Jacob Settles in Egypt
It’s very interesting how, despite all that Jacob had been told about
Joseph’s being alive in Egypt, the Lord still gave him “visions of the night”
(Gen. 46:2) and in them commanded him to leave. Jacob leaves the Land
of Promise for, of all places, Egypt—which later becomes associated with
the one place that God’s people do not want to go (Deut. 17:16).
Read Genesis 47. What spiritual truths and principles can we find in
this account?
“Joseph took five of his brothers to present to Pharaoh and receive from
him the grant of land for their future home. Gratitude to his prime minister
would have led the monarch to honor them with appointments to offices
of state; but Joseph, true to the worship of Jehovah, sought to save his
brothers from the temptations to which they would be exposed at a hea-
then court; therefore he counseled them, when questioned by the king, to
tell him frankly their occupation. The sons of Jacob followed this counsel,
being careful also to state that they had come to sojourn in the land, not to
become permanent dwellers there, thus reserving the right to depart if they
chose. The king assigned them a home, as offered, in ‘the best of the land,’
the country of Goshen.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 233.
Wisely, too, Pharaoh does not encourage these sojourners to become
beggars, living off the largess of their host. He enquires about their
“occupation” (Gen. 47:3, NKJV) in order that they may adjust better in
their new environment. He also is eager to use their expertise, and even
suggests that they serve him as “chief herdsmen over [his] livestock”
(Gen. 47:6, NKJV).
Then, although Jacob, the foreigner, is the inferior, the stranger, he
stands before the leader of the land, and, as the text says, “Jacob blessed
Pharaoh” (Gen. 47:7). He, the lowly stranger, is the one who blesses
Pharaoh, the ruler of mighty Egypt? Why should that be?
The verb ‘amad lifney, “set . . . before” (Gen. 47:7), is normally used
in priestly contexts (Lev. 14:11). Considering that in ancient Egypt the
pharaoh had the status of the highest priest, this means that, in a spiri
tual sense, Jacob stands higher than the highest priest of Egypt, higher
even than Pharaoh himself.
Whatever our station in life, what should it mean to us, in how
we treat others, that we are “a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
His own special people” (1 Pet. 2:9)? What obligations does our
faith put on us?
