Genesis

THE arrival of Jacob and his household in Egypt meant a very great deal both to him and to Joseph, and many things had to be arranged before they could be perfectly settled in the new surroundings. There were still five years of famine, and for that time at least proper accommodation had to be found for the household of the patriarch. In all the details Jacob still appears as the head, even though most of the work had necessarily to be done by Joseph.

It was impossible for Jacob’s household to settle in Egypt, even with Joseph’s approval, without the matter being referred to Pharaoh for his royal sanction. Joseph thereupon told his brethren that he would interview Pharaoh and explain the whole case to him. Joseph’s words are an interesting combination of principle and prudence. On the one hand it was essential to Israel that the family should have room to grow, and, at the same time, be separated from the Egyptians; on the other hand, the feelings of the Egyptians towards shepherds necessitated the two peoples being kept apart. Joseph’s frankness in telling Pharaoh how matters stood was the only way of solving the problem. It is not yet known why every shepherd was an abomination unto the Egyptians. The words are clearly those of the historian, not of Joseph, and there is independent testimony to their truth in Herodotus so far, at least, as swineherds are concerned. It is also interesting to observe proofs in history that those who kept cattle were greatly despised in Egypt, Egyptian artists showing their contempt by depicting them as either lame, or dirty, or in some other forbidding way. It is sometimes thought that the explanation of this feeling was due to the resentment against the rule of the shepherd kings, but on the whole there does not seem sufficient warrant for accepting this explanation. Probably it was due to some feeling on the part of the Egyptians that the keepers of sheep were of an impure caste. (See, more fully, Pulpit Commentary, p. 504.)

Joseph at once carried out his project of telling Pharaoh, and took with him five of his brethren. Why five out of the eleven should have been taken is not at all clear, except that the number five seems to have had some significance among the Egyptians (Gen 43:34; Gen 45:22). As Joseph had anticipated, Pharaoh asked the brethren as to their occupation, and they replied, according to Joseph’s directions, that they were shepherds, and requested to be allowed to dwell in the land of Goshen owing to the famine in the land of Canaan. Pharaoh at once granted their request, telling Joseph that the land of Egypt was at his disposal, and that he was to arrange for his father and brethren to dwell in the best of it. Not only so, but if there were any of his family suitable for the posts, Joseph was to make them rulers over the King’s cattle. It is very interesting to observe the various occasions on which Pharaoh comes before us in this narrative; from the moment that Joseph was taken out of prison to interpret the KING’S dream. There is a real and attractive graciousness about the man, and it is hardly too much to say that some of it may have been due to the influence of Joseph. The large-heartedness, sympathy, and liberality of the King towards Joseph and his family reveal a nobleness of nature that must have sprung from some Divine influence, however indirect and unconscious.

Joseph then brought in his aged father and placed him before Pharaoh, and immediately on his entrance Jacob blessed Pharaoh. As Pharaoh had asked the sons as to their occupation, so naturally he enquired of the father as to his age. "How old art thou?" Jacob’s answer was very touching. "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years; few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage." In comparison with the hundred and seventy-five years of Abraham and the hundred and eighty years of Isaac, Jacob’s days seemed few, though few and many are relative terms in more senses than one. That his days had been evil was mainly due to the fact of the almost ceaseless disquiet, sorrow, and discipline of his life. It is a striking picture that is called up before the imagination the aged and feeble patriarch standing before the mighty monarch and blessing him. Old age affords a natural opportunity for bestowing benediction, but added to this, Jacob was the representative of his God, the Covenant God of his fathers, as he stood and blessed Pharaoh.

Joseph at once did as Pharaoh had commanded, and placed his father and his brethren in the "best of the land." After the KING’S word no one could charge him with nepotism. From henceforth Jacob and his household were the special care and thought of Joseph, who nourished them with bread according to their families. The Hebrew of this phrase is very beautiful in its literalness, according to the little ones. In the same way Joseph promised later on to nourish his brethren and their little ones. The children were not to be forgotten. Thus everything turned out exactly as Joseph had anticipated, and Jacob and his house were ensured protection all through those five years of famine.

As we read this story and concentrate attention first of all on the narrative as ordinary history, we see nothing whatever but the obvious, the natural, the simple and the straightforward. A famine caused a family to leave home and sojourn in a strange land. They came there under perfectly usual circumstances, and never expected to remain longer than the years of special need. Everything is quite clear and straightforward, with no circumstances left unexplained; and yet with it all we can see we review the story, that God in His providence was taking hold of these everyday events, and weaving them into His own Divine pattern for Israel. How true this is to life is at once clear to us all. The smallest experiences of our every-day life may form part of a mighty and far-reaching Providence. We pay a visit, intending to stay a week, and then we are led to take up our abode in that place, with all the course of our life entirely altered from that day forward. Or it may be that into the even tenor of our life comes a letter with a simple request which has very far-reaching effects, changing not one life, but several. It is all perfectly simple and yet perfectly Divine; and though, as we review our pathway in the retrospect, we can see nothing in detail that has been marvellous or out of the way, yet the sum-total of everything stands out as an astonishing example of the providence of God. Let us cultivate the habit of investing every detail of life with significance, and try to learn the precise lessons that God desires to teach us. Let us refuse to limit God and His providence to the great occasions of life, and let us believe that nothing can come across our pathway unless it is in some way or other part of His loving and wise will concerning us.

The sons of Jacob were shepherds, ordinary working men, who earned their living by manual labour. There was nothing unworthy in the precise trade to which they devoted themselves, but on the contrary, there was a true honour and glory in their toil. This is one of the essential privileges and glories of life, the capacity and opportunity for work. Whether the toil is manual or mental, it is that for which we have been placed in the world, and no one whose occupation is chiefly manual should for a moment think that there is anything unworthy of the noblest nature in devoting itself to its daily calling. If only we realize that work is part of God’s will for us, then whatever precise work we may be called upon to do, we shall do as under the great Taskmaster’s eye, and

The relations of Joseph with his father and brethren once more bring before us the beauty and glory of family life, and we are reminded of the oft-quoted saying that "Blood is thicker than water." It is hardly too much to imagine the Egyptian courtiers as tempted to sneer at the great ruler when they found out the very ordinary circumstances of his family life, more particularly as his brethren were of a trade that was an abomination to the Egyptians. We can picture, without any great difficulty or injustice, these Egyptian magnates remarking with surprise that the one who had done so great a work for Egypt, and was occupying so exalted a position, should have had so humble an origin. We can also fully enter into Joseph’s feelings, as he told Pharaoh with perfect frankness of his brethren’s occupation, hateful though that was to the Egyptians. In all this, Joseph never faltered or hesitated. His love for his father and brethren was pure and strong, and nothing was allowed to affect it in the very least. So it should always be. Whatever differences of position may take place between members of the same family, the strength of family love should remain unimpaired, and every rightful opportunity taken of expressing it. God has placed the solitary in families, and in the maintenance and furtherance of family life and love will be found one of the channels of blessing to the world.

We notice that twice over Jacob uses the word "pilgrimage" to express his idea of his own life and the life of his fathers. "The days of the years of my pilgrimage." To him life had been a journey, with a starting point and a goal, and it is this aspect of life as a pilgrimage which enabled Jacob to invest it with a sacred and special significance. The same idea of life as a pilgrimage is found all through the Bible. Holy Scripture represents life as a sojourning, a temporary residence in a land which is not one’s own. Even Canaan, to the patriarchs, was regarded as the land of their pilgrimage, and in due time this idea was heightened and transformed into the thought of a heavenly Canaan (Gen 17:18; Gen 28:4; Lev 17:22; Dent. 24: 14; 1Ch 29:15; Psa 29:13). The same idea is taken up in the New Testament, and the patriarchs are said to have longed for a better country, confessing themselves to be "strangers and sojourners upon earth" (Heb 11:14, Greek). This thought of life as a sojourning away from our true home does not obtain the prominence now that it did of old. This is due in great measure to the sneer of George Eliot about other-worldliness. Nevertheless it is as true to-day as ever that this is not our rest, and that here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. This is the true perspective for every believer. He should regard the present life as a pilgrimage, not as a place in which he is to live permanently, but one through which he is to hasten, looking off from self and circumstances to Him who has gone before us as the Captain of our Salvation to bring many sons to glory. The thought of life as a pilgrimage will inspire and cheer the heart under the storm and stress of earthly discipline, for amidst all troubles and trials, shadows and sorrows, the heart will ever be darting forward in hope and expectation of the rest that remaineth to the people of God.