Pharaoh and Jacob
A Solid Life
(Genesis
47:1-12, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 4, 2015)
[47:1] So
Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with
their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the
land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen.” [2] And
from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to
Pharaoh. [3] Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your
occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are
shepherds, as our fathers were.” [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. And
now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”
[5] Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your
brothers have come to you. [6] The land of Egypt is before you.
Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let
them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any able men among
them, put them in charge of my livestock.”
(1-6)
Safe and sound? Provision beyond their wildest dreams? Time would
tell.
God
would use Pharaoh to bless the chosen people. Joseph's plan seems to
have worked perfectly. Of course, only the Lord knows the secret
providences that will help to form Israel over the next 400+ years.
The story of this entire period is told in Exodus 1:7-8.
[7] Then
Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and
Jacob blessed Pharaoh. [8] And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How
many are the days of the years of your life?” [9] And Jacob
said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130
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 sojourning.” [10] And Jacob
blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. [11] Then
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 commanded. [12] And Joseph provided his
father, his brothers, and all his father's household with food,
according to the number of their dependents.
(7-12) Jacob
displayed an understanding of life that went beyond what might seem
obvious and customary.
The chosen seed
meets the leader of an empire. Jacob will bless Pharaoh, but the two
men will operate in their separate spheres. Jacob understands his
life in a way that may seem ungrateful or depressing. The key is that
he knows himself to be a sojourner here below. His true worth comes
from the Lord of eternal goodness who calls His children to the most
solid life imaginable.
It should not shock
anyone that the people of the covenant may see themselves and their
lives in ways that appear unusual to others. When Jesus came into
this world to accomplish the purposes of His Father, he lived and
died in a way that displayed a different view of life than all those
around Him. That right perspective on everything came from a more
stable place than this fading earth. His kingdom is not of this
world. His sufferings and glories may well be wrongly interpreted by
those who do not speak the tongue of Canaan—the language of
covenant love.
Old
Testament Reading—Psalm 150:1a
Praise
the LORD!
Gospel
Reading—Matthew 26:14-16 – Judas
to betray Jesus
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