel, Pharaoh

Key Themes: Blessing, Promises

Key Verse(s): Genesis 46:1-4, 27-28, 33-34; 47:3-4, 6, 10-11, 25-26, 30-31; 48:5-6, 14-16, 20, 22