There are tons of great father son moments in movies. We could speak of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where both he and his father Henry play a large role. Or Finding Nemo where Marlen finally finds and reconnects with Nemo and learns to let go. Or The Lion King and the heartwarming tale between Mufasa and Simba. Or perhaps even some darker movies come to mind like the dystopian future film The Road, or the mafia movie Road to Perdition. One of my favorite father and son moments in movies is from the film October Sky. The whole movie is really about the relationship between this father and son. It’s set in a small West Virginia town, full of coal miners, where all the boys grow up to be coal miners…yet this one boy (Homer) developed a great love for science when he saw sputnik go across the sky, so much so that he decides he wants to be a rocket scientist. As you can imagine the father disapproves, which pushes the son deeper into science, and they go back and forth the whole movie until the end…when the reunite in a wonderful moment and the father allows Homer to chase after his dreams.
Well, the Bible is also full of great father son moments as well, and we come one of them in our text for this morning, Genesis 46…when Jacob finally, after years and years of thinking Joseph to be dead, reunites with him. It is a precious moment indeed. There’s also other riches to glean in this chapter as well, so let’s get to it.
There are three headings to work through today. First see…
The Vision (v1-4)
“So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.”
We have now seen Joseph’s brothers make two journeys to Egypt to get food in the midst of the famine. The first two involved going to Egypt for the necessity of food, and on those journeys there was always a sense of great fear and trepidation because of how Joseph tests them. But here as we begin chapter 46, we see much is different. Joseph has revealed himself to his brothers and has asked that the whole family come back to see him. So in this chapter Joseph’s family makes a third and final trip to Egypt, this time with the intention of reuniting with Joseph, moving the whole family there, to settle down in the land of Goshen.
Notice though, the journey begins with Jacob leading everyone down to Beersheba. This is something to notice, because Beersheba was the first place Jacob went to as he entered the Promise Land in chapter 28, and now Beersheba becomes the last place he comes to as he leaves the Promise Land.[1] On both occasions he worships the Lord. That he does this ties him once again to his father Isaac (who originally built this altar) and to Abraham (who came to this site and worshipped as well). And as Jacob worships here in Beersheba God speaks to him in a vision. This vision marks the last time God will speak to anyone in the book of Genesis. The next time God speaks like this will be to Moses 430 years later.[2]
What does God say to Jacob in Beersheba? After the familiar introduction to many visions in the book of Genesis, God comes with words of comfort, encouraging Jacob to not fear but to indeed go down to Egypt.[3] Now, why would Jacob fear going down to Egypt? Is he not eager and excited to reunite with Joseph for the first time in over 20 years? Well, of course he is. But what we might have forgotten is that for both Abraham and Isaac Egypt was not a place of rest and refuge. Abraham had a very bad moment in Egypt during his life in chapter 12, and Isaac was told by God to not go to Egypt during a famine he experienced in chapter 26. And more so, God had made great promises to Abraham about making he and his descendants into a great nation and God then called Abraham to leave the land he knew to go into Canaan, the land of Promise. So because the greatness of this promise that Jacob filled out the identity of Jacob and his family, he would indeed need a clear word from God in order to leave this land. He very well might be wondering what would happen to this promise if he as the son of Abraham who left the land of promise.[4] So while Jacob is truly overjoyed and eager to reunite with Joseph in Egypt, I think there is a large part of him that was afraid to leave this land. And yet, into this fear God speaks a great word of comfort, “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation.” How great to hear, in v3, the precious promises made to Abraham and Isaac repeated and reaffirmed now to him, with the addition that not only will God continue His work of making them into a great nation, but that God will carry on this work outside the Promise Land in Egypt.
In v4 Jacob hears three more promises. First, God will go down to Egypt with him, and the journey will be a safe one with the Lord’s presence with them. This would’ve been very meaningful to Jacob because God told Jacob this same thing long ago as well, back in the dream where he saw the ladder and the angels of God ascending and descending on it. So as God was with him then, God will continue to be with him now.
Second, God promises that He will bring his family up out of Egypt one day. Of course this foreshadows the events of the Exodus.[5] This detail is often overlooked.[6] We love and make much of God’s redeeming work in the Exodus, where He saved His people out of slavery with His strong and mighty hand. Yet, it was God who brought His people into Egypt in the first place! One would not be out of bounds to ask, why would God bring His people into such a place where they would undergo such pain and suffering, only to redeem them out of it later on? Church, this question is understandable but it shouldn’t stun us because this is often how God works with us too. God matures and grows His people by enrolling them in the school of suffering. None of us applies for this school, but God signs us up in His great plans and purposes for us. Is it sobering to hear that God sometimes leads us into difficult places? Yes. But how comforting is it to hear, that God not only leads His people into these places, He keeps us in the midst of these places, and saves us and brings us out of these place in His good time.
Now third and lastly, God says He will give Jacob a peaceful death with his son Joseph beside him. This is an unusual promise but a moving one as well. As one ages in life and grows near the end, a fear rises in you about death. Not so much that death will happen, but how it happens. In other words, it is true that Christians shouldn’t fear death, Christ has defeated it! But that doesn’t mean there is no trepidation about the dying process. You see, Jacob’s life has been long and full of trouble.[7] And he has probably come to believe that his death would be troublesome too. But now he hears from God that the son he thought was dead, will be with him and will close his own eyes at his death.[8] This is a peaceful death indeed.
Taking all of these things together, this vision was a mighty encouragement for old and fearful Jacob. That’s the vision at Beersheba. Move on now to our second heading…
The Journey (v5-27)
“Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters. All his offspring he brought with him into Egypt. Now these are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Yob, and Shimron. The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three. The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons. The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, bore to him. And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all. The son of Dan: Hushim. The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all. All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.”
On first glance you might conclude this middle section to be just a bunch of names. And you’d be right in one sense, it is a bunch of names. But all the names do indicate one large thing: that Jacob and all his family are moving to Egypt. Or in other words, that all of Israel is now heading into Egypt. I won’t go over any of the names here in this list, but I will draw your attention to this one large reality. In v6, v7, v8, and v27 we read that all Israel “came into Egypt.” This phrase “came into Egypt” is very similar to the phrase we heard in Genesis 6-8 repeated a lot.[9] That Noah and his family came intothe ark. Since this phrase is so similar it would make sense that many see Egypt as a kind of ark for Israel used by God to preserve His people. We’ve already seen Joseph standing out as a new kind of Noah in chapter 45, and here we see something of the same theme in chapter 46.
So just as God’s people entered into the ark in Noah’s day, where they were preserved by God through the flood, to come out of it later on to become a great people…so too the same is happening here. God’s people are entering into Egypt, where they will be preserved by God through the famine, only to come out of it later on to become a great and numerous people. This was God’s grace to Israel. For here in Egypt His people benefited from the prosperity and protection of Egypt, in a way where they wouldn’t have to rid themselves of their distinct identity.[10]
So all Israel now heads to Egypt. What happens when they arrive? Move on to our last heading…
The Reunion (v28-34)
“He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”
The long-awaited moment finally comes. Judah goes on ahead of the family. Joseph hears they’ve arrived, so he gets his royal entourage ready, chariot and all, and heads out to Goshen to see them. He arrived, saw his father after 22 years of being apart and thought dead. They embrace and weep for a good long while. And Jacob says, ‘Now I am ready to die, for I have seen your face.’ This moment reminds me of a previous moment in Jacob’s life when he saw another great face. That time long ago, after a great wrestling match he saw the very face of God, and was stunned that he was still alive. Now it’s almost reversed. After seeing Joseph’s face, he concludes that he needs to live no longer.[11]
After this Joseph guarantees that his family won’t be just blended in with the rest of Egyptian culture and society. So he engineers a plan, with speeches and all, that will ensure that the land of Goshen is indeed given to them. And it all has to do with them being shepherds. The Egyptians believe shepherds to be an abomination, so they won’t want them in their cities but they won’t want them far away enough out to be out of sight completely. Joseph’s plan works, and all Israel settles, as the shepherds they are, in the land of Goshen.
Conclusion:
As we bring this to a close, I’m sure many of you are thinking of many things and many ways in which we could apply this chapter to ourselves. I’d like to point out that the whole trajectory of this chapter is itself one of the biggest takeaways.
This chapter is about Jacob being called out of what he knows into a land he had not been too before. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? It sounds a lot like Abraham who was called by God to leave all he knew and head off into the Promise Land. In a reverse manner, now here many years later the grandson of Abraham, Jacob, is called to the leave the Promise Land and head off into Egypt. Naturally though, Jacob is fearful. So what does God do? In v4 He gives Jacob the promise of His presence, “I myself will go down with you to Egypt…” And so off he went, into the unknown, with the Lord. And of course, in time Israel would grow in Egypt as God said they would, even as they’re enslaved by a new Pharaoh. When it came time for God to save them once again He sent Moses, who had once fled Egypt, now he is called by God to go back into it and bring out the Israelites. In this he’s fearful but God says to him in Exodus 3:12, “I will be with you.” Later on as the nation of Israel stood on the banks of Promise Land about to re-enter it with Joshua at their head they are fearful, yet God once again makes a promise saying in Deut. 31:6, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.” And on and on the story goes. God’s people ebb and flow in their obedience, but whether they’re in the Promise Land or far off in exile, all along, God reminds them that He is with them. And God remained with His people up until the time when He Himself came to dwell in their midst at the birth of the Lord Jesus. He is given the name Immanuel, which means ‘God with us.’ And after His resurrection Jesus gives us the very same promise God made to Jacob here in our text, telling us in Matthew 28:20, “I will be with you, even to the end of the age.” And when the end of the age comes Jesus told us that He’ll return to dwell with us His people forever.
In all of those father son stories we began with, the joy is great in the end because they come back to one another and find encouragement in one another’s presence. Church, the promise of God’s presence changes everything for us. In the gospel of Christ we not only come back to God, in the gospel of Christ God promises to be with us forever. So as our days come and go, whether they test our faith or fill our hearts with songs of praise, we can know, that the Lord is always with us, and if He is with us, nothing can undo us.
[1] Bruce K. Waltke, Genesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2001), 573.
[2] Waltke, 573.
[3] John D. Currid, Genesis 25:19-50:26, EP Study Commentary (Holywell, UK: Evangelical Press, 2015), 335.
[4] Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 16-50, WBC (Waco, TX: Zondervan, 2000), 441.
[5] R. Kent Hughes, Genesis, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), 527.
[6] Currid, Genesis 25:19-50:26, 341–42.
[7] Wenham, Genesis 16-50, 442.
[8] Currid, Genesis 25:19-50:26, 336.
[9] Wenham, Genesis 16-50, 442.
[10] Hughes, Genesis, 530.
[11] Waltke, Genesis, 585.
