Genesis 44:5-11- Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not: And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast: And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.
Joseph is inviting his brothers and their families to come live with him in Egypt. It had been two years of famine already, and Joseph knew there were 5 more years to go. He wanted to take care of his family.
Genesis 45:12-15- And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither. And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.
Joseph's brothers didn't know what to do. They didn't talk with him until after he cried and assured them it was truly him.
But what would the Egyptians think?
Genesis 45:16-20- And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan; And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.
Pharaoh was pleased to see that Joseph's family had been found. He invited them to come live in Egypt. Not only did he invite them, but he was willing to send what was needed to help them move. He also said that he would give them all new stuff if they needed to leave anything behind. What a deal!
Genesis 45:21-24- And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment. And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way. So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way.
Jospeh sent them away with everything they would need to make the move. Then he tells them to be careful not to "fall out by the way". Was Jospeh afraid they would take the gifts and not come back? Perhaps, there were bandits that he was worried would rob them. Or maybe, it was a very difficult trip to make and he didn't want anyone getting sick or hurt on the journey.
The brothers hurried home to tell Jacob the good news.
Genesis 45:25-28- And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.
Jacob thought the story was too good to be true. He just couldn't believe that Joseph was still alive! But, Jacob always looked at things with his fleshly eyes. He wasn't very good at having faith. Once he saw all the goodies that Jospeh sent back with the brothers, then he believed them.
So Jacob and all his children packed up and moved to Egypt. Now, moving is never easy, but Jacob was over 100 years old when he moved his entire family to a different country.
Genesis 46:1-7- And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him: His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.
Even though Jacob didn't ask God what to do, God was still looking out for him. He came to Jacob in a dream and told him that it really was Joseph and not to fear moving to Egypt.
Genesis 46:28-30- And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.
Judah came to get Joseph and told him that their father was almost there. Joseph just couldn't wait! He got his chariot and raced out to see his father. They hugged and cried for a long time. And Jacob said that now he was ready to die because now he would die a happy man.
Genesis 46:31-44- And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father's house, I will go up, and shew Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me; And the men [are] shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have. And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation? That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
Jacob knew all the customs of both the Hebrews and the Egyptians. He knew exactly how to work it so that both would be happy. He told his family that when Pharaoh asks what you do, tell him you are shepherd. He also let them know where would be the best place for them to live.
The Bible then says a very interesting thing- For every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians. If you know anything about the Bible, then you know that Egypt is a type of the world, and Christ is a shepherd. The world doesn't like to be around Christ or anything to do with Him. There has to be a separation.
Jacob was trying to separate his family from the Egyptians. Perhaps, he didn't want his family to pick up bad habits from the Egyptians. Maybe, he knew that the Egyptians worshipped false gods, and his family worshipped the true God, and he didn't want them to become idolaters.
James 4:4- Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
We have to live in this world, but we don't have to act like the world. We shouldn't dress like the world, or talk like the world, or anything else.
