Genesis 46 Commentary
Now the LORD speaks! The LORD had known all along (these many years) that Joseph was not dead but alive. Strange. This is itching information you want to quickly pass on to a friend but the LORD is long-suffering. Yes, long-suffering.
The LORD speaks about the exodus. Again these are events arranged by God in the same way that Joseph’s trip to Egypt was arranged. The LORD has a way to transport us through history, and what transport! The book of Exodus is appropriately positioned right next to Genesis as a continuation of the Jacob story (now Israel).
Statistics are important and the scriptures are full of them. We would call this the first numbering of the nation of Israel. Jacob has grown from 1 to 70.
We see Jacob sending Judah (not Reuben, Simeon, or Levi) to go and get instructions from Joseph. Remember how Jacob would send Joseph much earlier to check on his other sons! While everyone else gets their own share, it’s these two (Joseph and Judah) who define the main lines of the blessing.
Favoritism is Jacob’s most famous parental miss. But we can doubt this statement. He has a knack for spotting greatness in an individual! See how Judah’s star has risen!
Joseph meets his father and weeps. He weeps for a long time. It’s emotional. Jacob now feels ready to die. He can die because he has passed on the blessing. A man always feels incomplete without the hope of a stable posterity in his mind. He was designed for posterity.
Jacob feels he is now done. The LORD’s promise that Joseph would close his eyes (as he transitions) is an insurance and an assurance for posterity. Fathers should die before their children. The death of a son is not only painful but also a very crude termination of posterity. It spells the end of the story. Jacob’s own is different as the LORD assures him that Joseph’s hands would close his eyes into eternity.
Diplomacy isn’t a modern invention. Check how Joseph’s diplomacy ensures that Israel stays in Goshen! He is very much a government worker! You would understand the importance of Goshen as the LORD determined that His children stayed together in a community of believers, with minimum foreign influence.
Goshen is a physical separation wall. Yes, they are in Egypt but a wall exists. Let them live by themselves in a community of believers. This is a good lesson from this chapter for the saint who is in Egypt but not of Egypt. However, the main pick would be the “delayed” voice of the LORD God to Jacob concerning Joseph’s death status.
We guess the LORD spoke to Jacob in the intervening years but remained mute on the subject of Joseph. If the LORD is silent, it’s never because of ignorance or a lack of interest in “talking”. It could be a question of timing but never a lack of interest in the subject.
He is with Jacob (as promised) but also with Joseph in Egypt. But the two won’t shake hands until the right moment. Stuff is happening behind the scenes! It could be strategy but never a lack of activity!
Let the saint learn; a lack of information or knowledge on his or her part doesn’t mean the LORD isn’t at work!
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