Recap: (see Genesis 35b) Judah became the forefather of David, and Jesus. Joseph was sold as a slave in Egypt, and when Pharaoh had dreams, Joseph explained that they pointed to impending famine. He was put in charge of the grain stores. When the famine severely affected Joseph’s family they too went for grain. Joseph finally arranged for them to move to Egypt
These final studies are short and could be combined
Read Genesis 47:1-31
1 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, ‘My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.’ 2 He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.
If Pharaoh had put Joseph in charge of the whole land of Egypt (Genesis 41:40-43) why did he ask permission for his family to settle there?
Diplomacy required that you were always generous in what you offered. But it also required humility in what you accepted (remember Genesis 23:3-18?).
3 Pharaoh asked the brothers, ‘What is your occupation?’
‘Your servants are shepherds,’ they replied to Pharaoh, ‘just as our fathers were.’ 4 They also said to him, ‘We have come to live here for a while, because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants’ flocks have no pasture. So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen.’
5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Your father and your brothers have come to you, 6 and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock.’
It has been suggested that as this Pharaoh was not native-born Egyptian he did not share the Egyptian’s distaste of shepherds! In fact he had his own animals and as it was probably difficult to recruit good shepherds locally, he would be grateful if any of Joseph’s people could help him out!
Since they were only shepherds, that posed no threat to the economy of the country and Pharaoh was happy to let them settle.
7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed Pharaoh, 8 Pharaoh asked him, ‘How old are you?’
9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, ‘The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.’ 10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.
What do you understand by ‘Jacob blessed Pharaoh’ in verses 7 and 10?
Jacob had nothing to offer Pharaoh in return for the generous treatment he and his family had received. But Jacob was not afraid to demonstrate his faith in God and was happy to pray that God would bless Pharaoh. And as someone who had spoken face-to-face with God (Genesis 35:9-15) he could pray with an authority that Pharaoh himself did not have.
11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed. 12 Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their children.
And they saw no need to return.
Why was it safer for the ‘Children of Israel’ to spend the next 400 years in Egypt?
As they developed into a nation, to do so quietly in a corner of Egypt would actually be safer that to expand in Canaan. Not only might they feel that they needed to take over prematurely – i.e. before God’s time, but Canaan would also be fought over by the surrounding nations. But of course, only God knew that!
13 There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine. 14 Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh’s palace.
Obviously there was no concept of a welfare state. And Pharaoh was in a position to say: ‘Give me a fifth of your grain in times of plenty; but when you are hungry you’ll have to buy it back’. But with no income, the people eventually had no more money.
15 When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said, ‘Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is all gone.’
16 ‘Then bring your livestock,’ said Joseph. ‘I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone.’ 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.
It seems that this probably did not involve a physical transfer of herds of animals, but rather just a paper transaction where ownership changed hands, but the people still looked after them.
18 When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, ‘We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we perish before your eyes – we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.’
Again, the people didn’t actually become slaves as such, but ownership of lands and people was now assigned legally to Pharaoh, and he could use them as he wished.
20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, 21 and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allowance Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.
23 Joseph said to the people, ‘Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground. 24 But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children.’
Once the famine was over, the land must be brought back into production. But now the people were tenant farmers, and any profit would be Pharaoh’s. What is more, the level of profit was pre-determined!
25 ‘You have saved our lives,’ they said. ‘May we find favour in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.’
26 So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt – still in force today – that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh’s.
Pharaoh was presumably well pleased with this, and recognising that Joseph was the source of his great increase in wealth and power, he was very happy for him and his people to remain.
27 Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.
28 Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven. 29 When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, ‘If I have found favour in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.’
‘I will do as you say,’ he said.
31 ‘Swear to me,’ he said. Then Joseph swore to him, and Israel worshipped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
This is pretty well the end of the story, but there are three more chapters to tie up the loose ends.
