Read Genesis 47
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.
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.”
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.
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.
Joseph and the Famine
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. 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.
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.”
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 regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment 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.”
25 “You have saved our lives,” they said. “May we find favor 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.
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 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, 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 worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
Go Deeper
This chapter has several different “scenes,” but one common theme: God’s favor remains on Jacob and Joseph time and time again, and it’s evident to the people around them. Think about the visual of Jacob, a feeble old man, blessing Pharoah. That could only happen because Pharoah knows that Jacob worships the Living God. As Joseph navigates a famine that’s destroying crops, he continues to come up with creative ways to keep people alive and fed as the supply of food diminishes.
Towards the end of the chapter, it’s evident that Jacob is near the end of his life. He has spent the last 17 years in Egypt under Joseph’s care (the same amount of time Joseph spent under Jacob’s care at the beginning of his life), and he’s starting to think through where he should be buried. Jacob makes it clear he doesn’t want to be buried in Egypt–he wants to go home. At first glance, this can seem like a simple case of nostalgia, but it’s actually much more complicated than that. Because of Joseph’s position, Jacob could have been given an elaborate funeral and burial in Egypt. But that’s not what faithfulness looked like for Jacob. Even in his death and burial, Jacob wanted to show that he wasn’t an idol-worshipping Egyptian, but instead a worshipper of the one true God.
It’s interesting how the things you care about change as you get older. Jacob’s entire life has been a rollercoaster of following God for a season, then trying to “play God” immediately after that. But here at the end of his life, it seems like he’s focused on one thing: worshipping the God who proved faithful time and time again. That’s a powerful lesson that we can learn today. The things of this world (status, power, possessions) will ultimately mean very little to us. Faithfulness was the goal for Jacob, and it should be the goal for us, too.
Questions
What do you learn about God in this passage?
Why was it so important to Jacob to be buried with his ancestors, as opposed to in Egypt?
How can you prevent yourself from being consumed with earthly, temporal things? How can you have a long-term, eternal mindset instead?
Keep Digging
It’s important to remember that these narrative stories in scripture unfolded in real time and space. Here, we see that Joseph and his family are given land in Goshen, a part of Egypt that bordered the Promised Land.
To learn more about Goshen and its significance towards the end of Genesis and into Exodus, check out this article from GotQuestions.org!
8 thoughts on “Genesis 47”
Choose God
When trials and unanswered prayers happen, choose God. Write down what you are praying for, word for word. Then look up how/what to pray according to God’s Word. Famine, of food or of faith, produces something. Hopefully spiritual maturity.
1 Peter 2:11-17
Living Godly Lives in a Pagan Society
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.
12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority,
14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.
16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.
17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.
We are to live, even when the world looks unlivable, to God’s glory. To bring God’s blessings wherever we go is to live a more spiritualy mature life. What I have learned and am still learning is that God has perfect timing. He sits outside of time. So when we think this prayer, that we have been praying for years, months or a day should be answered by now, we can look, in this book, The Bible, and we see days, months but sometimes many years, before God answers those prayers. And then it may not look like what we want but it is always GOD’s BEST. Also in this equations is the human choice. We choose one way that might not be God’s way, so it takes so much longer and is harder.
Here are some Bible verses about listening to God’s word:
Matthew 11:15: “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear”
Isaiah 55:2-3: “Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live”
Romans 10:17: “Faith comes by HEARING the Word of God”
John 10:27: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me”
John 14:26: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you”
James 1:22-26: “For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like”
God thank You for Your Word. Thank You for the answers to all of lifes questions. God guide me in this turmoiled world. Thank You for directing my path. God thank You for this day, these minutes, for listening ears to hear You, eyes to see people through Your love goggles. Thank You God for right words to love people. God, to You be the honor and praise for these minutes of this day in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOOHOO!! Love you sister!
Pastor John Elmore recently explained LEGACY this way:
L-Live with your end in mind.
E-Execute, put to death sin and Satan.
G-God of the gospel, know him, serve him, and seek him.
A-Appointed by God, I’m here for a purpose.
C-Consecrated, I live holy and blameless unto the Lord.
Y-Yearn for God’s promises.
Yes!!
31 “and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.”
What an insightful detail about Jacob/Israel in his final years! May I likewise, when I’m elderly, be leaning on my walker (modern day staff) and worshiping!
Faith, foresight, and self-discipline lead us to living a life set apart from the world for God’s use. Gen.47:1-6 We then put our trust in our sovereign God, live in this world, but not of this world. “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” Peter 2:11 Also, work as unto the Lord. “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35 Lastly, live life with abundant joy to all those around you. “For I am the Lord your God, be holy, for I Am holy.” Leviticus 11:44
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love you too, sister!
Yea and didn’t god give Jacob a covenant in Canaan where he left that his whole family tree would get that land? Very interesting how migrating has changed things for everyone. Jacob definitely matured & honors the lord.
And lol Joseph is quite the business man. Making sure they pay up for the grain.