Story 70 The Covenant Family Comes to Egypt
As Jacob and his household journeyed towards Egypt, he sent Judah on ahead to Joseph. The family needed someone to get directions to Goshen and prepare for the grand reunion.
Isn’t God amazing? First he used the son who sold Joseph into slavery to act as the protector of Benjamin. Now the Lord used Judah to be the one that brought the family back to Joseph! When God heals, he can heal completely!
When Joseph learned that his family had arrived he was in such an excited rush to see them that he couldn’t wait for his servants to prepare his chariot. He hitched it up himself and took off to meet them.
What a regal and glorious sight that must have been for his family, watching Joseph ride up behind horses on a chariot of gold! Joseph swept down from his carriage and grasped his beloved father. It had been over twenty years since they had last seen each other. Joseph wept and wept with joy as he held his dad. The years of grief came pouring out in the extreme relief of tears.
Israel said to his son, “‘Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are alive.’”
Jacob did not die, of course. He lived another seventeen years after this story, enjoying the blessing of his son’s presence. But seeing his beloved son again made his life complete. The family that was once distorted with pain and division was now reunited and whole.
Joseph told his father that he would speak to the Pharaoh for the family. He wanted to make sure they did everything in a way that pleased the king. His plan was to tell the Pharaoh that they were a family of animal herders. If the rest of the family told him they were herders as well, the king would have them settle in Goshen.
Goshen was an area set apart from the rest of Egyptian life. This was a good thing. Joseph knew the ways of the Egyptians. He had experienced the shameful behavior of Potiphar’s wife. That was not unusual in the households of the land. He also understood the religion of Egypt with all of its idols. The moral filth of Egyptian life corrupted their families and caused great destruction between those that were meant to love each other. These were not the ways of the God of Abraham.
The Egyptians were also very sophisticated people. They had great learning and wealth. They despised anyone who did jobs like shepherding, which they considered lowly and dirty. Once the Egyptians learned that Joseph’s family worked with flocks and herds, they wouldn’t want to associate with them. Their snobbery would guard the children of the covenant from wickedness of Egyptian culture. There was no a danger of intermixing like there was in the land of Canaan. God was separating his people from the danger of idolatry by implanting them in this vastly different society! It would help them remain faithful to the Lord.
When Joseph went to the Pharaoh, the king told him; “‘Your father and your brothers have come to you, 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.’” The trust and favor that Joseph had earned with the Pharaoh through the power of God was bringing blessings onto his whole family once again.
Then the time came for Joseph to bring his father Jacob before the Pharaoh. In the understanding of the ancient world, the elderly with their gray hair and many wrinkles were seen as the bearers of great and mighty wisdom. They knew they were able to bestow profound and powerful blessings on those who were younger. While Pharaoh was a man of great power, Jacob was clearly a man of great age, and so Jacob came to put a blessing on the king.
Pharaoh asked him how old he was. Jacob said, “‘The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do no equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.’ Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.” Once again, God put a son of Abraham in a remarkable position to bless the nations, just as his covenant promised.
Joseph settled the entire family, allotting land to each of his brothers. Goshen was the best land of the kingdom. It would later be called “Rameses,” named after one of Egypt’s most powerful kings. He also provided each family with plenty of food for how many children they had. This was no small gift. The whole region was still in the middle of a terrible famine, and Joseph knew that it would last another five years.
Joseph continued to serve the king and give out the grain that had been collected during the seven years of plenty. Over time, the people from all over Egypt and Canaan ran out of money to buy food. Yet the Egyptian people continued to come to him with their needs. They said, “‘Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is used up.’” Joseph told them to bring their animals. Joseph began giving out food in exchange for horses and sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. All the money in Egypt had been given to the Pharaoh, and now he owned all the animals, too.
The people were able to feed themselves for a year by selling their animals, but when the next year came, they had nothing to give Joseph. All that was left was their land and their own bodies! So Joseph purchased the land from every Egyptian and gave them all grain to eat. Now everything belonged to the Pharaoh.
Joseph told them that when the time came for them to plant again, they were to give one fifth of everything to Pharaoh, and the rest they could keep. Even though they were now the servants of Pharaoh, they would be allowed to keep most of their crops to care for their own families.
Joseph’s leadership was both wise and generous. When the people heard his plan, they were so grateful that they declared, “‘You have saved our lives!’” For hundreds of years, this became the rule of the land in Egypt. All of it was owned by the Pharaoh, and every person in the land paid him one fifth of everything that was grown on it.
Joseph had come to Egypt as a slave, but now, every Egyptian had become a servant to Pharaoh under Joseph’s merciful leadership. They all worked the land that they had sold him for grain. Only the children of Abraham continued in the freedom of owning their land for themselves.
Jacob lived another seventeen years. He lived them out as an honored, elderly sage and father to the savior of Egypt. Though he and his family were wildly blessed beyond all their imagination in Egypt, Jacob’s hopes were still kept on the promises of God. When he was a hundred and forty seven, he knew he was about to die, so he sent for Joseph to come to him. He said, “‘If I have found favor 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, but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.’”
Joseph agreed to do exactly as his father asked. He swore that one day, Jacob’s bones would be returned to the Land of Promise, where Abraham and Isaac were buried. When Jacob heard Joseph’s oath, he worshipped the Lord.