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Genesis 47:

Reading #154  Settling in

To the people of God “Egypt” represents much that is evil and contaminated in the world.  However, “Babylon” is worse because of the deception – it pretends to be Christian.  But because Egypt was the centre of Satan’s attention at that time the Hebrews went there to assist them, as did their Saviour to helpless Jews later!  

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Mark 2:

16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eat with publicans [public tax gatherers for the Romans] and sinners [apostate and sick Jews], they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with publicans and sinners?”

17 When Jesus heard it, He says to them, “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

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It was in this mode that Israel came to Egypt.

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Genesis 47:

1 Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen [where there is grass for them].” 

2 And he took some of his brothers, even five men, and presented them to Pharaoh. 3 And Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.” 4 They said moreover to Pharaoh, “For to sojourn in the land are we come [just for a short time]; for your servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray you, let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” 

5 And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers are come to you: 6 the land of Egypt is before you; in the best of the land make your father and brothers to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if you know any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.”

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Not only were they welcomed by the unbelievers, but were offered jobs and accommodation.  In so many ways the people of the world, those who continually reject the offer of God’s grace, show great moral worth in their lives!  Yet, moral greatness means nothing in God’s plan to rehabilitate them.  Only those who allow Him to re-create them can have a place in His kingdom because only they have the power to live there. 

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John 3:

3 Jesus answered and said to him [Nicodemus], “Verily, verily [truly, truly], I say to you, Except a man be born again, he cannot SEE the kingdom of God.” [Without this experience no one understands God’s way.]

4 Nicodemus says to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? [he was thinking in literal terms]”

5 Jesus answered, “Verily, verily, I say to you, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot ENTER into the kingdom of God.”

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There are not many ways into God’s kingdom, here on earth or in heaven despite what some say.  Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.  No man comes to the Father but by Me.”  John 14:6.  By knowing [experiencing] Him in an experimental (a proving, practical) sense the believer discerns the nature of God’s kingdom and receives the power to live in it.

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Genesis 47:

7 And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh [as an elder can]. 8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?” [in admiration of his longevity.] 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years [consider Hebrews 11:8-16].  Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” [I am much sicker and weaker than they were, yet following Christ has given me what you consider a long life.  Would you like to be one of His followers?]

10 And [in this way] Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

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Not long after their arrival Joseph brought his father also to be presented to the king. The patriarch was a stranger in royal courts; but amid the sublime scenes of nature he had communed with a mightier Monarch; and now, in conscious superiority, he raised his hands and blessed Pharaoh and offered him the way of salvation.

Jacob told the king that his years had been few and evil.  That is, he had seen much trouble, and suffered much perplexity, which had cut short his life.  It had not been as smooth and peaceful or as long as the Son of God wished it to be (see Exodus 20:12), but he knew that most of the problems were of his own making.  The jealousies of his multiple wives had brought a train of evils, and some of his children had grieved him and made his life very bitter, but now he hoped for a better time.

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Genesis 47:

11 And Joseph placed 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 it was later known], as Pharaoh had commanded.  12 And Joseph nourished his father, and his brothers, and all his father's household, with bread, according to their families. 13 And there was no bread in all the land [no new crops]; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.

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So the attacks of Satan on humanity’s food supplies continued for the next five years.

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Genesis 47:

14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. 15 And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan [it was not worthless paper money, but pieces of gold and silver], all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, “Give us bread: for why should we die in your presence?  For the money fails [has run out].” 

16 And Joseph said, “Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.”

17 And they brought their cattle to Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.

18 When that year was ended, they came to him the second [next] year, and said to him, “We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also has our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands: 19 wherefore shall we die before your eyes, both we and our land?  Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants [slaves] to Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.”

20 And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his [God-given] field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's [there was no provision for return at the end of the jubilee as there was for Hebrews.  Leviticus 25:10.] 21 And as for the people, he, [under Pharaoh’s orders] removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof [to break their family ties with the land]. 

22 Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion [of corn] assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat [of] their portion which Pharaoh gave them [this was state support for religion]: wherefore they sold not their lands.

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The rulers of Egypt at the time were foreigners who had conquered the country and they thought that this idea was a great one! However, when native Egyptians restored their own kings a century later, the idea was continued.

The priesthood being exempt from this servitude made the religious lords of heathenism very powerful in a land of slaves!  (A church is made up of a “clergy” who rule the “congregation”, which system is known as “the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes”, Revelation 2:15.)  So Satan had his way in the end and his ministers became the leaders. 

The “Egyptians”, like all pagans (the word applies to many groups today), are very religious, but their priests do not pretend to be Christian.  On the other hand, “Babylon” (another all-embracing word) has always assumed that position and pretends to worship the LORD (a Servant) when it actually follows the Lord (a Boss).  So it is relatively easy to see what is Babylonian, although of course, individual Christians do sometimes act in the same manner. 

But it is the principles of service in the religious organisations (especially the days of public worship) that shows the difference, and not the occasional lapses on the part of individuals.  One cannot pass into the other without an act of creation, so Christianity can never become Babylon, although individual Christians can regress from one to another. 

The move from “Babylon” or “Egypt” into “Israel” happens this way:

When that regenerating Power, which no human eye can see, creates a new life in the soul, it produces a new being in the image of God. While the work of the Spirit is silent and imperceptible, its effects are clearly seen.  (See Jesus’ talk with Nicodemus in John chapter 3.)  If the heart has been renewed by the Spirit of God, the life will bear witness to the fact. 

While we cannot do anything to change our hearts or to bring ourselves into harmony with God; while we must not trust at all to ourselves or our good works, our lives will reveal whether the grace of God is dwelling within us as His gift.

A change will be seen in the character, the habits, the pursuits. The contrast will be clear and decided between what they have been and what they are now, for the character is revealed, not by occasional good deeds and occasional misdeeds, but by the tendency of the habitual words and acts.  The aim is to help and not control.  But it is written that our hearts easily deceive us, so how do we know for sure? 

To solve that problem the LORD said,

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Jeremiah 17:

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it [his own heart]?  10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins [emotions], even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. 

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It is true that there may be an outward correctness of behaviour without the renewing power of Christ, but only for a time, because one of the characteristics of Babylon is its temporary nature. The love of influence and the desire for the esteem of others may produce a well-ordered life. Self-respect may lead us to avoid the appearance of evil. A selfish heart may perform generous actions because of the rewards. By what means, then, shall we determine whose side we are on?  (We are not to judge other individuals, only their church systems.  But we may, and must, judge ourselves.

1 Corinthians 2:15; Romans 2:1.)

Who has the heart? With whom are our thoughts? Of whom do we love to talk? Who has our warmest affections and our best energies? If we are Christ's, our thoughts are with Him, and our sweetest thoughts are of Him. All we have and are is consecrated to Him. We long to bear His image, breathe His spirit, do His will, and please Him in all things, for that is the fruit of true love.  See Galatians 5:22-26.

But there is no evidence of genuine repentance unless it also works reformation. If he/she freely wants to “restore the pledge, give again that he/she has robbed”, confess his sins, and love God and his fellow men, the sinner may be sure that he/she has passed from death to life and now lives in “Israel”.  See Ezekiel 33:1-20 and 1 John 3:14.

Now, back to our story:

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Genesis 47:

23 Then Joseph said to the people [after the famine years had ceased], “Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 And it shall come to pass in the increase, that you shall give the fifth part [20% income tax] to Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.” 

25 And they said, “You have saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants [it was their choice to submit to Pharaoh rather than seek God].” 26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part; except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh's.

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Such a clever move by the devil.  (It was he who thought up income tax!)

In that one simple attack he shows just how he would treat all mankind if he was given the chance.  The result?  From being the foremost nation on earth, full of individual, independent persons, Egypt became the least in just a few generations, full of slavish, unthinking ones, although the full effects took longer to show up.  It is “righteousness [doing the right thing] that exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”  Proverbs 14:34.  

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Genesis 47:

27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly. 28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was a hundred and forty-seven years [which he thought was not long, remember?  Verse 9].

29 And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, “If now I have found grace in your sight, put, I pray you, your hand under my thigh [as a symbol], and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray you, in Egypt: 30 but I will lie with my fathers, and you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place.” [the cave of Machpelah, Genesis 23:19-20.]  And he said, “I will do as you have said.” 31 And he said, “Swear to me.” And he sware to him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head [in satisfaction].

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And that’s where we can leave the Hebrews now – in the care of their God, in training for the next big step in the story of redemption.

See you next week, 

RonP

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