Genesis Part 072

In Genesis 47:6, Pharaoh tells Joseph, 

“Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen.” 

John Gill commentary states, “as Pharaoh here suggests, the best part of the land, the most fertile and fruitful, and the fittest for cattle, being full of pastures through the river Nile and the canals of it, and Goshen being the most fertile portion in the land of Rameses, as in Gen 47:11; this, Dr. Shaw observes (“Travels” page 306), could be no other than what lay within two or three leagues at the most from the Nile, because the rest of the Egyptian Arabia, which reaches beyond the influence of this river to the eastward, is a barren inhospitable wilderness...” 

In verse 9, Jacob is now 130 years old. He refers to these years as “my pilgrimage.” Once again, John Gill’s commentary does a great job of outlining all the places Jacob had traveled over his years: “Jacob's life was very emphatically and literally a pilgrimage; he first dwelt in Canaan, from thence he removed to Padanaram, and sojourned there awhile, and then came to Canaan again; for some time he dwelt at Succoth, and then at Shechem, and after that at Hebron, and now he was come down to Egypt.” Jacob also tells Pharaoh that the years of his life have been “few and evil.” To be 130 years old seems like a lot to us, but it is few compared to the years of his father Isaac (180 years) and his grandfather Abraham (175 years). 

John Gill’s commentary suggests this about why his days were labeled “evil”: “because of the many afflictions he had met with; as from Esau, from whose face he was obliged to flee lest he should kill him (Genesis 27:41); and in Laban's house, where he served for a wife fourteen years, and endured great hardships (Genesis 31:41); and at Shechem, where his daughter was ravished (Genesis 34:2), and his sons made that slaughter of the Shechemites (Genesis 34:25), which he feared would cause his name to stink (Genesis 34:30); and at Ephrath, where he buried his beloved Rachel (Genesis 35:16); and at Hebron, where his sons brought him such an account as if they believed his beloved son Joseph was destroyed by a wild beast (Genesis 37:32).”  

Jacob endured many difficulties in his life. Did it have to be that way? The UCG Bible Commentary draws out the following: “Jacob’s life should be a lesson to us about reaping what we sow (see Galatians 6:7). Of course, all of us have sinned (Romans 3:23). And we can be thankful that, upon our repentance, God will relieve us of some of the consequences of sin. But He won’t remove all of them in this life—so that we may learn important lessons, as Jacob’s story shows. His life, in the end, wasn’t all bad. After all, he became a man whose name was changed to Israel, meaning ‘Prevailer with God’ (Genesis 32:28). Though he was ready to die upon seeing Joseph, God gave Jacob 17 more years to spend with Joseph and the rest of his growing family (Genesis 47:28). Indeed, in our next reading we will see Jacob state at the end of his life that God had ‘redeemed [him] from all evil’ (Genesis 48:16), at last finding happiness in his final years. Still, it was a long and difficult road in getting there. But it didn’t have to be—if Jacob hadn’t sown the corrupt seed he did in earlier years. This lesson is ‘written for our learning’ (Romans 15:4). If we’ve been sowing bad seed, the answer is to stop now—asking God’s forgiveness—and to start, with His help, sowing good seed to reap a better tomorrow. The choice is ours to make.” 

Over these first two or three years of the famine, the people of the land of Egypt have had to buy grain from Joseph. Now the money has run out, and all the wealth of the land belongs to Pharaoh. In Genesis 47:16, Joseph requires people to sell their animals to him in exchange for the food they require. This would allow both the people and the animals to remain alive. Over the next year, Egypt would take possession of the animals of the land, in addition to their money. In verse 20, we see that in addition to all the livestock and money, Pharaoh now owns all the land. 

Verse 21 says, 

“And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end.” 

Several commentaries state that since those farming could not produce anything from the land, it made more practical sense to have everyone move close together for the distribution of food and needs. 

By verse 26, we see that these people had lost everything and, on the surface, were in a very dire place. However, Joseph looked ahead to the time when the famine would end. A new plan was created, where they could continue to use and retain their land once it could again produce food, but since it really belonged now to Pharaoh, they would give 20 percent of their gross gains from the land to Pharaoh each year, and would both eat and replant each year from their remaining 80 percent. This plan would ensure the people had land again and could live off that land, while continuing to grow the power and might of Egypt! 

God blessed Joseph with wisdom and foresight.  This wisdom and foresight were very valuable to Pharaoh, blessed Joseph and his family, and provided a system of incentive to those who had to forfeit their lands. The incentive worked well for them and Pharaoh. God blessed Egypt during the time it hosted the Israelites.   

UYA Team | uya@ucg.org  

United Young Adults (UYA) primarily serves the 18–32-year age group for the United Church of God. There are three main areas of contribution to the lives of the young adults: Promoting Spiritual Growth, Developing Meaningful Relationships, and Making the Most of Your Talents. The Know Your Sword series is a daily expository message introducing God’s Word from a trusted perspective.