LESSON 25
Genesis for Today: Chapters 46b-48
by Herb Drake

Copyright (c) 1998, 2020, Herb Drake.

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The Family Reunited

The reunion of Jacob and Joseph is understandably emotional. Jacob is glad his favorite son is alive, thus completing his "bucket list" of things he hoped to do before he died.

Making sure that they are introduced as shepherds, five of Jacob's family meet the Pharaoh who is so impressed that he even hired them to tend his own flocks.

Joseph's Handling of the Famine

Joseph administers his domain in a manner that results in the enslavement of the whole population with the exception of priests, who always tended to be exempt from many of the pharaoh's actions and which always seemed to live in tension with the pharaoh. When the time of famine arrives, the first result is to strip the population of its money as they purchase the grain that he had stored during the seven good years. After the money is gone, the possessions of the people are given up for food. After their possessions are gone, they are forced to sell their land to the pharaoh. Finally, the people are forced to sell themselves into service to escape starvation. As for the priests, they are required to pay a 20% tax.

Jacob Blesses Joseph's Sons

As was Isaac before him, Jacob is nearly blind in his old age and is unable to recognize his two grandsons through Joseph. Joseph tries to present the two boys in birth order, but Jacob frustrates that attempt, giving the greater blessing to the second-born twin. This repeats the reverse blessing in Jacob's past, but unlike the blessing given by of Isaac, Jacob is deliberate as he is following the instruction God gave him at Luz (Bethel). This preference is worked out in history, as Ephriam becomes a strong tribe and Manasseh tends to virtually disappear.

The Last Days of Jacob

When Jacob realizes that he is nearing death, his first action is to ask Joseph to swear that he not be buried in Egypt, but rather in the family burial ground that Abraham had paid so dearly for at Machpelah in Canaan.

Jacob, having experienced three theophanies, realizes that he has stood in the presence of one much greater than Pharaoh. Perhaps he is fuliflling the role of patriarch as he is finally beginning to understand it. His answer to Pharaoh's question about age fails in this same area, Jacob realizing that the role of the patriarchs is that of sojourners only loosely tied to the land that has been promised to them. Of course, there is some regret in the speech--Jacob's life has been a difficult one when compared with Abraham's "good" life and even Isaac (with the exception of his last years). Jacob had many years of exile during which he endured squalbbling between wives, the problems at Shechem, the "loss" of Joseph, and his anxiety over Benjamin. During these many years he has undergone a great deal of maturation.

One might say that the patriarchs "lived on a promise."

Genesis 44-46a | Genesis 49-50