Genesis 47--Jacob's Family Settles in Goshen and Joseph Leads Egypt Through the Famine

Jacob's Family Settles in Goshen

47 So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen.” 2 And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. 3 Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were.” 4 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 severe in the land of Canaan. And now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” 5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”

​7 Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 11 Then 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. 12 And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their dependents.

​Joseph and the Famine
13 Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. 14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. 15 And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” 16 And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18 And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord's. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”

20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh's. 21 As for the people, he made servants of them from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.

23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” 25 And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” 26 So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh's.

27 Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. 28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years.
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29 And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.” 31 And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.

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This is the conclusion of what we talked about yesterday.  Joseph executed the plan that God had given him to move his family from Canaan to Goshen where there was plenty of pasture and water for their flocks and herds and plenty of land for their people.

Once the task had been finished, Joseph reported back to Pharaoh that the his family had made the move safely and were settled into their new homes.  Joseph knew that Pharaoh would want to meet some of his family in-person, so he selected five representatives to come with him before Pharaoh and had told them all what to say, as he knew Pharaoh would ask them about their occupation, and Joseph said that each of them to a man should tell Pharaoh that they had always been and to this day were shepherds and herdsmen.  It was the "family business."

They made sure to say that their stay was temporary (they were sojourners) because there was no longer any good pasture for their flocks and herds in Canaan, and they asked permission to live in Goshen so that they and their flocks and herds would survive the great famine that was upon them.

Pharaoh not only did as Joseph asked, but he assumed that Joseph's character, integrity, and gifts of administration were also family traits and trusted Joseph to select that best shepherds and herdsmen from among the Israelites to watch over and care for the flocks and herds of Pharaoh--I say herds of Pharaoh because notice how Joseph uses the opportunity to allow the people of Egypt who cannot afford to feed themselves and their livestock to make payment to Pharaoh with their livestock in exchange for food for their families, and when they had given to Pharaoh all they owned, they sold themselves and their land to Pharaoh so that Pharaoh owned all the land and animals and people with the exception of the priests who were in the employment of Pharaoh and were never hurting for money and never had to sell their land or livestock.  It would seem a perfect combination that a bunch of shepherds just came into the land right when Pharaoh was going to need them because the people were about to pay for their food with their livestock.

Pharaoh also wanted to meet Jacob, Joseph's father.  He asked him how old he was and what his life had been like.  At the time, Jacob was 130 years old, and described his life as "short and evil" compared to the lives of his fathers--partially true that he lived a shorter life and he had much trouble in his life and didn't experience the full blessing of the Lord because he had been been a rebel and a bit of scoundrel for most of his life--getting what he wanted by trickery and deceit which led to broken family relationships, and playing favorites with wives and children so that there was much animosity and discord between the members of his family--it would be fair to call them a very broken and dysfunctional family (at least, they were before now, but it seems that God is going to use this time under Joseph's leadership to bring healing and unity).

Jacob blessed Pharaoh (remember God's promise that He would bless those who bless Abraham, Isaac Jacob and their descendants and curse those who curse them), and Joseph moved Jacob to the best place that Egypt had to offer--the city land of Ramses, and God moved Pharaoh's heart to provide for the people of Israel as if they were his own people and to give them provision according to each person's family size--those with more mouths to feed got a bigger amount of provision.

God blessed the people of Israel and they were fruitful and multiplies greatly and God gave Jacob another 17 years of life with all of his children and grandchildren and probably some great grandchildren in the land of Egypt.  Before he would die he would make Joseph promise that his final resting place would not be in Egypt and that his bones would be taken back to Canaan and that he would be buried alongside of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah, and Joseph swore this to him and would one day make the children of Israel swear a similar oath regarding his bones--that when they one day left to return to Canaan, that they would take his bones with them and bury him alongside his father and mother, grandfather and grandmother and great-grandfather and great-grandmother in the tomb of the patriarchs.  Both should be commended for their faith as they realized that God had promised them an eternal inheritance that was not the land of Egypt, but the land of Canaan and their instructions for where to bury their bones reminded them and their family about this eternal covenant and the promise that God would one day return His people to the Promised Land.