Gen 46:3 “there”
Jacob/Israel to Egypt
I.
Review
A. Joseph
has revealed himself to his brothers.
They have mostly restored their relationships with each other (45:15,
but also 50:15f. We are simply told the
brothers talked with each other. It does
not say they sought his forgiveness.)
1. The
brothers are instructed to return to the land
of Canaan and bring their father to
Egypt. (45:17f)
2. They
are given provisions to return, and they tell their father Joseph is
alive.
3. Jacob
desires to go see him (45:28)
II.
Jacob’s route to Egypt
A. Jacob
is living in Hebron and takes all
that he has and heads south through the mountains to Beersheba.
1. Beersheba
is a place with some family history.
a. Gen
21:31-33 – Abe plants a tree, as a lasting landmark[1]
there and calls upon the name of the LORD the Eternal God.
b. Gen
22:19 – after the trip where Abe was
called upon to sacrifice Isaac, but a ram was provided – he returns to Beersheba.
c. Gen
26:23 Isaac moves from Gerar to Beersheba
and finds water there. (and 28:10 is
when he leaves)
1) Shortly
after Jacob deceives his brother while living in in Beersheba
and runs from there to Haran. Gen 27.
2. (Num
13:21 – The route from Beersheba
to Hebron was the route the spies
took into the land.[2])
3. Beersheba
was not simply a town along the way from Hebron
to Egypt – It
was a place with family history and also the place where Abe called upon the
name of the Lord and set up a place of worship there. His father lived there and so did he at one
time. The place of worship would have been known to both.
4. When
Jacob reaches Beersheba he has an
encounter with God – the God of his fathers.
B. Jacob
intentionally set out for Beersheba
1. He
went there with the intent to offer a sacrifice to the Lord.
a. Gen
11/12 – God calls Abe to leave Ur
and go to the land of Canaan
and there God would make of him a great nation; make him to be a blessing to
the world.
b. Gen
12:7 - Canaan was
the promised land.
1) Abe
left Canaan for Egypt
during a famine. And he returned.
2) Isaac
was told directly not to go to Egypt
but to stay in -the land during the famine of his day. 26:1-3
3) When
Jacob was in Haran he was called by
God to go back to Canaan and was told that God would be
with him– 31:3
4) And
now Jacob was being called to Egypt
with all that he had – 45:18. 46:1
5) For
3 generation Canaan had been the place where God had
called the patriarchs to be and now here he (Jacob) is getting ready to leave
it for Egypt.
2. Jacob
stops to offer sacrifices to the Lord because he is uncertain about this
calling he has to leave Canaan and go to Egypt.
a. This
was a change. It was unexpected.
b. And
he was evidently a bit hesitant and even afraid. His fear was not so much the Egyptians, but
going to Egypt. Leaving Canaan, the
Promised Land. Is this what God wanted
him to do? What does this do to the
promise?
3. Jacob
was not simply going himself, the text tells us he took everyone in the family
with him – and names all 70 of them.
They are all following this new path.
(75 Stephen says…Moses does not count the wives. Stephen does)
C. God’s
answer to his fears
1. God
tells him not to be afraid to make this move.
a) Notice
how Moses uses both names of Jacob in the text:
1) Jacob
– his old name – who he was and where he had been
2) Israel
– his new name – who he is now and where he is going.
3) God
can deal with our past. It does not
hinder him. There is in God’s provision
– forgiveness and newness of life. We can’t erase our history, but it can be
overcome and we can live in a new relationship with God and be used by him.
2. He
further tells him that he will make him into a great nation – in Egypt. He will act from Egypt
to make the 70 people who are going with him into a great nation.
a) God’s
promise had always been that he would make Abe’s descendants into a great
nation.
b) Now,
the promise is given an unexpected fleshing out. It will be from Egypt
that this promise is worked out. Not Canaan. 46:3 – “I will make you into a great nation
there”
1) Egypt
– Mizraim – Gen 10 – was a Hamite region.
The people were under the curse of Noah.
c) God
assures him that his promise will not be hindered because he is outside Canaan.
In Egypt – of
all places. As we studied last week –
God (the HS) works all things together to accomplish God’s goals.
d) In
the NT (Mt 16) Christ is in Caesarea Philippi and asks the disciples who he is
and….on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not
prevail.
1) The
gates of hell were entrance places into the underworld. They were guarded by statues of threatening
mythological creatures. And entrance
into them meant death. [3]
(And that is what going to Egypt
could have meant to Jacob and his whole family – and what about the promise of
God?)
2) Christ
is going to build his church right in the place of opposition and in the face
of threats. And not only there – the
gates will not prevail – the church will go through those gates and win people
to Christ.
3) And
the church will grow in numbers, Christ promises in the parables. (We have as
evidence this story and the exodus how Israel
grew there into a great nation.)
D. God
calls each of to different places and to different roles.
1. God’s
calling to me is not the same calling he gives to you. It does not have to be.
a. Isaac
forbidden to Egypt. Gen26
b. Jacob
called there to fulfill the promise.
2. God
does not have to and does not call us to equal tasks or difficulties in life.
a. Jesus
and John and Peter – Jn 21:18-19 – Jesus calls Peter to feed his sheep – be
about the work of spreading the gospel and ministry to his people – and then he
tells him basically you are going to die in a way you really don’t want to.
1) And
Peter, asks, well what about John.
2) And
Jesus says, If I want him alive until I return what is that to you? I have called you and I have called him and I
will work my will out in your life according to my plan. You follow me.
b. I
Cor 12 – Paul in talking about the gifts of the Spirit says some in the church
are a hand, some an ear… we have not all been called to do the same thing. Nor to the same place.
c. What
God may call me to do is the very thing he does not call you to do. And v.v.
1) There
is no inconsistency or unfairness about that.
2) Some
have been called to exalted position and some to lowly positions. Some to go.
Some to stay. Some to be healthy. Some to suffer.
3) Changes
come in our life. Changes in God’s call
to us. Not his calling of us, but his
calling in the work he has for us. His
calling to us to another task or place or role in life. His plan is to accomplish his goal/purpose
for us through his means and not our own.
4) And
the good news is that, like Jacob on his way to Egypt
of all places, God is with him and is going to keep his promise to him even
there. And he does for us too. The call is sudden to us – unexpected. But not to God.
5) As
we grow older – God’s call to us does not change. The place where that call is played out in
our life may – and God may call us to some tough places. But in every one of those places, he is with
us through Christ and his plan is to use us in those places to show his grace
to the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment