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So, we left off with YAHAVAH telling Jacob, who had packed up all their things and THEN went and worshipped Him at Beershba where we read
Genesis 46:3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
Genesis 46.3-
September 3rd 2023
As we said last week, it seems that Jacob went to inquire about going but in my estimation he had made up his mind and God knew it and so he calls him by His flesh driven natural first name twice, Jacob, Jacob, instead of Israel.
And this brings us to a point that must be understood when reading the Old Testament – God will always explain the situation and make the fallout known –
Don’t eat of that fruit – in the day you do you will die.
Don’t have a king, in the day you do . . . they will do this and that . . .
Don’t go into Egypt. I have given you a land.
Don’t worship idols, I am your God.
Don’t serve the flesh, it will trap you.
But then with that same mouth He always follows up and helps us set things a-right in the face of our continuing bad decisions.
I maintain that Jacob was doing what the man Jacob wanted and God has again, allowed the mistake of self-will while still speaking the truth – “Don’t worry, I will still make you a great nation.”
And He even adds at verse 4
4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.
All true!
Let’s read and cover, read and cover
5And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
6 And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:
7 His sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.
So, 250 years after YAHAVAH promised Abraham that He would make Abraham a great nation, when Jacob was about 130 years old, Jacob leads the people, the very children of Israel, into the place where they would become this great nation.
And it would all happen under the thumb of Egypt – first its promises of healthy and wealth, then under its pressures by threats and ill treatment.
8 And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.
Just know that several of these names found in verses 9-25 are different in different places – for instance, Jemuel is Nemuel, Jachin for Jarib, Gershon for Gershom.
I’m not gonna even bother. And it is something else to know about the Old Testament. It is so chock full of names, dates and events that to get them all perfect and in order is impossible.
Impossible. So anyone who presents the Old Testament as an infallible narrative where all the inconsistencies can be met has probably used their own wisdom and imagination to link the gaps.
The stories and history ARE revelatory and of benefit, but we are never going to fully connect the dots because we are not Jews, we are not living 3500 years ago, and we don’t even know the language.
Additionally, some of the families listed get more attention than others – which creates further imbalance.
In fact, right here in our study I am going to start “not reading text” – so from verse 9 to twenty-six you can read all the names that are included as going to Egypt with Jacob on your own.
(DON’T READ!)
9 And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.
10 And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
11 And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12 And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zerah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.
13 And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.
14 And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
15 These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.
16 And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.
17 And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and 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 bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.
19 The sons of Rachel Jacob’s wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.
20 And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
21 And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.
22 These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.
23 And the sons of Dan; Hushim.
24 And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.
25 These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob: all the souls were seven.
Okay verse 26
26 All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six;
(With a score being twenty x 3 = 60 plus 6 is 66) And already we have an issue because Stephen prior to being stoned sites 70 not 66. This can be solved by adding in Jacob, Joseph and his two sons who were not added here but the fact of the matter is the old reads 66 and Stephan sites 70.
(Verse 27)
27 And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.
28 And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
It seems that because Judah was the one who made things work with Joseph, He was the one sent to go tell Joseph that their father had arrived in Goshen.
(Verse 29)
29 And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.
This is the second time we read the word, Chariot in the scripture and this seems to support that the Egyptians were advanced and ahead of other nations at that time.
There are some that suggest this chariot was not what we might think however, but instead something more rudimentary.
Don’t know.
30 And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.
31 And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father’s house, “I will go up, and shew Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father’s house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me;
32 And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.
33 And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, “What is your occupation?”
34 That ye shall say, “Thy servants’ trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
By the way, the word is really pronounced, “Geshen and it means a land of grass or pastures and the settlement of Jacob and sons there was purposeful as they were shepherds.
Goshen would also serve to do a number of other things as well. Because it was so far from Pharaoh and the capital of Egypt, the Nation would not cause concern to the Egyptians who distrusted shepherds.
Secondly, they so far removed that they could without interruption still practice their worship without interference from the Egyptians (especially when it came to offering animals for sacrifice that were sacred to them).
By telling Pharaoh that “their trade had been in cattle from their youth” but that they were settling in Goshen, it seems a lot of issues were sort of avoided at the same time.
And where the Egyptian were also shepherds and had animals to take to pasture (so much so that they even asked Josephs family to help them in later verses) they detested what were called Hyksos Kings who were Canaanite bandits that roamed about stealing and plundering.
Before we go on to chapter 47 I want to make one more run through this situation of Jacob taking the Nation into Egypt and another type that is central to the tale as a principle to consider.
To do this I want to high-grade out all the pertinent parts from the text – why? As cold and calculating as it seems I want to use the story to show how emotionalism played into the decision.
See, when it comes to following YAHAVAH, we have a couple major approaches that we operate by –
1 OUR INTELLECT/REASON
2 OUT EMOTION/FEELINGS
Both play a role and both are necessary to the development and continuance of right living and choice and then mercy, forgiveness, and love and this is where things can get really sticky.
See the more feminine traits of our make-ups far outweigh the more masculine bt vital traits of justice, anger, truth and Law.
That is what we are dealing with in our make-up in God’s image – what even our secular world describes as masculine traits and feminine.
They are equally important but there is a hierarchy to them.
Remember that the two great commandments are to love – first God and the second is like unto it – neighbor as ourselves.
When it comes to making decisions on following and trusting God personally, as individuals, I suggest that we appeal more to the masculine traits of LAW, Reason, Anger, and Justice.
What does this look like? We look, respond and follow Him like soldiers obedient to His Will as the commanding officer.
This duty triumphs over feelings. Our feeling are irrelevant when it comes to our love for Him – because to Love Him is to obey Him – repeated time and time again in scripture.
Its not that feelings are unimportant, but sound decision making that leads to the good of self and others RELATIVE to the will of God is always based in what are called “deontological ethics.”
Deontology is the belief that moral duty or obligation is the basis for action. When it comes to the living God, if someone understands who He really is, and who they really are by comparison, there is an automatic deontology that says, “I will do this because this is my duty to Him who is all that I am not. Who has done this for me when I did not deserve it.” Based on this alone, whether I feel like it or not, whether my emotions agree or NOT, I will follow orders.
Emotions will often mitigate factors and say,
“Well, I don’t want to say this or do that because it might hurt me or others.” But looking to Christ we notice that in the face of the will of His Father Yeshua said and did whatever was necessary deontologically and not ever from emotion.
That said, however, there is a balance as God is male and female and the balance, I suggest comes more into play when we are dealing with the second great commandment – that of loving others.
When it comes to loving God, we always put Masculine deontology ahead of emotions and feelings. But when it comes to neighbor, we always put the feminine traits of mercy, patience, meekness and kindness first.
Here we see Old Testament Law and New Testament Grace.
Deontological decision making FOR THE INDIVIDUAL is a straight up no-brainer when it comes to following, relating, honoring God. This shows our faith and love for Him.
But when we turn to the lives of those around us, of others, we are dead to that masculine-driven reason and Law and allow the divine feminine to abide and lead.
We have to love God first deontologically. We then obey His command to love neighbor with emotional expressions of love leading second.
Under Law, the homeless, drunk in our yard deserves imprisonment like a soldier would impose but as grace and truth came through Jesus Christ we show love and mercy and grace.
The balance between the two can be really hard to navigate but navigate we must. It is not all one or the other. God is One Plural. We are made in His image.
Since we are learning how to choose right and to act well, I stand deontologically relative to the first great commandment in all personal decisions and then allowing emotive forces to dull the sharp edges and make room for love of others second.
We get into serious execution problems when we engage with God via our emotions alone and with neighbors deontologically.
This results in one messed up believer who probably creates more damage to the faith than any other approach because with tears and tenderness they speak of God but with ruthlessness treat their neighbor.
The more an individual deontologically follows God and with passionate emotions of the Spirit engages with the world, the more of an example we get of the One Plural God in our lives.
I want to use this story of Jacob coming to Egypt with the Nation to illustrate deontology and emotional factors.
DEONTOLOGICAL DRIVERS
PRESENT TO JACOB
EMOTIONAL DRIVERS
SURROUND THIS STORY
God foretold of bondage to Abraham – this had to be known by his grandson
Fear of death from starvation / Hunger
(Who did I tell you to turn for help?)
God told Isaac not to go to Egypt – this had to be known to his Son.
A land of their own in the land not theirs
(What about the land I promised?)
God reiterated to Abraham, Issac and Jacob the promise that He had given them a land and that He would care for them. He would care for them.
He knew this.
Security through food and seed
(Security through God’s word)
These are the deontological factors as the Law of Moses had yet to be given.
Silver (money)
Wardrobes of clothes (materialism)
Peace and protection of Pharaoh (security)
Long lost son found (tears lots of tears)
Long lost son is now a man of power (pride)
The very name of God and His purposes according to Joseph (which sounds right)
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph.
Guilt (for lost years/allowing son to be sold)
Reconciliation with family
And from all of this all we have to offset it is what God had said to the forefathers and the promises He has made to all three and put them face to face with all the emotional drivers.
God had repeated His promises over and over and over again – to those three alone.
Just like the single deontological expectation Gode made to Adam and Eve
I have made you.
I am God.
I have given you this garden.
Multiply replenish care for it
BUT DO NOT EAT OF THE FRUIT OF THAT TREE FOR in the day you eat of it you will surely die.
Adam and Eve chose their own way over deontology because it appealed to their emotions, their senses, their desires over duty and obligation.
Here, God made promises to both Jacob and His father and grandfather.
But in the face of all of this it wasn’t enough.
Just like the promises of God to us are often not enough for us.
We want the emotions. We want to feel what is right. We want to feel alive living in this world of famine. So we venture out to what offers us life and living now instead of letting Him prove Himself and His promises.
All of this is at the heart of this story and is at the heart of being a true disciple – it is what lies at the heart of every true biblical hero and at the heart of every failure.
Love Him deontologically and without deviation OR do what you feel, trusting in what pleases us and our fears and guilt most.
In almost every case, humans seek the later. That is what Jacob did. And an entire tribe of souls spent 4 years, no, forty years, no! 400 freaking years in subservient bondage because of it.
God used it – that’s the story – He will use it all – but there is a better way.
I don’t want to leave this topic by ignoring the absolute value in rightly applied feminine traits – which I feel Yeshua represented to the world perfectly.
But remember, these are how we treat neighbor having decided to deontologically follow God and His command to LOVE.
Get it?
So, let’s read on and we will describe things as they unfold here in chapter 47.
Genesis 47:1 Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.
2 And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.
There is something sort-of strange in the earlier mss because it is literally translated, “from the end or extremity of his brethren he took five men.”
This could mean any number of things. Some think he took the five youngest, some the five oldest, some think the five meanest looking, others from the most remote relations and finally, because of a terms in Daniel, some think the five best looking. The point is we do not know.
3 And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.
4 They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.
5 And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:
6 The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.
“Men of activity” speaks to men who were robust and able of bearing fatigue, and to make them rulers over the cattle (other animals and things) that Pharaoh owed.
7 And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
The word “blessed” here might speak more to Jacob respecting Pharaoh rather than placing his hands on him and bestowing a blessing as some might believe.
8 And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?
9 And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
Without much rest, and not including his time with Laban, Jacob had been a pilgrim in Canaan, Mesopotamia, and now Egypt.
The word pilgrim comes from the French pelerin and pelegrin, which comes from the corrupted Latin word “peregrinus,” which means “an alien, stranger, or foreigner.” (verse 10)
10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
11 And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, 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.
12 And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.
13 And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.
14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.
Apparently, this means he gathered up all the money in Egypt and Canaan by selling corn or grain and did that until all the money was spent or given to Egypt!
Then Joseph brought the money into the treasury.
15 And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth.
In other words, they came and said, we have no money – its gone – and we are going to starve, so give us food. (verse 16)
16 And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.
In other words, “let’s barter. Bring your cattle instead of cash.”
17 And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.
Obviously, Joseph was no dullard and was able to make great decisions on behalf of Pharaoh and Egypt during this time.
18 When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:
The first report here was when they came to him the sixth year of the famine and now they have come to him the second year which was the last or seventh year of the famine.
They had spent their money.
They had sold their herds.
What was left? (verse 19)
19 Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? (And what do they say?) Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.
Do you know what they are offering to Joseph? Their own liberty. Slavery in exchange for security. Security in exchange for certainty. For something there and present to ward off their worst fears.
This is another factor that tends to underscoring every bad decision relative to God – fear, and doubting that God can or will help.
Our whole LIVES are built on the circumstances we are reading about here. Decisions based on duty and what is right or emotions. Decisions based in faith and fearlessness in Him or doubts and fear in what might be.
Folks, this is the proving ground for human existence and these stories lay out the principles in plain daylight.
So, what does Joseph do when in desperation the people say buy us and buy our land?
20 And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s.
To us this sounds really horrible but historically, many nations people have literally sold off entire families and empires of land when times get this tough over drought or famine.
What is equally disturbing is all of this remains possible for any country that is starving – fire sale – of property, land and even body into slavery. It has happened before and it might very well happen again.
21 And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.
It is believed that Joseph did this to make distribution easier and not for political advantages over the people.
22 Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.
All we can say from this verse is whatever the religion of Egypt was it’s safe to say that it was supported by the state and therefore in all likelihood operated according to their Laws.
What else can we say about that? Perhaps that this was the first example that we have in scripture of either some sort of theocracy existing before the Nation of Israel under the law.
We might be so brave as to suggest that the Nation was inspired to have its priests serve under a similar setting or situation?
Is it possible? Sure. Is this the way God wanted things then and even today? For there to be a theocracy?
I would be so bold to say, “Yes and then a definitive no.” Yes, in the fact that God before the Nation of Israel wanted to be her God and King – but they refused. Does God want to be the God and King of the United States?
I would submit to you yes.
But this is not the same as asking, “Does, God want nations to be governed by a human Soveriegn? In place of Him?
To that I would say a positive “no.” Nothing and no body in place of Him, right? This is the biblical message.
No kings.
No idols.
No countries.
No others.
Him. First and foremost. Period.
And as stated, that is just one order too tall to fill for most.
What then about a nation of priests (theocracy) run by religion?
You mean line
Mid 18th century Mormonism?
Constantine in 400 AD?
The Vatican, Saudi Arabia, Yemen or Afghanistan under sharia law today?
All of them exist and have existed because people of certain faiths have believed that God’s law, interpreted and enforced by Man, can better govern them, their communities and their people better than they can govern themselves.
Is it true? Only when Law is considered better than the freedom and the liberty to choose.
But that is a whole other subject, isn’t it?
Now Joseph’s genius continues (verse 23)
23 Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.
It appears that before Joseph Egypt was a very small monarchy with few parcels of land that were owned by Pharaoh and that the people owned the rest. Sort of like in the hey-day of the British monarchy where the King or Queen had their various estates, and their priests had their own land too, but outside of this the common folk owned the property.
It seems that because Pharaoh (through Joseph) had both bought up the people and all the land that there was now no way to levy taxes to meet public need so Joseph was devised a way in which everyone could benefit.
Pretty ingenious to take the populaces in as purchases, to buy their animals, then buy their land, and then give them seed with the command to plant and then to tax the crop forevermore.
But that is what Joseph did. But he doesn’t stop there either. (verse 24)
We will read what he also did next week, Lord willing.
Questions/Comments/Insights
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