A Lamp Unto My Feet Bible Study Website
GENESIS 46-47
Lesson #62
GOD’S PROVISION IN A WORLD NOT THEIR HOME
- Memory verse: Eph 1:11
- Read Gen 46:1-7 Israel (Jacob) travels to Egypt
- Jacob leaves Hebron and goes to Beersheba to worship.
- Beersheba was the place that God revealed himself to Abraham as the “Everlasting God” in Gen 21.
- Jacob and his family leave the Promised Land that God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- What is the significance?
- We saw that when Abraham left the Promised Land because of famine and went to Egypt, he was out of God’s perfect will. (Gen 12:10)
- Jacob, however, worships God and seeks God’s will. He was told by God to go down to Egypt.
- This time, therefore, it is not rebellion but direction from God.
- God’s prophetic promises (46:3-4):
- God would be with His people in Egypt
- God would make Israel a great nation in the midst of Egypt
- God will bring the Israelites out of Egypt when the timing was perfect.
- This is a prophecy of the Exodus under Moses.
- Jacob would die in Egypt with Joseph at his side.
- Jacob leaves Hebron and goes to Beersheba to worship.
- The genealogy of Gen 46:8-27
- The genealogy is divided into four groups:
- Verse 15, verse 18, verse 22, verse 25
- These verses tell us how many names are in each group.
- Vs. 15 = 33 people
- Vs. 18 = 16 people
- Vs. 22 = 14 people
- Vs. 25 = 7 people
- Adding these numbers = 70 people who went down to Egypt.
- There are some number problems:
- Verse 15 says there are 33 names mentioned so far.
- However, if you count them, there are 34.
- Ohad’s name in verse 10 is not listed in the parallel lists of names in Num 26:12-14 or 1Chr 4:24, though it is listed in Exo 6:15.
- Copying errors by scribes seems to be the only explanation.
- Verse 12 says that Er and Onan died in Canaan, which means they did not go down to Egypt. However, the list started in verse 8 by telling us that it is about to list those who came down to Egypt.
- Verses 26-27 states two different numbers as to how many people came down into Egypt.
- The genealogy is divided into four groups:
- Verse 26 = 66 people
- Verse 27 = 70 people (Exo 1:5) (Deu 10:22)
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- Some number juggling:
- 2 died before getting to Egypt
- 2 were born in Egypt and did not travel there: Manasseh and Ephraim who were Joseph’s sons.
- 1 is listed but did not travel with the family and that is Joseph.
- 1 is not listed, Jacob, but he did travel with the family.
- Subtract these 5 from the 70 and add 1 for Jacob. You end up with 66 people who came down to Egypt with Jacob. Of course, this 66 does not include wives or any other unimportant girls they may have had!!
- Significance: Remember that 7 is God’s perfect number so the text arrives at 70 to emphasize that these are God’s people following his leading down into Egypt.
- Some number juggling:
- Read Gen 46:28-34 The arrival
- Notice that it is Judah leading the way (46:28)
- There is the warm reunion between Joseph and his father.
- The land of Goshen
- This area of Egypt was especially productive. It was the most fertile land because all the Nile River flowed toward it and brought nutrients to the ground.
- Joseph warns his family of the Egyptian’s prejudice against shepherds. (32-34)
- Read Gen 47:1-12 Settled in Goshen
- Joseph in Egyptian archaeology
- Joseph’s pharaoh is probably Amenemhat III. He gave Joseph the name Zapehnat Pa’aneah .
- Joseph’s name in Egyptian, may have been Zatenaph which means = he who is called, and Ipankhu which means = life.
- Joseph’s family arrived in Egypt in the second year of the famine — about 1662 BC. The place where they settled was probably where the city of Avaris was later located. They have excavated a very unusual community.
- There is a community of houses surrounding a large Syrian type villa. The males buried there are not Egyptian but of Syrian extraction. Many of the women are Egyptian. The community was suddenly abandoned later.
- Maybe this was the Exodus.
- In Gen 50:22 it says that Joseph lived with his father’s family. As prime minister, he probably had a large palace there.
- They have indeed found an Egyptian palace with a beautiful garden area attached. Under this grand palace, is a more modest Syrian style palace with burial grounds. Joseph probably replaced the more modest palace with the larger Egyptian style palace once Jacob had died. The palace was also a government headquarters. Near the palace is a very large tomb that was cleaned of not only the body but also the burial objects and ornaments. Usually grave robbers only took the valuable things and left the rest as refuse.
- If this is Joseph’s tomb, it was cleaned out when the Israelites took his bones back to the Promise Land.
- There was a statue of the man whose tomb it was. Uncharacteristically, he is dressed in a robe of multi-colors. His face has been disfigured. If this was Joseph, it probably occurred later after the Israelites left Egypt under Moses and took with them much wealth. The plagues and loss of wealth may have instigated the defacing of Joseph’s statue.
- There is a community of houses surrounding a large Syrian type villa. The males buried there are not Egyptian but of Syrian extraction. Many of the women are Egyptian. The community was suddenly abandoned later.
- Joseph in Egyptian archaeology
- Read Gen 47:13-26 Joseph’s administration
- Those who came to Joseph to trade money for cattle and then land for cows, were probably the old land owning aristocracy who did not believe Joseph’s dreams. Now they are desperate. During this time of Amenemhat III’s reign, there was a complete reorganization of the landed aristocracy.
- Notice that Joseph even undertakes mass population shifts in order to insure maximum agricultural production over the whole country. (21)
- What Joseph did was move Egypt to a highly developed socialistic society where Pharaoh owned all the land and the taxes were 1/5.
Joseph a Prefigure of Jesus Christ
| Life of Joseph
and His Family |
Life of Jesus Christ
and His Family |
| Joseph goes in his chariot to meet his family, Judah, then Israel.
Gen 46:29 |
At the second coming, Jesus goes to meet first Judah, then the rest of Israel.
Isa 66:15 |
| Joseph settles his family in the land of Goshen.
Gen 47:27 |
In the millennial reign of Christ (1,000 years on earth), the Jews will possess a restored Promissed Land filled with bounty. |
- Joseph is also a Prefigure of the Antichrist
- Joseph controls all the animals, all the food, all the money, and all the land. This is exactly the kind of control the Antichrist will have during the tribulation period.
- It took Joseph 3 ½ years to gain this level of control. It will take the Antichrist 3 ½ years to gain the same level of control. (Rev 13)
- Application:
- When we see God lead his people into a foreign land and provide for them there, it should remind us that we, too, are God’s people living in a world that is not our home.
- In this world that is not our eternal home, God provides abundantly for us just as He did for the Israelites. This world that is not our home, one day will be controlled by the Antichrist.
Homework
Genesis 47:27-31
Genesis 48
- Application of Gen 46-47
- The blessings of God upon His people are a strong theme through to the end of Genesis. Many times we fail to thank God and even to notice it is He who has blessed us.
- Take a few minutes to write down a few of God’s latest blessings in your life. Then thank Him for them in prayer.
- Preparation for Gen 47:27-31 and Gen 48
- Read Gen 47:27-31
- Why do you think it is very important to Jacob (Israel) that his bones be carried back to the Promised Land?
- Read Gen 47:27-31
- Read Gen 48:1-22
- After our study of Genesis, you should be able to relate to this chapter in regards to the birthright and the blessing.
- What do you see of special note here regarding the birthright and the blessing?
- Memory verse: 2Timothy 1:9
