Sometimes we forget the amazing things that God is doing in the small parts of the big stories of the Bible. Notice what happens as God wraps up the book of Genesis. Earlier, we have seen God make a promise in the Garden of Eden that a descendant of the woman would come into the world and crush the devil, thus setting things right in a world gone wrong. Then, centuries later, God made a promise to Abram (Abraham) that he would have a family through whom God would bring someone to bless all nations on earth. Then we saw Isaac and Jacob begin the nation-making process, but it was slow. And, finally, we watched Joseph sold to Egypt, preparing the way for the family to move.
In chapter 46, we see that God moved the family to Egypt, a total of 70 people in all. Joseph, because of his position in Pharaoh’s court, had the knowledge and influence to see to it that his family would live in the land of Goshen. And Joseph had the savvy to tell his family exactly what to say to the king to get things to happen the right way.
Genesis 46:33 – When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”
All this seems neat. Joseph has landed a pasture for his family to keep sheep. They will survive the famine. That is nice.
But, God is doing something more, something quite special. Of all the places this family could have moved, Egypt was interesting. Egypt is not part of the promised land. Egypt is not the land flowing with milk and honey. Egypt is not where God promised Abraham that his family would live. So, why Egypt?
Only in Egypt was there a place that Israel and his family could move and be kept separate from the locals. The Egyptians had that interesting aversion to shepherds. So, Israel could move his family there, work, live, and be left alone.
One thing that God was doing was sovereignly moving things to allow the family of Israel to grow into the nation of Israel. God put them in a place where they could grow for hundreds of years without being noticed on the world stage. The family could grow, and be separated from the influences of the Canaanite religions and even from the Egyptian polytheism. As I once heard a teacher say, God placed the nation in an incubator where they could grow, free from pagan infection, for the centuries needed to become the nation of Israel we have come to know. God acted to preserve his promise, to keep the family alive, and to make it possible to bring the promised one into the world.
God is doing more in Scripture than we sometimes see. And we should learn from it to trust him and to know that he is on his throne. No, Jacob never planned to move to Egypt. He probably was not a big fan of leaving his homeland. But God used that move to build the nation. God used that move to keep his promise. And God can use our circumstances to work his will in our lives too, regardless of how well we realize what he is up to.
Pastor Travis Peterson 