February 5, 2024 • 33 mins
Genesis 47 covers the pending death of Jacob, as well as Joseph's ongoing administration of the famine in Egypt
Discover the strategic genius of Joseph as he maneuvers his family's settlement in Goshen, a tale that not only reveals the savvy behind ancient biblical survival but also touches on the importance of kindness toward strangers—a theme that resonates today. As your guide, Randy Duncan, I'll lead you through the complex dynamics of Joseph's interactions with Pharaoh, their occupation as shepherds, and the profound impact of Jacob's encounter with Egypt's ruler. This narrative is more than a historical account; it's a lesson in emotional intelligence and strategic planning, set against the backdrop of a nation's transformation during a time of crisis.
Witness the brilliant administration of Joseph as he steers Egypt through a severe famine, reshaping the nation's social structure and economy. The irony of history's fleeting memory is laid bare as we explore how Joseph's contributions are later forgotten by a future Pharaoh, setting the stage for Moses and the ten plagues. Your listening experience will be enriched with insights into the power of oath-taking, the significance of Jacob's burial request, and the lasting influence of blessings and curses on the destiny of nations. Through this exploration, we'll appreciate the enduring relevance of these ancient narratives.
Concluding our journey, we'll contrast the temporal power of the Egyptian pharaohs with the spiritual legacy left by Jacob and Joseph. Our reflections will pivot to the eternal sustenance offered by Jesus Christ, drawing a parallel to Joseph's provision during famine. This episode offers a tapestry of legacies, from the ephemeral glory of the pharaohs to the transcendent spiritual fulfillment found in the biblical stories that have shaped our moral landscape. Join me as we traverse these rich historical and spiritual terrains, examining the imperishable impact of faith and the true nourishment that sustains us through the ages.
Intro music by Toby Mac
Outro music by Lathan Warlick
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Well, thank you once again for checking out this
Bible study podcast.
I'm Randy Duncan and we'remaking our way through the book
of Genesis.
In the last episode we coveredchapter 46, which saw Jacob, now
called Israel, embark on ajourney to Egypt, marking the
end of the patriarchal era and,despite initial concerns, a
divine vision reassures him,emphasizing God's promise of
(00:33):
nationhood.
And we discussed Jacob's veryemotional reunion with Joseph
and then Joseph's strategicplans as they began to unfold
for settling in Egypt.
And then we concluded bymentioning some parallels and
resurrection themes, as bothAbraham and Jacob figuratively
received their sons back fromthe dead, which brings us now to
(00:54):
chapter 47, which picks up theaction with the first six verses
reading so Joseph went in andtold Pharaoh my father and my
brothers, with their flocks andherds and all they possess, have
come from the land of Canaan.
They are now in the land ofGoshen.
And from among his brothers, hetook five men and presented
them to Pharaoh.
(01:14):
Pharaoh said to his brotherswhat is your occupation?
And they said to Pharaoh yourservants are shepherds as our
fathers were.
And they said to Pharaoh wehave come to sojourn in the land
, for there is no pastor foryour servants, flocks, for the
famine is severe in the land ofCanaan.
And now, please let yourservants dwell in the land of
(01:35):
Goshen.
Then Pharaoh said to Josephyour father and your brothers
have come to you.
The land of Egypt is before you.
Settle your father and yourbrothers in the best of the land
, let them settle in the land ofGoshen and if you know any able
men among them, put them incharge of my livestock.
So Jacob and his family are nowin Egypt and Joseph wants to
(01:57):
present them before Pharaoh andhe wants to take every
precaution to make sure thatPharaoh assigns his family the
area of Goshen to settle in.
In the last episode we discussedthe reasons why he wants them
in the area of Goshen, andremember he's even rehearsed
this scene with his brothers,telling them what to say and how
to respond to Pharaoh'squestions.
(02:18):
And so Joseph tells Pharaohthat his family is now in Egypt,
having moved from Canaan,because he needs to personally
inform Pharaoh that they'vearrived, because Pharaoh is the
one who had originally extendedthe invitation to them.
And so he tells Pharaoh myfather and my brothers, with
their flocks and herds and allthey possess, have come from the
(02:39):
land of Canaan.
They are now in the land ofGoshen.
Now, one of the reasons Josephmay have included the detail
that his family have moved withall of their flocks and herds is
to emphasize once again thathis family are shepherds and so
they don't have any social, theydon't have any political
ambitions.
And then also to get themassigned to live in the area of
(03:01):
Goshen, where they would beshielded from the alien way of
life, insulated somewhat fromthe Egyptian secular way of life
and intermarriage and so forth.
And so by telling Pharaoh thatthey're currently in Goshen,
joseph sort of plans to see thatthis would be a good place for
them.
And it says that Joseph selectedfive of his brothers and
(03:22):
presented them to Pharaoh.
The Hebrew construction usedhere implies that he just chose
five at random, but it's alsopossible that five is just used
here as a round number, meaningseveral.
But either way, just as Josephtold them ahead of time, pharaoh
questions them, asking themwhat is your occupation?
And just as Joseph hadrehearsed with them, they told
(03:46):
him the truth that they wereshepherds, just like their
fathers were, even though Josephhad told them that shepherds
were an abomination to theEgyptians.
And the brothers continuetelling Pharaoh that they have
come to sojourn in the landbecause there's no pasture for
their flocks and canons due tothe famine.
Now, one thing to note here istheir use of the word sojourn,
(04:08):
to live here awhile the Hebrewterm is glossed as will be
strangers.
In other words, jacob onlyintended to stay in Egypt
temporarily, but the way thatHebrew is constructed here, it
connects this migration down toEgypt with God's prophecy to
Abraham, where God told him knowwell that your offspring shall
(04:30):
be strangers in a land that isnot theirs.
And so the brothers hereidentified themselves as
resident strangers, or, what wemight say today, resident aliens
.
They're residents, but they'renot citizens of Egypt.
And it's interesting to seethat in the book of Exodus,
leviticus and Deuteronomy, youread repeated ethical
(04:52):
instructions regarding thetreatment of strangers, such as
you shall not wrong a strangeror oppress him, for you are
strangers in the land of Egypt.
And you shall not oppress astranger, for you know the
feelings of the stranger, havingyourselves been strangers in
the land of Egypt.
And so we see that even afterthe Exodus from Egypt, this
(05:13):
being a stranger, it left a deepimprint on their consciousness
and God would not allow them toforget it.
But notice that Pharaoh doesn'trespond directly to the brothers
but to Joseph.
Now, this may be simply becausePharaoh is welcoming Joseph's
family, based on hisappreciation for all that Joseph
has done for him in his country.
(05:34):
But it could also be that thebrothers would need an
interpreter anyway, since theywouldn't have understood his
words.
However, the way his responseis constructed suggests that
Pharaoh responded with a certainsuperiority or an aloofness, as
he uses very few words, onlythe amount necessary,
(05:54):
emphasizing the absoluteauthority of Pharaoh here.
But Pharaoh tells Joseph thatall of the land of Egypt is
before them.
Bring them and settle them inthe best of the land, have them
settle in Goshen.
And so Pharaoh is true to hisearlier word to Joseph, and
Joseph gets what he wants forhis family.
Pharaoh also tells Joseph thatif he has any capable men, men
(06:18):
of ability, to place them incharge of his livestock, now,
the Hebrew here literally meansofficers of cattle, which means
superintendents of the royalcattle.
Now, this position is mentionedoften in Egyptian inscriptions,
since the king owned fast herdsof cattle.
Ramsay III, for example, issaid to have employed over 3,200
(06:40):
men, most of them foreigners,to take care of his herds.
And so this appointment of someof Joseph's own brothers to
supervise Pharaoh's herds meansthat they are to be officers of
the crown, and so we'll enjoylegal protection not usually
afforded to aliens, and so,within their own trade, the
(07:01):
brothers can advance themselvesin Pharaoh's administration.
But verses seven through 10continue.
Then Joseph brought in Jacob,his father, and stood him before
Pharaoh, and Jacob blessedPharaoh.
And Pharaoh said to Jacob howmany are the days of the years
of your life?
And Jacob said to Pharaoh thedays of the years of my
sojourning, or 130 years.
(07:22):
Few and difficult have been thedays of the years of my life,
and they have not attained tothe days of the years of the
life of my fathers in the daysof their sojourning.
And Jacob blessed Pharaoh andwent out from the presence of
Pharaoh.
So after Joseph presented fiveof his brothers to Pharaoh, he
then brings in his father, jacob, and presents him to Pharaoh.
(07:44):
Now, he probably didn't bring inJacob at the same time as his
brothers, because he felt likeit would be undignified for
Jacob, the aged patriarch of thefamily, to appear to be asking
for mercy from Pharaoh and to doso in front of his children,
because he is now completelydependent upon Pharaoh's
goodwill.
And so what we see here is thejuxtaposition of two worlds and
(08:08):
two completely different ways oflife, meeting and coming face
to face Jacob, who holds thepromise from God to become a
great nation, standing beforethe Lord of Egypt, which is
already a great nation.
But Pharaoh asked Jacob howmany are the days of the years
of your life?
In other words, how old are you?
(08:29):
And Jacob's response here isinteresting.
We know Jacob is 130 years oldat this time, and so he could
have simply said I'm 130 yearsold.
But that's not all he says.
He says I'm 130 years old, buthe also says few and evil have
been the days of the years of mylife, and they have not
attained to the days of theyears of the life of my fathers
(08:52):
in the days of their soldiering.
So a couple of points here.
First, the Egyptians had apreoccupation with death.
The Pharaohs were believed tobe eternal and they sought to
have their bodies immortalized,and so Jacob's age must have
impressed Pharaoh.
But Jacob also adds a couple ofcomments.
He tells Pharaoh that his yearshave been few and difficult.
(09:14):
Now, when he says that hisyears have been few, he is
saying that in comparison to howlong his father's, abraham and
Isaac lived, who lived to be 175and 180 years old.
And then, with great humilityand honesty, he also says that
his years have been difficult,and by this he's alluding to his
(09:35):
very turbulent and troublesomelife.
And, as we've seen, jacob hashad a tough go of it for much of
his life.
And it started in his mother'swomb wrestling with his twin
brother, esau, then tricking hisbrother out of his father's
blessing, fleeing his home for20 years because his brother
wanted to kill him.
Then he gets tricked by hisuncle, laban, and ends up having
(09:57):
to work for him for 20 yearsand finally, on his way back
home, he wrestles with God,receiving a permanent injury.
His wife, rebecca, dies inchildbirth and just went.
All seem to finally be settlingdown for him.
His favorite son, joseph, istaken from him, and he spends
the next 22 years grieving theson he believed was dead.
(10:20):
And think about this.
Jacob has actually achievedeverything that he sought to
accomplish.
He got the family birthright,he received the blessing from
his father, isaac, he marriedthe woman that he was in love
with, he was wealthy, he hadmany children and grandchildren,
but even though he goteverything that he wanted, he
(10:41):
didn't get it in the way that hewanted.
It came at a cost and theconsequences were many times far
more pain than happiness.
Now, of course, jacob doesn'tgo into any specifics with
Pharaoh here.
He simply says that the yearsof my life have been difficult.
But it also says that before heleft Pharaoh's presence, jacob
(11:04):
blessed Pharaoh.
Just an observation, but noticethat although Jacob doesn't
exalt himself above Pharaoh, healso doesn't refer to himself as
Pharaoh's servant, like thebrothers did three different
times.
In fact, it would normally bethe case that the superior would
bless the lesser, but in thiscase it's actually Jacob who
(11:27):
blesses Pharaoh.
Now there are some commentatorswho have pointed out that this
quote blessing could also betranslated that he simply bade
farewell to Pharaoh.
But either way, with this Jacobends the interview and we
continue with verses 11 and 12.
Then Joseph settled his fatherand his brothers and gave them a
(11:47):
possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in
the land of Ramses, as Pharaohhad commanded, and Joseph
provided his father, hisbrothers and all his father's
household with food according tothe number of their dependents.
So these two verses sort ofserve as a transition to what
we'll see next, which isJoseph's administration of the
(12:08):
ongoing famine.
But it tells us that Josephsettled his family in the land
of Ramses, which is simplyanother name for Goshen.
Notice also that it says hegave them a possession in the
land.
He gave them property, and thisrefers to a possession received
from someone who has theauthority to give it.
This is actually more than theyasked for and it certainly
(12:31):
differentiates the family fromwhat the Egyptians are about to
experience Now.
In the Hebrew it says thatJoseph supplied them with food,
down to the little ones.
Now, this term, lefi hataf,normally means by the mouth of
or according to the children,and it's similar to what we
would nowadays refer to asaccording to the number of
(12:52):
dependents.
But we now shift gears and thefocus returns to the issue at
hand, which is the ongoingfamine, and the next several
verses describe Joseph'sadministration of the food
supply in the midst of thisfamine, and so we continue with
verses 13 through 17, which readNow there was no food in all
the land, for the famine wasvery severe, so that the land of
(13:15):
Egypt and the land of Canaanlanguished by reason of the
famine, and Joseph gathered upall the money that was found in
the land of Egypt and in theland of Canaan in exchange for
the grain that they bought.
And Joseph brought the moneyinto Pharaoh's house.
And when the money was allspent in the land of Egypt and
in the land of Canaan, all theEgyptians came to Joseph and
(13:36):
said Give us food.
Why should we die before youreyes?
For our money is gone?
And Joseph answered Give yourlivestock and I will give you
food in exchange for yourlivestock if your money is gone.
So they brought their livestockto Joseph and Joseph gave them
food in exchange for the horses,the flocks, the herds and the
donkeys.
He supplied them with food inexchange for all their livestock
(13:59):
that year.
Now, what we're going to seewith these verses and with the
verses that follow is that theseverity of the famine is so bad
that the people becomecompletely dependent upon the
state for their survival.
And we see Joseph rising to theoccasion, avoiding a
humanitarian disaster through aseries of drastic measures that,
(14:21):
in effect, nationalizes boththe land and the livestock,
which in the end turns thepeople into tenant farmers of
the state.
Notice also, as we go throughthis section, the great benefit
that Joseph brings to theEgyptian crown, which only
amplifies the level ofingratitude that will be
demonstrated by later Pharaohand Exodus, who did not know
(14:43):
Joseph.
This is the Pharaoh that willmeet a man named Moses prior to
the exodus from Egypt and whowill experience the ten plagues.
But it says that there was nofood in all the land, for the
famine was very severe, so thatthe land of Egypt and the land
of Canaan languished by reasonof the famine.
Now, that word languished inHebrew means to be weary or
(15:05):
helpless, but pay attention thatnot only was the famine severe
in Egypt, but also in the landof Canaan, which was Jacob's
home, and so it reminds us ofwhat Jacob Israel's fate would
have been if not for Joseph.
If they had not migrated towhere the sun was, they would
have perished, and so itpresents a picture of the sun,
(15:28):
figuratively dead, but now alive, and not only living, but now
ruler overall, and just likeIsrael.
What would our fate be if notfor the sun?
First, 14, then, tells us that,and Joseph gathered up all the
money that was found in the landof Egypt and in the land of
Canaan in exchange for the grainthat they bought.
(15:49):
Now, this grain is referring tothresh grain, or corn or cereal
that's used for food, it's notseed.
And so Joseph began selling thepeople the grain that he had
saved during the years of Pliny.
He brings all of the money intoPharaoh's palace and notice
that he doesn't take anythingfor himself.
But at some point the money wasall spent and the Egyptians
(16:12):
came to Joseph and said give usfood.
Why should we die before oureyes?
For our money is gone.
So the Egyptians are now at apoint where they still need food
, they still need grain, but nowthey're out of money.
And when you're out of money,how then are you going to
purchase more?
Well, joseph answers them bysaying give your livestock and I
(16:34):
will give you food in exchangefor your livestock if your money
is gone.
So, in short, joseph says he'llprovide them with food in
exchange for their livestock.
Incidentally, this is the firsttime in the Bible where horses
are mentioned, and horses beingthe first animal mentioned in
this list is indicative of theirhigh value, and it says that
(16:54):
they did this and that Josephsupplied them through that year.
Now, that Hebrew word forsupplied means to escort through
distress into safety, and soit's conveying a bit more than
the fact that Joseph providedthem with food, but that he
saved them from the danger ofstarvation and safely escorted
them throughout the year.
(17:15):
But we continue with verses 18and 19.
And when that year was ended,they came to him the following
year and said to him we will nothide from my Lord that our
money is all spent.
The herds of livestock are myLord's.
There is nothing left in thesight of my Lord but our bodies
and our land.
Why should we die before youreyes, both we and our land?
(17:35):
Buy us and our land for food,and we, with our land, will be
servants to Pharaoh and give usseed that we may live and not
die and that the land may not bedesolate.
So after that year had ended, itsays that the people came to
Joseph and told him that theirmoney was all gone and now their
livestock has been used up aswell.
In other words, they're notonly broke but they have no more
(17:58):
livestock either, as they'vetraded it for grain over the
course of the last year.
And they tell Joseph that allthey have left is their land and
their bodies and the Hebrewterm used for bodies here often
means corpse, and so itcharacterizes a person in
weakness or oppression or introuble.
But they come to Joseph and saywhy should we die before your
(18:22):
eyes?
Buy us and our land for food,and we, with our land, will be
servants to Pharaoh.
And I read that again becausenotice that in the previous year
it was Joseph who proposed thesale of their livestock in
exchange for food.
But it's the Egyptiansthemselves who proposed this
greater sacrifice of theirbodies and their land and
(18:43):
offering to be servants toPharaoh.
It's the Egyptians themselveswho were offering to voluntarily
surrender their land and becomeserfs of Pharaoh.
But in addition to asking forfood, they also asked for seed,
that we may live and not die andthat the land may not be
desolate.
So this tells us that this wasduring the last year of the
(19:03):
famine.
They asked for the seed becausethey know they're going to need
it to plant for when the famineis over, in preparation for
next year's harvest.
And so what does Joseph do?
Verses 20 through 22 tell us.
So Joseph bought all the land ofEgypt for Pharaoh, for all the
Egyptians sold their fieldsbecause the famine was severe on
(19:23):
them.
The land became Pharaoh's.
As for the people, he madeservants of them from one end of
Egypt to the other.
Only the land of the priest.
He did not buy, for the priesthad a fixed allowance from
Pharaoh and lived on theallowance that Pharaoh gave them
.
Therefore, they did not selltheir land.
And so Joseph does as theEgyptians ask.
(19:44):
He bought all the land of Egyptfor Pharaoh.
All the Egyptians sell theirland to Pharaoh and just as they
asked, he made them servants.
The only land he didn't buy wasthe land of the priest.
Remember, the temple received aroyal endowment from Pharaoh, so
the priests would not have beenforced to sell their land for
food, as they could have simplycontinued to buy it.
(20:07):
And so only the Egyptian priestand Israel, which would later
become a kingdom of priests,escaped to serfdom.
And I say that's interestingbecause Joseph is related to
both of them.
He's related to Israel by bloodand to the priests by marriage.
And so, once again, we sort ofsee this prefigure of Jesus
(20:28):
Christ who, like Joseph, wasalso a Jew, by blood and by
birth.
And just as Joseph was relatedto the priests through marriage,
don't we refer to the church,as believers, as being the bride
of Christ, and that we willenjoy the marriage supper with
him?
And so both Joseph and Jesusare born Jews but are united to
(20:51):
non-Jews through marriage.
But verses 23 through 26continue.
Then Joseph said to the peopleBehold, I have this day bought
you and your land for Pharaoh.
Now, here is seed for you andyou shall sow the land, and at
the harvest you shall give afifth to Pharaoh, and four
fifths shall be your own as seedfor the field and as food for
(21:14):
yourselves and your householdsand as food for your little ones
.
And they said you have savedour lives.
May it please my Lord, we willbe servants to Pharaoh.
So Joseph made it a statuteconcerning the land of Egypt,
and it stands to this day thatPharaoh should have the fifth.
The land of the priest alonedid not become Pharaoh's.
(21:34):
So again, joseph does as theyask and he buys their land in
exchange for food and seed forthe upcoming year.
And so, in essence, they'rereduced to tenant farmers on
state land.
Joseph also tells them thatcome harvest time, they'll give
Pharaoh a fifth and they shallkeep four fifths.
In other words, he imposes a20% tax on them for the
(21:58):
privilege to farm the land andfor the seed allotment that he
gave them.
They're allowed to keep 80% forthemselves.
Now, 20% was not considered aheavy tax in the ancient Near
East as a more common tax ratewas about 33%.
In fact, 20% was the typicalinterest rate on money loans,
but loans on produce was usuallyabout 33% and a third percent.
(22:23):
And we see by the Egyptians'response here that they don't
regard Joseph as some tyrant orgreedy overlord.
Rather, they say you have savedour lives.
And they also tell him may itplease my Lord, we will be
servants to Pharaoh, and at thetime this was written, it
remained in place that Pharaohwould receive a 20% tax.
(22:45):
Only the land of the priest wasexempt.
And this sort of highlights onedifference between Egypt and
Israel.
The Egyptians agreed to and saywe will be in bondage to
Pharaoh.
In fact, it was the peasantsthemselves who initiated the
idea of their own enslavementand then even expressed
gratitude when it wasimplemented.
(23:07):
But in Israel, the Lord gaveeach family a portion of the
Promised Land and he forbadeanyone, including the king, from
taking it.
And so it highlights thedifference between private
ownership versus state control.
And this argument, or thisdebate, still rages on today,
even here in America, thesupposed land of the free, as
(23:30):
many of our institutionsadvocate, and many, especially
younger adults, are more open toat least some form of socialism
or totalitarianism, but that isnot the format that God
implemented in Israel.
And I think it may have beenBenjamin Franklin who said those
who would give up essentialliberties to purchase a little
(23:51):
temporary safety deserve neitherliberty nor safety.
But we continue with verses 27and 28, which leaves behind
Joseph's administration of thefamine and returns to the
narrative concerning Jacob.
These two verses read ThusIsrael settled in the land of
Egypt, in the land of Goshen,and they gained possessions in
(24:12):
it and were fruitful andmultiplied greatly.
And Jacob lived in the land ofEgypt 17 years.
So the days of Jacob, the yearsof his life, were 147 years.
And so we see Jacob and hisfamily are settled in Egypt and
they are fruitful, they areprosperous, demonstrating that
God's promise is being fulfilled.
(24:33):
And all this begins to happenduring the last part of the
famine, while the Egyptians areselling everything they have to
Pharaoh their money, theirlivestock, their land and even
themselves as servants.
And so this prosperity that wesee occurring with the
Israelites stands in starkcontrast to what we see
happening to the Egyptians, andit tells us that Jacob lived
(24:56):
there for 17 years.
Now, I know I touched on it inthe last episode, but I think it
bears repeating here.
Jacob had lost Joseph whenJoseph was 17 years old, and so
he lived with him for 17 years.
Now he will live with him forthe remaining 17 years of his
life.
The difference this time,however, is that Joseph spent
(25:18):
his first 17 years under thecare of Jacob, and now Jacob
will spend the last 17 years ofhis life under the care of
Joseph.
Now I hesitate to try this on apodcast with no visuals, but
I'm going to try this anyway.
Verse 28 tells us that Jacoblived to be 147 years old.
(25:38):
Now, normally you would justread that and you'd move on, but
I want to point out somethinghere.
If you look at the lifespans ofthe three patriarchs Abraham,
isaac and Jacob there'ssomething really interesting.
Other lifespans of 175 yearsfor Abraham, 180 for Isaac and
now 147 years for Jacob lendthemselves to factorization.
(26:03):
In other words and try topicture this in your head
Abraham's lifespan of 175 equals5 times 5 times 7.
Jacob's lifespan of 180 equals6 times 6 times 5, and Jacob's
lifespan of 147 equals 7 times 7times 3.
(26:25):
When you look at those numbers,you see that the squared number
increases by 1 each time andthe coefficient decreases by 2
each time.
In other words, 5 times 5, then6 times 6, then 7 times 7 for
the first two numbers, and then7, 5, and 3 for the last two
(26:46):
numbers.
Now do you see why I hesitatedto try this on a podcast?
But furthermore, if you add thethree numbers for each of the
patriarch, it equals 17 for eachof them.
5 plus 5 plus 7 equals 17,.
6 plus 6 plus 5 equals 17, and7 plus 7 plus 3 equals 17.
(27:07):
Now, what are the odds that allof this is just a weird
coincidence?
Now, on the heels of that, I'mnot about to try a statistics
formula over audio, but sufficeit to say the odds are extremely
low that this is a merecoincidence.
And so it leaves you to wondercould it be that this factorial
(27:27):
pattern found in the chronologyof the patriarchs is God trying
to communicate that theformation of Israel was not just
a result of some haphazard andrandom events, but was the
result of a series of events orordered and orchestrated by God?
But we close out this chapterwith the last three verses,
beginning with verse 29, whichreads and when the time drew
(27:50):
near that Israel must die, hecalled his son Joseph and said
to him If now I have found favorin your sight, put your hand
under my thigh and promise todeal kindly and truly with me.
Do not bury me in Egypt, butlet me lie with my fathers.
Carry me out of Egypt and buryme in their burying place.
And he answered I will do asyou have said.
(28:12):
And he said swear to me.
And he swore to him.
Then Israel bowed himself uponthe head of his bed, and so we
see now that it's time for Jacobto die, and he knows this.
So he calls his son Joseph andhe begins by saying If I have
found favor in your eyes Now.
This is typically said by asubordinate to a superior, but
(28:34):
Jacob uses this expression herebecause it's Joseph who holds
the official power.
The dying Jacob is dependentupon Joseph's favor, but Jacob
asked him to deal kindly andtruly with him.
He doesn't want to be buried inEgypt, but won't Joseph to
carry his body back and beburied alongside his father's?
(28:55):
Jacob doesn't regard this alienland as his home.
He isn't living in it like it'shis permanent home and
unfortunately, many times todaywe live and view this world like
it's our permanent home,sometimes needing to be reminded
that what we're told in Hebrews13, that this world is not our
permanent home.
(29:15):
We're looking forward to a homeyet to come, and in asking this
of Joseph, he asked him toplace his hand under his thigh,
which sounds a little strange,but, if you remember, we covered
this expression in more detailback in chapter 24, when Abraham
asked Eleazar to do the sameregarding finding a wife for his
(29:36):
son, isaac.
But, in short, this was an actthat was sometimes used in the
ancient world when men made anoath to one another.
But the important thing here isthat Joseph says that he will
do as Jacob requested.
Jacob makes him swear, andJoseph swears that he will honor
Jacob's request, and with that,that tells us that Israel bowed
(29:58):
himself upon the head of hisbed.
Now, this is sometimestranslated that he bowed or
leaned himself upon the top ofhis staff.
Keep in mind Jacob is about todie, he's old, he's feeble and
he may not be physically capableof Bowing to the ground in full
prostration, and so this is asymbolic gesture of prostration
(30:20):
by Jacob, and this gesture couldeither be a token of gratitude
to Joseph or an expression ofthanks and praise to God.
And so, as we close out thischapter, we see the death of
Jacob, and it's interesting thatthere are only four verses
about the death of Abraham andthere's only two verses devoted
to the death of Isaac.
(30:40):
But for Jacob there's a lot ofdetail here, and that may be
because there's just so muchgoing on in these special
Circumstances surrounding hissituation and the fact that
Jacob is the only one of thepatriarchs to die on alien soil.
But as we close out thischapter, I'll leave you with a
couple of observations.
First, consider that Josephenriches Pharaoh and Jacob
(31:05):
blesses Pharaoh, and likewisePharaoh honors both Joseph and
Jacob, or Israel.
And this mutual blessingAnticipates the exact opposite
situation that will exist 430years later, when another
Pharaoh curses Israel and isthen cursed himself.
It reminds me of God's promiseto Abraham that he would make
(31:28):
him into a great nation, and healso says to him I will bless
those who bless you and cursethose who curse you.
Second observation here is whatbecame of the land and all the
splendor of the pharaohs?
Their cities are buried beneaththe sands of the desert, their
temples, their palaces, theirtreasures all gone or in ruins
(31:50):
and, ironically, only thepyramids, their great tombs that
speak of death, have endured,but as for Jacob, his name
shines on and continues toendure, even after 4,000 years.
But lastly and most importantly, think about how Joseph saved
the Egyptians and the Israelitesby providing them with food.
(32:12):
But even so, the food Josephprovided was perishable and
those who ate it Still died attheir appointed time.
But the true Joseph, the trueSavior, gives us food that is
incorruptible.
In the words of Jesus himself,I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me shall nothunger and whoever believes in
(32:36):
me shall never thirst.
I am the living bread that camedown from heaven.
If anyone eats of this bread,he will live forever, and the
bread that I will give for thelife of the world is my flesh.
You.
Well, thank you once again for checking out this
Bible study podcast.
I'm Randy Duncan and we'remaking our way through the book
of Genesis.
In the last episode we coveredchapter 46, which saw Jacob, now
called Israel, embark on ajourney to Egypt, marking the
end of the patriarchal era and,despite initial concerns, a
divine vision reassures him,emphasizing God's promise of
(00:33):
nationhood.
And we discussed Jacob's veryemotional reunion with Joseph
and then Joseph's strategicplans as they began to unfold
for settling in Egypt.
And then we concluded bymentioning some parallels and
resurrection themes, as bothAbraham and Jacob figuratively
received their sons back fromthe dead, which brings us now to
(00:54):
chapter 47, which picks up theaction with the first six verses
reading so Joseph went in andtold Pharaoh my father and my
brothers, with their flocks andherds and all they possess, have
come from the land of Canaan.
They are now in the land ofGoshen.
And from among his brothers, hetook five men and presented
them to Pharaoh.
(01:14):
Pharaoh said to his brotherswhat is your occupation?
And they said to Pharaoh yourservants are shepherds as our
fathers were.
And they said to Pharaoh wehave come to sojourn in the land
, for there is no pastor foryour servants, flocks, for the
famine is severe in the land ofCanaan.
And now, please let yourservants dwell in the land of
(01:35):
Goshen.
Then Pharaoh said to Josephyour father and your brothers
have come to you.
The land of Egypt is before you.
Settle your father and yourbrothers in the best of the land
, let them settle in the land ofGoshen and if you know any able
men among them, put them incharge of my livestock.
So Jacob and his family are nowin Egypt and Joseph wants to
(01:57):
present them before Pharaoh andhe wants to take every
precaution to make sure thatPharaoh assigns his family the
area of Goshen to settle in.
In the last episode we discussedthe reasons why he wants them
in the area of Goshen, andremember he's even rehearsed
this scene with his brothers,telling them what to say and how
to respond to Pharaoh'squestions.
(02:18):
And so Joseph tells Pharaohthat his family is now in Egypt,
having moved from Canaan,because he needs to personally
inform Pharaoh that they'vearrived, because Pharaoh is the
one who had originally extendedthe invitation to them.
And so he tells Pharaoh myfather and my brothers, with
their flocks and herds and allthey possess, have come from the
(02:39):
land of Canaan.
They are now in the land ofGoshen.
Now, one of the reasons Josephmay have included the detail
that his family have moved withall of their flocks and herds is
to emphasize once again thathis family are shepherds and so
they don't have any social, theydon't have any political
ambitions.
And then also to get themassigned to live in the area of
(03:01):
Goshen, where they would beshielded from the alien way of
life, insulated somewhat fromthe Egyptian secular way of life
and intermarriage and so forth.
And so by telling Pharaoh thatthey're currently in Goshen,
joseph sort of plans to see thatthis would be a good place for
them.
And it says that Joseph selectedfive of his brothers and
(03:22):
presented them to Pharaoh.
The Hebrew construction usedhere implies that he just chose
five at random, but it's alsopossible that five is just used
here as a round number, meaningseveral.
But either way, just as Josephtold them ahead of time, pharaoh
questions them, asking themwhat is your occupation?
And just as Joseph hadrehearsed with them, they told
(03:46):
him the truth that they wereshepherds, just like their
fathers were, even though Josephhad told them that shepherds
were an abomination to theEgyptians.
And the brothers continuetelling Pharaoh that they have
come to sojourn in the landbecause there's no pasture for
their flocks and canons due tothe famine.
Now, one thing to note here istheir use of the word sojourn,
(04:08):
to live here awhile the Hebrewterm is glossed as will be
strangers.
In other words, jacob onlyintended to stay in Egypt
temporarily, but the way thatHebrew is constructed here, it
connects this migration down toEgypt with God's prophecy to
Abraham, where God told him knowwell that your offspring shall
(04:30):
be strangers in a land that isnot theirs.
And so the brothers hereidentified themselves as
resident strangers, or, what wemight say today, resident aliens
.
They're residents, but they'renot citizens of Egypt.
And it's interesting to seethat in the book of Exodus,
leviticus and Deuteronomy, youread repeated ethical
(04:52):
instructions regarding thetreatment of strangers, such as
you shall not wrong a strangeror oppress him, for you are
strangers in the land of Egypt.
And you shall not oppress astranger, for you know the
feelings of the stranger, havingyourselves been strangers in
the land of Egypt.
And so we see that even afterthe Exodus from Egypt, this
(05:13):
being a stranger, it left a deepimprint on their consciousness
and God would not allow them toforget it.
But notice that Pharaoh doesn'trespond directly to the brothers
but to Joseph.
Now, this may be simply becausePharaoh is welcoming Joseph's
family, based on hisappreciation for all that Joseph
has done for him in his country.
(05:34):
But it could also be that thebrothers would need an
interpreter anyway, since theywouldn't have understood his
words.
However, the way his responseis constructed suggests that
Pharaoh responded with a certainsuperiority or an aloofness, as
he uses very few words, onlythe amount necessary,
(05:54):
emphasizing the absoluteauthority of Pharaoh here.
But Pharaoh tells Joseph thatall of the land of Egypt is
before them.
Bring them and settle them inthe best of the land, have them
settle in Goshen.
And so Pharaoh is true to hisearlier word to Joseph, and
Joseph gets what he wants forhis family.
Pharaoh also tells Joseph thatif he has any capable men, men
(06:18):
of ability, to place them incharge of his livestock, now,
the Hebrew here literally meansofficers of cattle, which means
superintendents of the royalcattle.
Now, this position is mentionedoften in Egyptian inscriptions,
since the king owned fast herdsof cattle.
Ramsay III, for example, issaid to have employed over 3,200
(06:40):
men, most of them foreigners,to take care of his herds.
And so this appointment of someof Joseph's own brothers to
supervise Pharaoh's herds meansthat they are to be officers of
the crown, and so we'll enjoylegal protection not usually
afforded to aliens, and so,within their own trade, the
(07:01):
brothers can advance themselvesin Pharaoh's administration.
But verses seven through 10continue.
Then Joseph brought in Jacob,his father, and stood him before
Pharaoh, and Jacob blessedPharaoh.
And Pharaoh said to Jacob howmany are the days of the years
of your life?
And Jacob said to Pharaoh thedays of the years of my
sojourning, or 130 years.
(07:22):
Few and difficult have been thedays of the years of my life,
and they have not attained tothe days of the years of the
life of my fathers in the daysof their sojourning.
And Jacob blessed Pharaoh andwent out from the presence of
Pharaoh.
So after Joseph presented fiveof his brothers to Pharaoh, he
then brings in his father, jacob, and presents him to Pharaoh.
(07:44):
Now, he probably didn't bring inJacob at the same time as his
brothers, because he felt likeit would be undignified for
Jacob, the aged patriarch of thefamily, to appear to be asking
for mercy from Pharaoh and to doso in front of his children,
because he is now completelydependent upon Pharaoh's
goodwill.
And so what we see here is thejuxtaposition of two worlds and
(08:08):
two completely different ways oflife, meeting and coming face
to face Jacob, who holds thepromise from God to become a
great nation, standing beforethe Lord of Egypt, which is
already a great nation.
But Pharaoh asked Jacob howmany are the days of the years
of your life?
In other words, how old are you?
(08:29):
And Jacob's response here isinteresting.
We know Jacob is 130 years oldat this time, and so he could
have simply said I'm 130 yearsold.
But that's not all he says.
He says I'm 130 years old, buthe also says few and evil have
been the days of the years of mylife, and they have not
attained to the days of theyears of the life of my fathers
(08:52):
in the days of their soldiering.
So a couple of points here.
First, the Egyptians had apreoccupation with death.
The Pharaohs were believed tobe eternal and they sought to
have their bodies immortalized,and so Jacob's age must have
impressed Pharaoh.
But Jacob also adds a couple ofcomments.
He tells Pharaoh that his yearshave been few and difficult.
(09:14):
Now, when he says that hisyears have been few, he is
saying that in comparison to howlong his father's, abraham and
Isaac lived, who lived to be 175and 180 years old.
And then, with great humilityand honesty, he also says that
his years have been difficult,and by this he's alluding to his
(09:35):
very turbulent and troublesomelife.
And, as we've seen, jacob hashad a tough go of it for much of
his life.
And it started in his mother'swomb wrestling with his twin
brother, esau, then tricking hisbrother out of his father's
blessing, fleeing his home for20 years because his brother
wanted to kill him.
Then he gets tricked by hisuncle, laban, and ends up having
(09:57):
to work for him for 20 yearsand finally, on his way back
home, he wrestles with God,receiving a permanent injury.
His wife, rebecca, dies inchildbirth and just went.
All seem to finally be settlingdown for him.
His favorite son, joseph, istaken from him, and he spends
the next 22 years grieving theson he believed was dead.
(10:20):
And think about this.
Jacob has actually achievedeverything that he sought to
accomplish.
He got the family birthright,he received the blessing from
his father, isaac, he marriedthe woman that he was in love
with, he was wealthy, he hadmany children and grandchildren,
but even though he goteverything that he wanted, he
(10:41):
didn't get it in the way that hewanted.
It came at a cost and theconsequences were many times far
more pain than happiness.
Now, of course, jacob doesn'tgo into any specifics with
Pharaoh here.
He simply says that the yearsof my life have been difficult.
But it also says that before heleft Pharaoh's presence, jacob
(11:04):
blessed Pharaoh.
Just an observation, but noticethat although Jacob doesn't
exalt himself above Pharaoh, healso doesn't refer to himself as
Pharaoh's servant, like thebrothers did three different
times.
In fact, it would normally bethe case that the superior would
bless the lesser, but in thiscase it's actually Jacob who
(11:27):
blesses Pharaoh.
Now there are some commentatorswho have pointed out that this
quote blessing could also betranslated that he simply bade
farewell to Pharaoh.
But either way, with this Jacobends the interview and we
continue with verses 11 and 12.
Then Joseph settled his fatherand his brothers and gave them a
(11:47):
possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in
the land of Ramses, as Pharaohhad commanded, and Joseph
provided his father, hisbrothers and all his father's
household with food according tothe number of their dependents.
So these two verses sort ofserve as a transition to what
we'll see next, which isJoseph's administration of the
(12:08):
ongoing famine.
But it tells us that Josephsettled his family in the land
of Ramses, which is simplyanother name for Goshen.
Notice also that it says hegave them a possession in the
land.
He gave them property, and thisrefers to a possession received
from someone who has theauthority to give it.
This is actually more than theyasked for and it certainly
(12:31):
differentiates the family fromwhat the Egyptians are about to
experience Now.
In the Hebrew it says thatJoseph supplied them with food,
down to the little ones.
Now, this term, lefi hataf,normally means by the mouth of
or according to the children,and it's similar to what we
would nowadays refer to asaccording to the number of
(12:52):
dependents.
But we now shift gears and thefocus returns to the issue at
hand, which is the ongoingfamine, and the next several
verses describe Joseph'sadministration of the food
supply in the midst of thisfamine, and so we continue with
verses 13 through 17, which readNow there was no food in all
the land, for the famine wasvery severe, so that the land of
(13:15):
Egypt and the land of Canaanlanguished by reason of the
famine, and Joseph gathered upall the money that was found in
the land of Egypt and in theland of Canaan in exchange for
the grain that they bought.
And Joseph brought the moneyinto Pharaoh's house.
And when the money was allspent in the land of Egypt and
in the land of Canaan, all theEgyptians came to Joseph and
(13:36):
said Give us food.
Why should we die before youreyes?
For our money is gone?
And Joseph answered Give yourlivestock and I will give you
food in exchange for yourlivestock if your money is gone.
So they brought their livestockto Joseph and Joseph gave them
food in exchange for the horses,the flocks, the herds and the
donkeys.
He supplied them with food inexchange for all their livestock
(13:59):
that year.
Now, what we're going to seewith these verses and with the
verses that follow is that theseverity of the famine is so bad
that the people becomecompletely dependent upon the
state for their survival.
And we see Joseph rising to theoccasion, avoiding a
humanitarian disaster through aseries of drastic measures that,
(14:21):
in effect, nationalizes boththe land and the livestock,
which in the end turns thepeople into tenant farmers of
the state.
Notice also, as we go throughthis section, the great benefit
that Joseph brings to theEgyptian crown, which only
amplifies the level ofingratitude that will be
demonstrated by later Pharaohand Exodus, who did not know
(14:43):
Joseph.
This is the Pharaoh that willmeet a man named Moses prior to
the exodus from Egypt and whowill experience the ten plagues.
But it says that there was nofood in all the land, for the
famine was very severe, so thatthe land of Egypt and the land
of Canaan languished by reasonof the famine.
Now, that word languished inHebrew means to be weary or
(15:05):
helpless, but pay attention thatnot only was the famine severe
in Egypt, but also in the landof Canaan, which was Jacob's
home, and so it reminds us ofwhat Jacob Israel's fate would
have been if not for Joseph.
If they had not migrated towhere the sun was, they would
have perished, and so itpresents a picture of the sun,
(15:28):
figuratively dead, but now alive, and not only living, but now
ruler overall, and just likeIsrael.
What would our fate be if notfor the sun?
First, 14, then, tells us that,and Joseph gathered up all the
money that was found in the landof Egypt and in the land of
Canaan in exchange for the grainthat they bought.
(15:49):
Now, this grain is referring tothresh grain, or corn or cereal
that's used for food, it's notseed.
And so Joseph began selling thepeople the grain that he had
saved during the years of Pliny.
He brings all of the money intoPharaoh's palace and notice
that he doesn't take anythingfor himself.
But at some point the money wasall spent and the Egyptians
(16:12):
came to Joseph and said give usfood.
Why should we die before oureyes?
For our money is gone.
So the Egyptians are now at apoint where they still need food
, they still need grain, but nowthey're out of money.
And when you're out of money,how then are you going to
purchase more?
Well, joseph answers them bysaying give your livestock and I
(16:34):
will give you food in exchangefor your livestock if your money
is gone.
So, in short, joseph says he'llprovide them with food in
exchange for their livestock.
Incidentally, this is the firsttime in the Bible where horses
are mentioned, and horses beingthe first animal mentioned in
this list is indicative of theirhigh value, and it says that
(16:54):
they did this and that Josephsupplied them through that year.
Now, that Hebrew word forsupplied means to escort through
distress into safety, and soit's conveying a bit more than
the fact that Joseph providedthem with food, but that he
saved them from the danger ofstarvation and safely escorted
them throughout the year.
(17:15):
But we continue with verses 18and 19.
And when that year was ended,they came to him the following
year and said to him we will nothide from my Lord that our
money is all spent.
The herds of livestock are myLord's.
There is nothing left in thesight of my Lord but our bodies
and our land.
Why should we die before youreyes, both we and our land?
(17:35):
Buy us and our land for food,and we, with our land, will be
servants to Pharaoh and give usseed that we may live and not
die and that the land may not bedesolate.
So after that year had ended, itsays that the people came to
Joseph and told him that theirmoney was all gone and now their
livestock has been used up aswell.
In other words, they're notonly broke but they have no more
(17:58):
livestock either, as they'vetraded it for grain over the
course of the last year.
And they tell Joseph that allthey have left is their land and
their bodies and the Hebrewterm used for bodies here often
means corpse, and so itcharacterizes a person in
weakness or oppression or introuble.
But they come to Joseph and saywhy should we die before your
(18:22):
eyes?
Buy us and our land for food,and we, with our land, will be
servants to Pharaoh.
And I read that again becausenotice that in the previous year
it was Joseph who proposed thesale of their livestock in
exchange for food.
But it's the Egyptiansthemselves who proposed this
greater sacrifice of theirbodies and their land and
(18:43):
offering to be servants toPharaoh.
It's the Egyptians themselveswho were offering to voluntarily
surrender their land and becomeserfs of Pharaoh.
But in addition to asking forfood, they also asked for seed,
that we may live and not die andthat the land may not be
desolate.
So this tells us that this wasduring the last year of the
(19:03):
famine.
They asked for the seed becausethey know they're going to need
it to plant for when the famineis over, in preparation for
next year's harvest.
And so what does Joseph do?
Verses 20 through 22 tell us.
So Joseph bought all the land ofEgypt for Pharaoh, for all the
Egyptians sold their fieldsbecause the famine was severe on
(19:23):
them.
The land became Pharaoh's.
As for the people, he madeservants of them from one end of
Egypt to the other.
Only the land of the priest.
He did not buy, for the priesthad a fixed allowance from
Pharaoh and lived on theallowance that Pharaoh gave them
.
Therefore, they did not selltheir land.
And so Joseph does as theEgyptians ask.
(19:44):
He bought all the land of Egyptfor Pharaoh.
All the Egyptians sell theirland to Pharaoh and just as they
asked, he made them servants.
The only land he didn't buy wasthe land of the priest.
Remember, the temple received aroyal endowment from Pharaoh, so
the priests would not have beenforced to sell their land for
food, as they could have simplycontinued to buy it.
(20:07):
And so only the Egyptian priestand Israel, which would later
become a kingdom of priests,escaped to serfdom.
And I say that's interestingbecause Joseph is related to
both of them.
He's related to Israel by bloodand to the priests by marriage.
And so, once again, we sort ofsee this prefigure of Jesus
(20:28):
Christ who, like Joseph, wasalso a Jew, by blood and by
birth.
And just as Joseph was relatedto the priests through marriage,
don't we refer to the church,as believers, as being the bride
of Christ, and that we willenjoy the marriage supper with
him?
And so both Joseph and Jesusare born Jews but are united to
(20:51):
non-Jews through marriage.
But verses 23 through 26continue.
Then Joseph said to the peopleBehold, I have this day bought
you and your land for Pharaoh.
Now, here is seed for you andyou shall sow the land, and at
the harvest you shall give afifth to Pharaoh, and four
fifths shall be your own as seedfor the field and as food for
(21:14):
yourselves and your householdsand as food for your little ones
.
And they said you have savedour lives.
May it please my Lord, we willbe servants to Pharaoh.
So Joseph made it a statuteconcerning the land of Egypt,
and it stands to this day thatPharaoh should have the fifth.
The land of the priest alonedid not become Pharaoh's.
(21:34):
So again, joseph does as theyask and he buys their land in
exchange for food and seed forthe upcoming year.
And so, in essence, they'rereduced to tenant farmers on
state land.
Joseph also tells them thatcome harvest time, they'll give
Pharaoh a fifth and they shallkeep four fifths.
In other words, he imposes a20% tax on them for the
(21:58):
privilege to farm the land andfor the seed allotment that he
gave them.
They're allowed to keep 80% forthemselves.
Now, 20% was not considered aheavy tax in the ancient Near
East as a more common tax ratewas about 33%.
In fact, 20% was the typicalinterest rate on money loans,
but loans on produce was usuallyabout 33% and a third percent.
(22:23):
And we see by the Egyptians'response here that they don't
regard Joseph as some tyrant orgreedy overlord.
Rather, they say you have savedour lives.
And they also tell him may itplease my Lord, we will be
servants to Pharaoh, and at thetime this was written, it
remained in place that Pharaohwould receive a 20% tax.
(22:45):
Only the land of the priest wasexempt.
And this sort of highlights onedifference between Egypt and
Israel.
The Egyptians agreed to and saywe will be in bondage to
Pharaoh.
In fact, it was the peasantsthemselves who initiated the
idea of their own enslavementand then even expressed
gratitude when it wasimplemented.
(23:07):
But in Israel, the Lord gaveeach family a portion of the
Promised Land and he forbadeanyone, including the king, from
taking it.
And so it highlights thedifference between private
ownership versus state control.
And this argument, or thisdebate, still rages on today,
even here in America, thesupposed land of the free, as
(23:30):
many of our institutionsadvocate, and many, especially
younger adults, are more open toat least some form of socialism
or totalitarianism, but that isnot the format that God
implemented in Israel.
And I think it may have beenBenjamin Franklin who said those
who would give up essentialliberties to purchase a little
(23:51):
temporary safety deserve neitherliberty nor safety.
But we continue with verses 27and 28, which leaves behind
Joseph's administration of thefamine and returns to the
narrative concerning Jacob.
These two verses read ThusIsrael settled in the land of
Egypt, in the land of Goshen,and they gained possessions in
(24:12):
it and were fruitful andmultiplied greatly.
And Jacob lived in the land ofEgypt 17 years.
So the days of Jacob, the yearsof his life, were 147 years.
And so we see Jacob and hisfamily are settled in Egypt and
they are fruitful, they areprosperous, demonstrating that
God's promise is being fulfilled.
(24:33):
And all this begins to happenduring the last part of the
famine, while the Egyptians areselling everything they have to
Pharaoh their money, theirlivestock, their land and even
themselves as servants.
And so this prosperity that wesee occurring with the
Israelites stands in starkcontrast to what we see
happening to the Egyptians, andit tells us that Jacob lived
(24:56):
there for 17 years.
Now, I know I touched on it inthe last episode, but I think it
bears repeating here.
Jacob had lost Joseph whenJoseph was 17 years old, and so
he lived with him for 17 years.
Now he will live with him forthe remaining 17 years of his
life.
The difference this time,however, is that Joseph spent
(25:18):
his first 17 years under thecare of Jacob, and now Jacob
will spend the last 17 years ofhis life under the care of
Joseph.
Now I hesitate to try this on apodcast with no visuals, but
I'm going to try this anyway.
Verse 28 tells us that Jacoblived to be 147 years old.
(25:38):
Now, normally you would justread that and you'd move on, but
I want to point out somethinghere.
If you look at the lifespans ofthe three patriarchs Abraham,
isaac and Jacob there'ssomething really interesting.
Other lifespans of 175 yearsfor Abraham, 180 for Isaac and
now 147 years for Jacob lendthemselves to factorization.
(26:03):
In other words and try topicture this in your head
Abraham's lifespan of 175 equals5 times 5 times 7.
Jacob's lifespan of 180 equals6 times 6 times 5, and Jacob's
lifespan of 147 equals 7 times 7times 3.
(26:25):
When you look at those numbers,you see that the squared number
increases by 1 each time andthe coefficient decreases by 2
each time.
In other words, 5 times 5, then6 times 6, then 7 times 7 for
the first two numbers, and then7, 5, and 3 for the last two
(26:46):
numbers.
Now do you see why I hesitatedto try this on a podcast?
But furthermore, if you add thethree numbers for each of the
patriarch, it equals 17 for eachof them.
5 plus 5 plus 7 equals 17,.
6 plus 6 plus 5 equals 17, and7 plus 7 plus 3 equals 17.
(27:07):
Now, what are the odds that allof this is just a weird
coincidence?
Now, on the heels of that, I'mnot about to try a statistics
formula over audio, but sufficeit to say the odds are extremely
low that this is a merecoincidence.
And so it leaves you to wondercould it be that this factorial
(27:27):
pattern found in the chronologyof the patriarchs is God trying
to communicate that theformation of Israel was not just
a result of some haphazard andrandom events, but was the
result of a series of events orordered and orchestrated by God?
But we close out this chapterwith the last three verses,
beginning with verse 29, whichreads and when the time drew
(27:50):
near that Israel must die, hecalled his son Joseph and said
to him If now I have found favorin your sight, put your hand
under my thigh and promise todeal kindly and truly with me.
Do not bury me in Egypt, butlet me lie with my fathers.
Carry me out of Egypt and buryme in their burying place.
And he answered I will do asyou have said.
(28:12):
And he said swear to me.
And he swore to him.
Then Israel bowed himself uponthe head of his bed, and so we
see now that it's time for Jacobto die, and he knows this.
So he calls his son Joseph andhe begins by saying If I have
found favor in your eyes Now.
This is typically said by asubordinate to a superior, but
(28:34):
Jacob uses this expression herebecause it's Joseph who holds
the official power.
The dying Jacob is dependentupon Joseph's favor, but Jacob
asked him to deal kindly andtruly with him.
He doesn't want to be buried inEgypt, but won't Joseph to
carry his body back and beburied alongside his father's?
(28:55):
Jacob doesn't regard this alienland as his home.
He isn't living in it like it'shis permanent home and
unfortunately, many times todaywe live and view this world like
it's our permanent home,sometimes needing to be reminded
that what we're told in Hebrews13, that this world is not our
permanent home.
(29:15):
We're looking forward to a homeyet to come, and in asking this
of Joseph, he asked him toplace his hand under his thigh,
which sounds a little strange,but, if you remember, we covered
this expression in more detailback in chapter 24, when Abraham
asked Eleazar to do the sameregarding finding a wife for his
(29:36):
son, isaac.
But, in short, this was an actthat was sometimes used in the
ancient world when men made anoath to one another.
But the important thing here isthat Joseph says that he will
do as Jacob requested.
Jacob makes him swear, andJoseph swears that he will honor
Jacob's request, and with that,that tells us that Israel bowed
(29:58):
himself upon the head of hisbed.
Now, this is sometimestranslated that he bowed or
leaned himself upon the top ofhis staff.
Keep in mind Jacob is about todie, he's old, he's feeble and
he may not be physically capableof Bowing to the ground in full
prostration, and so this is asymbolic gesture of prostration
(30:20):
by Jacob, and this gesture couldeither be a token of gratitude
to Joseph or an expression ofthanks and praise to God.
And so, as we close out thischapter, we see the death of
Jacob, and it's interesting thatthere are only four verses
about the death of Abraham andthere's only two verses devoted
to the death of Isaac.
(30:40):
But for Jacob there's a lot ofdetail here, and that may be
because there's just so muchgoing on in these special
Circumstances surrounding hissituation and the fact that
Jacob is the only one of thepatriarchs to die on alien soil.
But as we close out thischapter, I'll leave you with a
couple of observations.
First, consider that Josephenriches Pharaoh and Jacob
(31:05):
blesses Pharaoh, and likewisePharaoh honors both Joseph and
Jacob, or Israel.
And this mutual blessingAnticipates the exact opposite
situation that will exist 430years later, when another
Pharaoh curses Israel and isthen cursed himself.
It reminds me of God's promiseto Abraham that he would make
(31:28):
him into a great nation, and healso says to him I will bless
those who bless you and cursethose who curse you.
Second observation here is whatbecame of the land and all the
splendor of the pharaohs?
Their cities are buried beneaththe sands of the desert, their
temples, their palaces, theirtreasures all gone or in ruins
(31:50):
and, ironically, only thepyramids, their great tombs that
speak of death, have endured,but as for Jacob, his name
shines on and continues toendure, even after 4,000 years.
But lastly and most importantly, think about how Joseph saved
the Egyptians and the Israelitesby providing them with food.
(32:12):
But even so, the food Josephprovided was perishable and
those who ate it Still died attheir appointed time.
But the true Joseph, the trueSavior, gives us food that is
incorruptible.
In the words of Jesus himself,I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me shall nothunger and whoever believes in
(32:36):
me shall never thirst.
I am the living bread that camedown from heaven.
If anyone eats of this bread,he will live forever, and the
bread that I will give for thelife of the world is my flesh.
You.
Popular Podcasts
1. Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
2. Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
3. Crime Junkie
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.