Daily Scripture Reading Genesis 46:26 - 47:12

People do not like to be despised. If we know others despise something about ourselves, we tend to hide those truths. As Christians, we know the world hates some of our core beliefs. Modern Christianity tends to shy away from proclaiming those truths.

When the sons of Israel moved to Egypt, Joseph instructed his brothers to boldly proclaim their occupation, even though the Egyptians despised their occupation. Joseph did that because there was a benefit to embracing something the Egyptians despised. This reminds us that being hated and despised is not always completely negative.

After Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, his brothers went home to their father and convinced him Joseph was alive. Jacob revived his spirits, and set out to move his entire family to Egypt, so that they would have food to eat, and so that he could see Joseph again.

Gen. 46:26 All the persons belonging to Jacob, who came to Egypt, who came out of his loins, excluding the wives of Jacob’s sons, were sixty-six persons in all,

Gen. 46:27 and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt were two; all the persons of the house of Jacob, who came to Egypt, were seventy.

Gen. 46:28 ¶ Now he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out the way before him to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.

Gen. 46:29 And Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; as soon as he appeared before him, he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time.

Notice the words “wept on his neck a long time”. Jacob and Joseph lived almost 20 years thinking they would never see each other again.

Gen. 46:30 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now I can die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”

It is ironic that the knowledge that Joseph was still alive completed Jacob’s life and gave him peace about dying. It seems like meeting Joseph again would give Jacob a desire to keep living.

The nature of life is such that children bury their parents, and parents approach old age being comforted by the fact that they have children to take care of them and bury them. Parents burying their children is a perversion of how things should be. It is more painful to bury a child than it is to bury a parent.

Jacob was comforted by the fact that Joseph, his favorite child, was able to bury him.

Gen. 46:31 And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me;

Gen. 46:32 and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’

Gen. 46:33 And it will be when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’

Gen. 46:34 then you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth and until now, both we and our fathers,’ that you may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

Look at the word “abomination”. Shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians. Egyptians despised shepherds.

Take note that Joseph instructed his brothers to be honest about the fact that they were shepherds. He did not tell them to hide their occupation or pretend to be something different.

The phrase “that you may live in the land of Goshen” tells us why Joseph wanted his brothers to admit to being shepherds. If the Egyptians knew the sons of Israel were shepherds, they would want the Israelites to live apart from the Egyptians. I assume the land of Goshen was a perfect spot to do that. The benefit to the Israelites of living apart from the Egyptians was they could have their own separate community. They would not melt into the Egyptian people and disappear as a distinct family.

It is human nature to avoid discrimination. If we know what other people despise, and we are what they despise, we tend to minimize that truth about ourselves.

However, sometimes there is a benefit to embracing that which other people despise. In the case of Jacob’s family, embracing their occupation made it easier to gain possession of an area where they could maintain their unity and differentiate themselves from the Egyptians.

As Christians, we hold to beliefs that many non-Christians despise and mock. While we don’t like being ostracized, there is a benefit to embracing the truths that the world hates, and using those truths to differentiate ourselves from the world so that we Christians have a distinct and noticeable identity.

Gen. 47:1 ¶ Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh and said, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they have, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.”

Gen. 47:2 And he took five men from among his brothers and set them before Pharaoh.

Gen. 47:3 Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.”

Gen. 47:4 And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is heavy in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”

Gen. 47:5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.

Gen. 47:6 The land of Egypt is at your disposal; have your father and your brothers settle in the best of the land, let them settle in the land of Goshen; and if you know any excellent men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”

Gen. 47:7 ¶ Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and stood him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

Gen. 47:8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?”

Gen. 47:9 So Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years that my fathers lived during the days of their sojourning.”

Look at the words “few and evil”. That is how Jacob described his life. He had reason for looking at his years as being few and evil; however, some, but not all, of the evil he experienced had been the result of his own choices.

Gen. 47:10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.

Gen. 47:11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

Gen. 47:12 And Joseph provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to their little ones.

Joseph instructed his brothers to be honest about the fact that they were shepherds, because if the Egyptians knew the sons of Israel were shepherds, they would want the Israelites to live apart from the Egyptians. The benefit to the Israelites of living apart from the Egyptians was they could have their own separate community. They would not melt into the Egyptian people and disappear as a distinct family.

As Christians, we hold to beliefs that many non-Christians despise and mock. While we don’t like being ostracized, there is a benefit to embracing the truths that the world hates, and using those truths to differentiate ourselves from the world so that we Christians have a distinct and noticeable identity. In order to attract people to Christianity, we have to be different than the world.

In what ways do you or your church tend to downplay the tenets of Christianity which the world hates?

How might your church be stronger if it fully embraces the truths about abortion, marriage, gender, and truth-telling that the world despises?

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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”