Jacob and Family Come to Egypt
- Dates
- 1661 BC
After Jacob's sons come to Egypt seeking grain during a widespread famine, Joseph tests them and eventually reveals his identity. Jacob's family then moves to Egypt and lives in Goshen since Egyptians of this time do not like shepherds.
In detail
God spoke to Jacob. This was apparently the first vision accorded Jacob for many years. Several of the previous revelations had come during the night, mostly in the form of dreams (chs. 28:12 31:11 32:30). This one is not called a dream, which would have come during sleep, but a vision. The Lord told him not to be afraid. This divine admonition reveals the fact that Jacob had feared he might be doing wrong in going to Egypt.
He yearned to see Joseph, his long—lost son but he also remembered the evil consequences of Abraham's journey to Egypt (ch. 12:14—20), and that God had once forbidden Isaac to go there during a famine (ch. 26:2). Whether his journey would meet God's approval may have been a serious question in the patriarch's mind. Now God expressed approval of the journey and gave him reassuring promises.
As formerly, when setting out for Padan—aram, so now in departing for Egypt, Jacob received the assurance that God would go with him, that the divine promise concerning his posterity was still valid, and that the move into Egypt would not mean the permanent abandonment of the Land of Promise.
Bible passages
- Genesis 46:1-27
1 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer–sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. 3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: …
Text of the King James Version.
Images
