Genesis 47: Jacob, Pharaoh and Providence

In Genesis chapter 47, the family of Israel is going to finally settle in Egypt, and Jacob, the great patriarch of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, will meet Pharaoh. Let's take a look at this now, beginning at verse 1 of Genesis chapter 47. Then Joseph went... and told Pharaoh and said, My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds, and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan, and indeed they are in the land of Goshen. And he took five men from among his brethren and presented them to Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, What is your occupation? And they said to Pharaoh, Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers. And they said to Pharaoh, We have come to dwell in the land because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen. When Pharaoh received this audience of the family of the sons of Jacob, the sons of Israel, this audience was only possible for because of the intervention of Joseph. Verse 1 explains that Joseph came to Pharaoh and introduced the family of Israel. He said, My father and my brothers have come from the land of Canaan. Now friends, when Joseph spoke these words to Pharaoh, it was the fulfillment of God's plan, and it was also the fulfillment of Joseph's desire. Joseph was once again with his father and his brothers and all their families. There's a beautiful reuniting of the family, and they're going to live together in the land of Egypt. And under Joseph's instructions, the brothers asked to live in the region of Egypt known as the land of Goshen. Now notice this. Joseph had remarkably high status in the government of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. Yet the family still had to ask permission of Pharaoh to dwell in the land of Goshen. And that's what Pharaoh is going to do. Look now, beginning at verse 5. Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock. First, through Pharaoh, the family of Israel received the great blessing of this invitation, as verse 6 says, to dwell in the best of the land. And I want to clarify again that this blessing was all because of Joseph. If not for Joseph, if not for the way that God had worked in Joseph's life ever since he was thrown into that place. pit and sold as a slave and made a slave in Potiphar's house and then put into prison and interpreted the dreams of the butler and the baker of Pharaoh and then interpreted Pharaoh's dreams and then rose to great status and understood God's message spoken to Pharaoh through the dream and saved the world through his wise administration of the famine. If not for all of that glorious chain of events, then... the family of Israel would have never received this blessing, dwell in the best of the land. You see, in addition to simply surviving the famine, which, by the way, would have been enough of a blessing for God to work through Joseph unto the family of Israel, his brothers, his father, all that they had, that would have been enough merely to survive the family. But no, in addition to all that, here, the family's blessed. And they receive an inheritance. They receive all this land because of Joseph. By the way, the land belonged to Pharaoh because of the wise administration of Joseph in the midst of all the famine. We'll see that later on as we talk about this. Now, if you want to take a look at verse 6, Pharaoh asked the brothers, if you know any competent man. It can be assumed that there were at least some among Joseph's brothers and families who were competent as herdsmen, and they would become herdsmen for Pharaoh's own flocks. Now, starting at verse 7, we're going to have the blessing that Jacob will pronounce upon Pharaoh. Here we go. Starting now, Genesis chapter 47, verse 7. Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Jacob, How old are you? And Jacob said to Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. So Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from before Pharaoh. This is really an amazing scene. This great patriarch, this man who was so strategically used in the unfolding plan of the ages that God has to bring redemption, not only to the people of Israel through their Messiah, Jesus Christ, not only to all the Gentiles who would trust in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, but God will use the progeny of this patriarchy of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, this great man Jacob, he stands before what in some ways might have been one of the most powerful men on the face of the earth at the time, Pharaoh of Egypt. And when he answered Pharaoh, Jacob explained that he was on a pilgrimage. The days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years. Now, we're... we're not really familiar with the term pilgrimage in our normal everyday conversation, at least in the English language in the beginning part of the 21st century. But what it means is it means to travel through an area. When you're on a pilgrimage, you're not home, but eventually you're going to get back home. And when Jacob described his 130 years of life on this earth as a pilgrimage, he was telling Pharaoh, my real home is somewhere else. Now, this idea is beautifully consummated in the book of Hebrews. where the inspired author of this letter to the Hebrew Christians in the first century explains that these great men and women of faith were those who looked for a heavenly home. They understood that their real home was not here on earth, but it was in heaven. That's where their real identity, where their real existence was rooted. And yes, they lived in a real... flesh and blood material world here, and that wasn't to be despised, but neither was it to be regarded as the ultimate. And here, Jacob professes, he confesses that kind of heart. The days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years. Dear brother, dear sister, do you understand that you are on a pilgrimage? that you are a pilgrim on this earth, and that your real home, your real citizenship is in heaven. And please understand, I don't say that to imply in any way that your life, your work, your existence on this earth is meaningless, that it's unimportant. No, no, no, that's not the idea at all. It's just not of ultimate importance. What God does in the here and now, through us, through our families, in our communities, in our nations, all of that's important before him. But ultimately, we are citizens of heaven. We are on a pilgrimage, just like Jacob confessed to Pharaoh. Our real home, our real citizenship is somewhere else. It's in heaven. And then he goes on to say in verse 9, Jacob speaking to Pharaoh, few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. Now, I don't believe that that was a pessimistic or a cynical statement by Jacob. Instead, when he described the days of his life as few and evil, he recognized that the general character of his life as a man was mostly unconcerned with spiritual things. That's why he says, evil have been the days of the years of my life. Friends, when you compare these three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Jacob is kind of clearly the least spiritual of all three of them. Now, I'm not saying for a moment that Abraham and Isaac were completely godly men. There's flaws, there's weaknesses exposed in each one of those men, to be certain. But there's something conniving. There's something deceptive. There's something false, phony in Jacob, fitting to his name. Heel catcher basically means deceiver or trickster or con man. That's kind of how Jacob lived his whole life. As he's thinking of the broad course of his life in general, he says, listen, compared to my grandfather Abraham, compared to my father Isaac, I haven't lived as long, few have been the days of the years of my life, and I haven't been as much of a spiritual man, a godly man as they were. That's why he says evil have been the days of the years of my life. But at the end of it all... Jacob was able to bless Pharaoh. That simple phrase in verse 10 is very meaningful. So Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Now, of course, by implication, here the text doesn't specifically say it, but by implication, Pharaoh received this blessing. Pharaoh didn't stop him. And because Pharaoh did that, he acknowledged that Jacob was a man of God simply by accepting his blessing. Now, this was remarkable because in the Egyptian religion system at that time, Pharaoh himself was thought to be a god. Egyptians of that time considered Pharaoh to be the human embodiment of Ra, the sun god. And this means that it was remarkable that he allowed Israel to bestow a blessing on him. There was something about Jacob, as flawed as he was, that was very impressive to Pharaoh. Now starting at verse 11. And Joseph situated 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 Ramses, as Pharaoh had commanded. Then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with bread, according to the number in their families. So here we just simply see that the family of Israel looks to Joseph and to nobody but Joseph, but Joseph alone as their source of provision and supply. It was Joseph, verse 11 says, who situated his father and his brothers. Joseph provided all for his family. And then it simply says there in verse 12 that he provided them with bread. Even though there was great famine in the entire region, God's work through Joseph's wise preparation meant that there was bread for Joseph's family. And by the way, bread for countless others beyond that, again, because of what God worked through Joseph and his wise administration. Now, starting at verse 13, we're going to begin to read a section which is going to explain how Pharaoh came into possession of so much of the land of Egypt, at least in a financial or governmental sense. Let's take a look here, starting at verse 13 in Genesis chapter 47. Now, there was no bread in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. And Joseph gathered up 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. You see, this famine went far beyond Egypt. It was in the whole region of Canaan as well. It was very severe. And normally, many people would die in such an extended time of famine. Now, they were able to buy grain. from Pharaoh working through Joseph and his administration, but because they were buying grain from Pharaoh and his administration that, as verse 14 says, brought the money into Pharaoh's house. Now notice this. Joseph was not only a hard worker, not only a brilliant administrator, but he was also simply an honest worker. He did not cheat Pharaoh. As a loyal employee, as verse 14 says, he brought the money into Pharaoh's house. Joseph understood this. A good, wise, competent, honest worker. Now, starting at verse 15. So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For the money has failed. Then Joseph said, Give your livestock, and I'll give you bread for your livestock, if the money is gone. So they brought their livestock to Joseph. And Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread. in exchange for all their livestock that year. When that year had ended, they came to him the next year, and they said, we will not hide from my Lord that our money is gone. My Lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my Lord but our bodies and our lands. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread. And we in our land will be servants of Pharaoh. Give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate. Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. For every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh's, and for the people. He moved them into the cities from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end. Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them. Therefore they did not sell their lands. Then Joseph said to the people, Indeed, I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your household and as food for your little ones. So they said, You've saved our lives. Let us find favor in the sight of my Lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants. And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh's. Because of this tremendous famine, a seven-year famine over the entire region, food was available in Egypt, but at a price. And because this famine lasted so long, again, seven years in total, Eventually, the people ran out of money to buy more grain. When the money first failed, Joseph received their livestock as payment. You saw it there in the text. Horses, cattle, sheep, goats, whatever. But when the livestock was gone, then Joseph received their land as payment. And as it says there in verse 20, so the land became Pharaoh's. In this whole process, the... The power and wealth of Pharaoh was greatly multiplied. This is sort of a common phenomenon through the history of the world. In times of national crisis, the power of central government often increases. And this was a tremendous crisis, a seven-year famine. But under Joseph's administration, the people survived, yet Pharaoh owned the land. And the people worked the land at the price of one-fifth of the produce of the land. The people kept 80% of what they produced from land. So the tax was 20%, one-fifth. And this was the rule. Verse 24 says, in the harvest, you shall give one fifth to Pharaoh. I want to stress in this that I don't believe that Joseph was unfair in this at all. He was not. Joseph fed the people when they would have otherwise starved. They would have been dead. And in return, Joseph, again, working under the authority of Pharaoh, but Joseph asked for one-fifth. 20% annually from the produce of the land. There are many people today in the world, in the Western world, United States, Canada, Europe. There are many people today who would be thrilled to pay only 20% in total taxes. In the Western world, most people, when you add up all the taxes that they pay, sales taxes, income taxes. property taxes, all the rest of it, when you add it all together, they pay much more than 20%. So Joseph's requirement of the people for their very survival was not excessive. Now, continuing on, beginning at verse 27. So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen, and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly. Now, friends, that verse describes the story not only of the present moment when the family of Israel came into Goshen while Joseph was still alive, but to some extent it describes the history of Israel as it would unfold under the next 400 years. Thank You see, over the next 400 years, the people of Israel would become, by some estimates, and by the way, I've read the research on this, some people believe that when Israel came out of Egypt, I've heard some estimates as low as 10,000 people. I've heard other estimates as high as 6 million people. It was a vast multitude. We know from the census in Numbers chapter 1 that there were some 630,000. Men who could be soldiers on behalf of Israel. Men who could go to war. Well, when you extrapolate that out, account for men who couldn't go to war, children, women, then you have a population of perhaps 2 million or more. And I understand these figures are disputed. But there is no dispute that Israel, as it says in verse 27, grew and multiplied exceedingly in Egypt. Now... Henry Morris, in his commentary on the book of Genesis, he calculated this initial group of five. That would be Jacob and then his four wives, technically two wives and two concubines. But Henry Morris calculated this initial group of five grew into a clan of about 100 people in 50 years. That 100 includes the 70 of the... previous chapter in Genesis, plus a few wives of the sons that weren't mentioned and their grandchildren. So if you estimate going from five to a hundred in 50 years, that's a growth rate of just over six percent per year. And at that rate, at that growth rate, there would be several million descendants of the nation of Israel. by the time Israel left Egypt some 430 years later. So, these are high figures of multiplication, but certainly not impossible, not by any means. Now, verse 28. And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt 17 years. So, the length of Jacob's life was 147 years. When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, Now if I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie 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. Then he said, Swear to me, and he swore to him. So Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed. Jacob's life lasted 147 years. When he knew that his death was drawing near, he made Joseph take a solemn oath after the pattern of the oath that Abraham made with his servant in Genesis chapter 24, verses 1 through 9. And that solemn oath was concerned with this basic understanding. Please do not bury me in Egypt, verse 29, and then verse 30, but let me lie with my fathers. This was the oath that Israel required from Joseph. You see, Israel knew Egypt was not his home. He was a pilgrim, a heavenly pilgrim, but he also was a man who had promised to him by the covenant that God had made with his forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and now Jacob, that the land of Canaan was promised to them by covenant. And so he said, that's where I want to be buried, because he clearly believed and understood that he was the inheritor of Abraham's covenant. And then at the very end of the chapter, you saw it there in verse 31. It says that Isaac bowed himself, bowed himself on the head of the bed. Now, when we get to verse 31 and hear that he's bowing on the head of the bed, we're ready for Jacob to die. I think I said Isaac a moment ago, but this is Jacob, this is Israel. He's almost ready to die, but not yet. He has some important things to do and to say. And that'll concern the next couple chapters in the book. of Genesis. But at the end of chapter 47, Jacob or Israel and all his family, they are in the land. They are in the land of Goshen in Egypt, and they will remain there until God uses that place and that situation, which because of just some overt prejudice and racism on the part of the Egyptians had very little mixing with the Egyptians. We'd use them to grow this family of Israel from a large family to a nation some 400 years later. All right, before we leave this chapter, let's talk about just a couple ways that Genesis chapter 47 points to Jesus. Again, I'm not trying to say that I'm exhausting it with just these couple ideas about how this chapter points to Jesus. If you have other ideas, hey, we love to hear them. You can leave feedback for us in whatever way is appropriate. But there's two ways that I'd just like to consider that Genesis chapter 47 points to Jesus. Number one, Jacob's testimony in verse 9 was that few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. I think that this points to Jesus by way of contrast. You know, sometimes things point to Jesus by way of similarity, and praise the Lord for that. But that's not the only way that things point to Jesus in the Old Testament, sometimes by way of contrast. And we could never imagine these words in the mouth of Jesus the Messiah. Few have not been his days. He is the everlasting God. His going forths are from everlasting. And he's eternal. He's the Alpha and the Omega. Jesus could never say of his being in its entirety, both God and man. Few have been my days, but certainly Jesus also could never say evil have been my days. No, no, no. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. That is the exact opposite of the testimony of Jesus. And we see Jesus there by contrast. Then number two, verse 11 says that Joseph situated his father and his brothers. Friends, does not Jesus? to situate his people and provide for them? He certainly does. Now, I don't know where you are today, but Jesus has a purpose for you where you're at right now. And I'm not trying to say about that that Jesus intends that you should be where you're at in geography, in your career, in your marital status, and whatever it might be. I'm not saying that God intends you to be in that particular situation forever. But he's got you there now. He's got a purpose for you. Jesus situates his people and provides for them, just as Joseph did for his father and his brothers. Let's not resist what Jesus is doing in our life right now. Rather, let's just ask for wisdom, strength, and real illumination from God to say, Jesus, you've situated me in a particular place. Just as Joseph situated his fathers and brothers, help me to live rightly and honoring unto you in the place you've put me. Father in heaven, that is our prayer. You have, by the wonderful work of Jesus our Messiah, you've situated us in a glorious place. In the circumstances where we find ourselves today, you've situated us in heavenly places, having seated us there in Christ Jesus. And you situated us with a heavenly hope. All of these things tie together, Lord. Glorious is the situation in which you've put us. So give us wisdom to understand our present day circumstances. And give us great hope for that ultimate situation you have for your people. And therefore we say, come quickly, Lord Jesus. And we say it in Jesus'name. Amen.

And he took five men from among his brethren and presented them to Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, What is your occupation? And they said to Pharaoh, Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.

And they said to Pharaoh, We have come to dwell in the land because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen. When Pharaoh received this audience of the family of the sons of Jacob, the sons of Israel, this audience was only possible for because of the intervention of Joseph.

Verse 1 explains that Joseph came to Pharaoh and introduced the family of Israel. He said, My father and my brothers have come from the land of Canaan. Now friends, when Joseph spoke these words to Pharaoh, it was the fulfillment of God's plan, and it was also the fulfillment of Joseph's desire.

Joseph was once again with his father and his brothers and all their families. There's a beautiful reuniting of the family, and they're going to live together in the land of Egypt. And under Joseph's instructions, the brothers asked to live in the region of Egypt known as the land of Goshen. Now notice this. Joseph had remarkably high status in the government of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh.

Yet the family still had to ask permission of Pharaoh to dwell in the land of Goshen. And that's what Pharaoh is going to do. Look now, beginning at verse 5. Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, Your father and your brothers have come to you.

The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen.

And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock. First, through Pharaoh, the family of Israel received the great blessing of this invitation, as verse 6 says, to dwell in the best of the land. And I want to clarify again that this blessing was all because of Joseph.

If not for Joseph, if not for the way that God had worked in Joseph's life ever since he was thrown into that place. pit and sold as a slave and made a slave in Potiphar's house and then put into prison and interpreted the dreams of the butler and the baker of Pharaoh and then interpreted Pharaoh's dreams and then rose to great status and understood God's message spoken to Pharaoh through the dream and saved the world through his wise administration of the famine. If not for all of that glorious chain of events, then... the family of Israel would have never received this blessing, dwell in the best of the land. You see, in addition to simply surviving the famine, which, by the way, would have been enough of a blessing for God to work through Joseph unto the family of Israel, his brothers, his father, all that they had, that would have been enough merely to survive the family.

But no, in addition to all that, here, the family's blessed. And they receive an inheritance. They receive all this land because of Joseph.

By the way, the land belonged to Pharaoh because of the wise administration of Joseph in the midst of all the famine. We'll see that later on as we talk about this. Now, if you want to take a look at verse 6, Pharaoh asked the brothers, if you know any competent man. It can be assumed that there were at least some among Joseph's brothers and families who were competent as herdsmen, and they would become herdsmen for Pharaoh's own flocks.

Now, starting at verse 7, we're going to have the blessing that Jacob will pronounce upon Pharaoh. Here we go. Starting now, Genesis chapter 47, verse 7. Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh.

And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Jacob, How old are you? And Jacob said to Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. So Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from before Pharaoh.

This is really an amazing scene. This great patriarch, this man who was so strategically used in the unfolding plan of the ages that God has to bring redemption, not only to the people of Israel through their Messiah, Jesus Christ, not only to all the Gentiles who would trust in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, but God will use the progeny of this patriarchy of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, this great man Jacob, he stands before what in some ways might have been one of the most powerful men on the face of the earth at the time, Pharaoh of Egypt. And when he answered Pharaoh, Jacob explained that he was on a pilgrimage. The days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years. Now, we're...

we're not really familiar with the term pilgrimage in our normal everyday conversation, at least in the English language in the beginning part of the 21st century. But what it means is it means to travel through an area. When you're on a pilgrimage, you're not home, but eventually you're going to get back home.

And when Jacob described his 130 years of life on this earth as a pilgrimage, he was telling Pharaoh, my real home is somewhere else. Now, this idea is beautifully consummated in the book of Hebrews. where the inspired author of this letter to the Hebrew Christians in the first century explains that these great men and women of faith were those who looked for a heavenly home. They understood that their real home was not here on earth, but it was in heaven. That's where their real identity, where their real existence was rooted.

And yes, they lived in a real... flesh and blood material world here, and that wasn't to be despised, but neither was it to be regarded as the ultimate. And here, Jacob professes, he confesses that kind of heart.

The days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years. Dear brother, dear sister, do you understand that you are on a pilgrimage? that you are a pilgrim on this earth, and that your real home, your real citizenship is in heaven.

And please understand, I don't say that to imply in any way that your life, your work, your existence on this earth is meaningless, that it's unimportant. No, no, no, that's not the idea at all. It's just not of ultimate importance. What God does in the here and now, through us, through our families, in our communities, in our nations, all of that's important before him.

But ultimately, we are citizens of heaven. We are on a pilgrimage, just like Jacob confessed to Pharaoh. Our real home, our real citizenship is somewhere else. It's in heaven.

And then he goes on to say in verse 9, Jacob speaking to Pharaoh, few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. Now, I don't believe that that was a pessimistic or a cynical statement by Jacob. Instead, when he described the days of his life as few and evil, he recognized that the general character of his life as a man was mostly unconcerned with spiritual things.

That's why he says, evil have been the days of the years of my life. Friends, when you compare these three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Jacob is kind of clearly the least spiritual of all three of them. Now, I'm not saying for a moment that Abraham and Isaac were completely godly men. There's flaws, there's weaknesses exposed in each one of those men, to be certain.

But there's something conniving. There's something deceptive. There's something false, phony in Jacob, fitting to his name. Heel catcher basically means deceiver or trickster or con man. That's kind of how Jacob lived his whole life.

As he's thinking of the broad course of his life in general, he says, listen, compared to my grandfather Abraham, compared to my father Isaac, I haven't lived as long, few have been the days of the years of my life, and I haven't been as much of a spiritual man, a godly man as they were. That's why he says evil have been the days of the years of my life. But at the end of it all...

Jacob was able to bless Pharaoh. That simple phrase in verse 10 is very meaningful. So Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

Now, of course, by implication, here the text doesn't specifically say it, but by implication, Pharaoh received this blessing. Pharaoh didn't stop him. And because Pharaoh did that, he acknowledged that Jacob was a man of God simply by accepting his blessing. Now, this was remarkable because in the Egyptian religion system at that time, Pharaoh himself was thought to be a god.

Egyptians of that time considered Pharaoh to be the human embodiment of Ra, the sun god. And this means that it was remarkable that he allowed Israel to bestow a blessing on him. There was something about Jacob, as flawed as he was, that was very impressive to Pharaoh.

Now starting at verse 11. And Joseph situated 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 Ramses, as Pharaoh had commanded. Then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with bread, according to the number in their families. So here we just simply see that the family of Israel looks to Joseph and to nobody but Joseph, but Joseph alone as their source of provision and supply. It was Joseph, verse 11 says, who situated his father and his brothers. Joseph provided all for his family.

And then it simply says there in verse 12 that he provided them with bread. Even though there was great famine in the entire region, God's work through Joseph's wise preparation meant that there was bread for Joseph's family. And by the way, bread for countless others beyond that, again, because of what God worked through Joseph and his wise administration.

Now, starting at verse 13, we're going to begin to read a section which is going to explain how Pharaoh came into possession of so much of the land of Egypt, at least in a financial or governmental sense. Let's take a look here, starting at verse 13 in Genesis chapter 47. Now, there was no bread in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. And Joseph gathered up 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. You see, this famine went far beyond Egypt. It was in the whole region of Canaan as well.

It was very severe. And normally, many people would die in such an extended time of famine. Now, they were able to buy grain. from Pharaoh working through Joseph and his administration, but because they were buying grain from Pharaoh and his administration that, as verse 14 says, brought the money into Pharaoh's house. Now notice this.

Joseph was not only a hard worker, not only a brilliant administrator, but he was also simply an honest worker. He did not cheat Pharaoh. As a loyal employee, as verse 14 says, he brought the money into Pharaoh's house.

Joseph understood this. A good, wise, competent, honest worker. Now, starting at verse 15. So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence?

For the money has failed. Then Joseph said, Give your livestock, and I'll give you bread for your livestock, if the money is gone. So they brought their livestock to Joseph. And Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread.

in exchange for all their livestock that year. When that year had ended, they came to him the next year, and they said, we will not hide from my Lord that our money is gone. My Lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my Lord but our bodies and our lands. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land?

Buy us and our land for bread. And we in our land will be servants of Pharaoh. Give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate. Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh.

For every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh's, and for the people. He moved them into the cities from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end.

Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them. Therefore they did not sell their lands. Then Joseph said to the people, Indeed, I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh.

Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your household and as food for your little ones.

So they said, You've saved our lives. Let us find favor in the sight of my Lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants. And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh's. Because of this tremendous famine, a seven-year famine over the entire region, food was available in Egypt, but at a price.

And because this famine lasted so long, again, seven years in total, Eventually, the people ran out of money to buy more grain. When the money first failed, Joseph received their livestock as payment. You saw it there in the text.

Horses, cattle, sheep, goats, whatever. But when the livestock was gone, then Joseph received their land as payment. And as it says there in verse 20, so the land became Pharaoh's.

In this whole process, the... The power and wealth of Pharaoh was greatly multiplied. This is sort of a common phenomenon through the history of the world.

In times of national crisis, the power of central government often increases. And this was a tremendous crisis, a seven-year famine. But under Joseph's administration, the people survived, yet Pharaoh owned the land. And the people worked the land at the price of one-fifth of the produce of the land. The people kept 80% of what they produced from land.

So the tax was 20%, one-fifth. And this was the rule. Verse 24 says, in the harvest, you shall give one fifth to Pharaoh. I want to stress in this that I don't believe that Joseph was unfair in this at all.

He was not. Joseph fed the people when they would have otherwise starved. They would have been dead. And in return, Joseph, again, working under the authority of Pharaoh, but Joseph asked for one-fifth. 20% annually from the produce of the land.

There are many people today in the world, in the Western world, United States, Canada, Europe. There are many people today who would be thrilled to pay only 20% in total taxes. In the Western world, most people, when you add up all the taxes that they pay, sales taxes, income taxes.

property taxes, all the rest of it, when you add it all together, they pay much more than 20%. So Joseph's requirement of the people for their very survival was not excessive. Now, continuing on, beginning at verse 27. So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen, and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly.

Now, friends, that verse describes the story not only of the present moment when the family of Israel came into Goshen while Joseph was still alive, but to some extent it describes the history of Israel as it would unfold under the next 400 years. Thank You see, over the next 400 years, the people of Israel would become, by some estimates, and by the way, I've read the research on this, some people believe that when Israel came out of Egypt, I've heard some estimates as low as 10,000 people. I've heard other estimates as high as 6 million people. It was a vast multitude.

We know from the census in Numbers chapter 1 that there were some 630,000. Men who could be soldiers on behalf of Israel. Men who could go to war. Well, when you extrapolate that out, account for men who couldn't go to war, children, women, then you have a population of perhaps 2 million or more.

And I understand these figures are disputed. But there is no dispute that Israel, as it says in verse 27, grew and multiplied exceedingly in Egypt. Now...

Henry Morris, in his commentary on the book of Genesis, he calculated this initial group of five. That would be Jacob and then his four wives, technically two wives and two concubines. But Henry Morris calculated this initial group of five grew into a clan of about 100 people in 50 years.

That 100 includes the 70 of the... previous chapter in Genesis, plus a few wives of the sons that weren't mentioned and their grandchildren. So if you estimate going from five to a hundred in 50 years, that's a growth rate of just over six percent per year.

And at that rate, at that growth rate, there would be several million descendants of the nation of Israel. by the time Israel left Egypt some 430 years later. So, these are high figures of multiplication, but certainly not impossible, not by any means. Now, verse 28. And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt 17 years. So, the length of Jacob's life was 147 years.

When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, Now if I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie 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. Then he said, Swear to me, and he swore to him. So Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.

Jacob's life lasted 147 years. When he knew that his death was drawing near, he made Joseph take a solemn oath after the pattern of the oath that Abraham made with his servant in Genesis chapter 24, verses 1 through 9. And that solemn oath was concerned with this basic understanding. Please do not bury me in Egypt, verse 29, and then verse 30, but let me lie with my fathers. This was the oath that Israel required from Joseph.

You see, Israel knew Egypt was not his home. He was a pilgrim, a heavenly pilgrim, but he also was a man who had promised to him by the covenant that God had made with his forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and now Jacob, that the land of Canaan was promised to them by covenant. And so he said, that's where I want to be buried, because he clearly believed and understood that he was the inheritor of Abraham's covenant.

And then at the very end of the chapter, you saw it there in verse 31. It says that Isaac bowed himself, bowed himself on the head of the bed. Now, when we get to verse 31 and hear that he's bowing on the head of the bed, we're ready for Jacob to die. I think I said Isaac a moment ago, but this is Jacob, this is Israel. He's almost ready to die, but not yet.

He has some important things to do and to say. And that'll concern the next couple chapters in the book. of Genesis.

But at the end of chapter 47, Jacob or Israel and all his family, they are in the land. They are in the land of Goshen in Egypt, and they will remain there until God uses that place and that situation, which because of just some overt prejudice and racism on the part of the Egyptians had very little mixing with the Egyptians. We'd use them to grow this family of Israel from a large family to a nation some 400 years later. All right, before we leave this chapter, let's talk about just a couple ways that Genesis chapter 47 points to Jesus.

Again, I'm not trying to say that I'm exhausting it with just these couple ideas about how this chapter points to Jesus. If you have other ideas, hey, we love to hear them. You can leave feedback for us in whatever way is appropriate.

But there's two ways that I'd just like to consider that Genesis chapter 47 points to Jesus. Number one, Jacob's testimony in verse 9 was that few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. I think that this points to Jesus by way of contrast.

You know, sometimes things point to Jesus by way of similarity, and praise the Lord for that. But that's not the only way that things point to Jesus in the Old Testament, sometimes by way of contrast. And we could never imagine these words in the mouth of Jesus the Messiah.

Few have not been his days. He is the everlasting God. His going forths are from everlasting. And he's eternal.

He's the Alpha and the Omega. Jesus could never say of his being in its entirety, both God and man. Few have been my days, but certainly Jesus also could never say evil have been my days.

No, no, no. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. That is the exact opposite of the testimony of Jesus. And we see Jesus there by contrast.

Then number two, verse 11 says that Joseph situated his father and his brothers. Friends, does not Jesus? to situate his people and provide for them?

He certainly does. Now, I don't know where you are today, but Jesus has a purpose for you where you're at right now. And I'm not trying to say about that that Jesus intends that you should be where you're at in geography, in your career, in your marital status, and whatever it might be. I'm not saying that God intends you to be in that particular situation forever.

But he's got you there now. He's got a purpose for you. Jesus situates his people and provides for them, just as Joseph did for his father and his brothers.

Let's not resist what Jesus is doing in our life right now. Rather, let's just ask for wisdom, strength, and real illumination from God to say, Jesus, you've situated me in a particular place. Just as Joseph situated his fathers and brothers, help me to live rightly and honoring unto you in the place you've put me. Father in heaven, that is our prayer. You have, by the wonderful work of Jesus our Messiah, you've situated us in a glorious place.

In the circumstances where we find ourselves today, you've situated us in heavenly places, having seated us there in Christ Jesus. And you situated us with a heavenly hope. All of these things tie together, Lord.

Glorious is the situation in which you've put us. So give us wisdom to understand our present day circumstances. And give us great hope for that ultimate situation you have for your people. And therefore we say, come quickly, Lord Jesus. And we say it in Jesus'name.

Amen.

Transcript for:Genesis 47: Jacob, Pharaoh and Providence

Transcript for:
Genesis 47: Jacob, Pharaoh and Providence