Gen 47 - 48
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So good to be with you again as we are close to finishing our journey in Genesis. When I think back on all we have learned and discussed it has really been an enlightening time. From the creation week to the Fall to the Flood. BTW - all this studies from Gen 1 through the end are available on our website and on our Facebook Page.
Last time we left off with Joseph instructing his brothers as to how they should speak to Pharoah and specifically what they did for a living. Namely that they were shepherds both they and their fathers. Joseph includes the fact that the Egyptians find “every Shepherd loathsome.” The Hebrew word for loathsome means - an abomination, physically repugnant. The question is why? I have included an article but it seems there is no consensus as to the reason.
Article - Why Egyptians found Shepherds loathsome
The main theories being - that the Egyptians worshiped animals or secondly, they didn’t trust foreigners.
So let’s stand as we read the first verse of Gen 47;
Genesis 47:1–4 (NASB95)
1 Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they have, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.”
2 He took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.
I wonder which of the 11 were chosen?
3 Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.”
4 They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, therefore, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”
So it seems that it was Joseph’s plan all along to have his family in Goshen and in fact they were already dwelling there. He was just sharing this with Pharoah now. This would serve two purposes, allowing the Jews to be separate and giving them the land suitable for raising flocks.
Genesis 47:5–10 (NASB95)
5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.
6 “The land of Egypt is at your disposal; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land, let them live in the land of Goshen; and if you know any capable men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”
I find Pharaohs question, if you know any capable men.. kind of funny.
7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
This was probably on a later occasion after the initial meeting.
8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many years have you lived?”
9 So Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty; few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have they attained the years that my fathers lived during the days of their sojourning.”
10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from his presence.
This is an interesting conversation both in the question and the answer. Pharaoh's question seems very blunt, and speaks to Jacob’s appearance. Just imagine living your entire life outdoors moving from place to place. I am sure it would wear on you.
Jacobs answer is interesting as well, he says 130 years old, but in Jacobs mind it was few, at least in comparison to his father and grand father. Isaac lived to be 180 and Abraham 175. Jacob was then 130 and would live another 17 years to 147.
We have spent a lot of time on longevity but to refresh our memories just 5 generations before Jacob, his forefather Serug, lived to 230 and 6 generations prior to Serug (11 generations before Jacob) forefather Shem lived to 602.
Image- Generation of Noah
So the average age had been decreasing and would continue to decrease for a few more generations to modern times.
In addition to Jacobs observation that his life was shorter than his fathers he also observes that his live was unpleasant (nasb) or evil (KJV). The BDB lexicon adds;
2. bad, unpleasant, giving pain, unhappiness, misery: ימים רעים evil days (of trial and hardship) Gn 47:9
Truly Jacob had had his share of hardship yet he would say in blessing his Grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh,
Genesis 48:15–16 (NASB95)
15 He blessed Joseph, and said,
“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
16 The angel who has redeemed me from all evil,
Bless the lads;
And may my name live on in them,
And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
I have come to understand that no matter how difficult and hard your life may be, it is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes all the difference. The confidence and knowledge of His presence makes the bitter sweet and heavy much lighter. I pray that you know His presence.
Finally, Jacob does something that you would not expect, especially to the most powerful man in the known world, Jacob blesses Pharoah. In the eyes of the world Jacob was just some ancient nomad but in God’s eyes he was far greater than Pharoah. The book of Hebrews says something interesting about this in the teaching on Melchizedek.
Hebrews 7:6–7 (NASB95)
6 But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises.
7 But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater.
We move on.
Genesis 47:11–14 (NASB95)
11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had ordered.
As we learned last time in the video, Rameses, was a later name given to the area we now know as Avaris. Ramses had not yet been born.
12 Joseph provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to their little ones.
13 Now there was no food in all the land, because the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.
14 Joseph gathered all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain which they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.
We may soon be in such a predicament where a piece of bread will buy a bag of gold.
6 And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”
7 When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.”
Image - Denarius
denarius = "containing ten"
A Roman silver coin in NT time. It took its name from it being equal to ten "asses", a number after 217 B.C. increased to sixteen (about 3.898 grams or.1375 oz.). It was the principal silver coin of the Roman empire. From the parable of the labourers in the vineyard, it would seem that a denarius was then the ordinary pay for a day's wages. (Mt. 20:2-13)
So how much do you make in a day. Imagine that number equal the cost of food for a day.
So here Joseph has all the money there was from among regular people.
15 When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? For our money is gone.”
16 Then Joseph said, “Give up your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, since your money is gone.”
17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses and the flocks and the herds and the donkeys; and he fed them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year.
Notice that within the space of two years the peoples money and livestock are exhausted.
Genesis 47:18–26 (NASB95)
18 When that year was ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent, and the cattle are my lord’s. There is nothing left for my lord except our bodies and our lands.
19 “Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. So give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”
20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. Thus the land became Pharaoh’s.
Here we see what it will be like when the Mark of the Beast is introduced. One is forced to choose life or death.
21 As for the people, he removed them to the cities from one end of Egypt’s border to the other.
22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they lived off the allotment which Pharaoh gave them. Therefore, they did not sell their land.
The elites are always protected!
23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have today bought you and your land for Pharaoh; now, here is seed for you, and you may sow the land.
24 “At the harvest you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food and for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”
25 So they said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.”
26 Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt valid to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.
Many see here a maximum tax rate for Governments, 20%. However Government has gotten so big that the tax rates are above 50% all included. (Fed and State Income Tax, property Tax, sales tax etc.)
Interestingly the peoples attitude was one of gratitude and no complaining is noted.
Genesis 47:27–31 (NASB95)
27 Now Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in Goshen, and they acquired property in it and were fruitful and became very numerous.
28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the length of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years.
29 When the time for Israel to die drew near, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your sight, place now your hand under my thigh and deal with me in kindness and faithfulness. Please do not bury me in Egypt,
We saw this with Abraham and Eliezer (his servant) when he him to get a wife for Isaac. This was done for important pledges.
30 but when I lie down with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” And he said, “I will do as you have said.”
31 He said, “Swear to me.” So he swore to him. Then Israel bowed in worship at the head of the bed.
So Jacob wanted to be buried in the cave at Macpeleh which Abraham bought to bury his wife Sarah and later he and Isaac and Leah would all be buried.
On to Chapter 48.
Genesis 48:1–22 (NASB95)
1 Now it came about after these things that Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.
2 When it was told to Jacob, “Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel collected his strength and sat up in the bed.
3 Then Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz (former name of Bethel) in the land of Canaan and blessed me,
4 and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’
The promised land belongs to God and He has given it to Israel. So when the UN or the nations of the world try to give that land to others know that they are fighting God. Be sure you are on the right side of that fight.
5 “Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.
This is very unusual that a mans grand sons would be counted as his natural born sons. And truly that how they counted moving forward for the rest of the OT and NT.
6 “But your offspring that have been born after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the names of their brothers in their inheritance.
7 “Now as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died, to my sorrow, in the land of Canaan on the journey, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”
The name Ephrath is synonymous with Bethlehem, Lit- house of bread. It is famously used in the messianic prophecy Micah 5;
2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.”
8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?”
9 Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” So he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.”
10 Now the eyes of Israel were so dim from age that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.
11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your children as well.”
12 Then Joseph took them from his knees, and bowed with his face to the ground.
13 Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them close to him.
So here Joseph is making it easy for Jacob as he is lining up the oldest, Manasseh with his left hand to be in line with Jacobs right hand for the purpose of the blessing and the opposite with Ephraim. But notice what happens.
14 But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, although Manasseh was the firstborn.
He crossed his hands.
15 He blessed Joseph, and said,
“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
16 The angel who has redeemed me from all evil,
Bless the lads;
And may my name live on in them,
And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.”
19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”
Later Ephraim would be a euphemism of the Northern Kingdom.
20 He blessed them that day, saying,
“By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying,
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’ ”
Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
22 “I give you one portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”
So here in closing Jacob mention a piece of land he took from a battle with the Amorites. This is no where else mention in scripture however there is a clue in the word portion. The word in Hebrew is shechem and may be a play on the Shechum where Levi and Simion killed the whole town on the sake of Dinah their sister. This may also be the same location where Jesus met the women at the well called Jacobs well.
Next time we will close out Genesis and look at the prophesies given by Jacob regarding each tribe.
Prayer.