GOD’S ANCIENT PEOPLE GENESIS _ALUN OWEN_ CHAPTER 47 JACOB AND HIS SONS MEET *PHARAOH V1 So Joseph went to *Pharaoh. He said to him, ‘My father and my brothers have come from *Canaan. They have brought their sheep and their cows and all their possessions. They are now in *Goshen.’ V2 Joseph had... [ Continue Reading ]
Perhaps Joseph took only 5 brothers because the other brothers were looking after the animals. Or perhaps *Pharaoh did not allow more than 5 foreigners to visit him at one time.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Your servants keep animals.’ See Genesis 46:34 and the comment.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Please let your servants live in *Goshen.’ Joseph had already said that they should live in *Goshen. And *Pharaoh had made Joseph the ruler of all Egypt. Therefore, Joseph had the authority to make that decision. But it was right that they should ask *Pharaoh to agree.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Let them look after my cows.’ *Pharaoh offered employment to some of Jacob’s family. *Pharaoh expected that they would mix with the Egyptian people. But they did not mix. About 400 years after this time, they were still separate. (See Exodus 1:8-9.) V7 Then Joseph brought Jacob his father and he i... [ Continue Reading ]
Jacob changed *Pharaoh’s word ‘life’. (See verse 8.) Instead, he said, ‘I have stayed on the earth’. He meant that it was a temporary stay. Jacob knew that his stay on the earth was temporary. After it, he would be with his fathers and with God. Jacob called 130 years ‘few’. It was less than his fa... [ Continue Reading ]
When Jacob initially decided to go to Egypt, he expected to go for a short time. He expected to stay in Egypt until the *famine was over. He did not expect to own property in Egypt. But Joseph gave them land as a possession. This was part of God’s plan. He intended to make them a great nation. So th... [ Continue Reading ]
Joseph did not do this himself. He had appointed managers, who organised the work. (See Genesis 41:34.) And the managers had many servants, who helped them. The managers and their servants gathered the money. And the people did not bring the animals to Joseph himself. They brought them to the manage... [ Continue Reading ]
Perhaps some of the people came to Joseph himself. But usually they went to the managers. The managers reported to Joseph and Joseph sent instructions to the managers.... [ Continue Reading ]
The land became *Pharaoh’s property. The people became slaves and they too belonged to *Pharaoh. So *Pharaoh became more powerful. But the people continued to farm the land, as they had done before. Their lives did not change when they became slaves. V23 Then Joseph said to the people, ‘I have boug... [ Continue Reading ]
Joseph made big changes in Egypt. And the people realised that they benefited from these changes. They benefited because they had enough food during the *famine. And they realised that they would also have enough food during future *famines. Therefore, they were willing to become slaves. Nowadays,... [ Continue Reading ]
The law still stood at the time when people wrote Genesis. Joseph’s law remained after Joseph’s death. So there would still be a store of food in case there was a *famine. JOSEPH’S PROMISE TO JACOB V27 Israel and his family lived in Egypt. They lived in the district that is called *Goshen. They ga... [ Continue Reading ]
‘If you are pleased with me.’ This is not what the father of the family would say to his son. The son should respect and obey his father. But Joseph was not only Jacob’s son. Joseph was also the ruler of the whole country where Jacob was staying. So Jacob gave honour to Joseph. And Joseph gave honou... [ Continue Reading ]