Genesis 47

       Joseph goes before Pharaoh and tells him that his father, brothers and all their families have arrived safely in Goshen. (v.1) He brings with him five of the brothers, as well as Jacob, and Pharaoh now addresses them. Just as Joseph predicted, Pharaoh asks them their occupation, and they truthfully answer, “…Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.” (v.3) They go on to explain that they came from Canaan because of the severity of the famine there, and they humbly beseech Pharaoh to allow them to remain in Goshen where there is plenty of pasture for their livestock. (v.4) Pharaoh tells Joseph that his family is free to settle wherever in Egypt they please. Not only that, but if any of them are willing to also be shepherds to his cattle as well, then he will gladly let them. (v.6)
         Joseph then brings his father before Pharaoh’s throne. Pharaoh asks Israel, “How old art thou?” (v.8) Jacob answers that he is a hundred and thirty years old, and that only a few of his years as a sojourner have been full of calamity or strife. He also says that he has not yet lived to be as old as his father and grandfather in the days of their pilgrimage. (v.9) It’s interesting to note here that Jacob describes his entire life – as well as the lives of Isaac and Abraham – as being that of a pilgrim, even though he had been settled in Canaan, the land of his father and grandfather, for over sixty years at this point. Even though God had brought all three generations to the promised land of Canaan and settled them there, they still thought of themselves as sojourners instead of natives. (Hebrews 11:13, 1 Peter 2:11)
       So it is with us today who have been saved and redeemed through the blood of Christ. The moment we believe on Him and confess and forsake the world to follow Christ is when we become pilgrims. We are no longer of the world and are called to “…come out from among them…” as Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 6:17.[iii] Like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we are bound for a promised land that we won’t see in this life. This world is not our home, we’re just passing through! Amen!
           Before leaving Pharaoh’s presence, Jacob blesses him. (v.10)
 
           Verses 13-25: The following is an excerpt from the Moody Bible Commentary: “Joseph accepted money and then livestock and finally land in payment for food. When that ran out, the Egyptians willingly sold themselves into a relatively benign form of slavery to Pharaoh. In return, Joseph not only gave them food but seed to grow food on the land from which Pharaoh would receive 20 percent of the produce. In essence, the people could work their own land and receive their own produce with a tax rate of 20 percent to Pharaoh. This narrative indicates a deliberate ironic literary strategy: even as Joseph was sold into Egyptian slavery for 20 shekels of silver (Genesis 37:28, 39:17), now Joseph sold the whole land of Egypt into slavery, taking all the money of the land (v. 14, 18). In a sense, this was retributive justice upon all the Egyptians for buying a Hebrew slave (Genesis 12:3). Nevertheless, the Egyptians saw their slavery as a means of deliverance and declared to Joseph, “You have saved our lives!” (v. 25).”
           The only land that Joseph did not buy up for Pharaoh was that which Pharaoh had given to the priests. (v.22) They were also taken care of with rations of food and supplies as a matter of daily life, even before the famine, and Joseph does not change any part of that policy either. Even though Egypt is a pagan nation, and it’s always used throughout scripture as a representation of the world and the unsaved, there is a foreshadowing in this verse of how God would establish special rules and laws for the Levitical priesthood.  (Leviticus 25:34, Ezra 7:24)
 
          Verse 27: God blessed his chosen people. In the midst of a great famine that adversely affected all other lands and nations, God allowed the valley of Goshen, which most likely rested within the Nile delta, to thrive with pastures for the feeding and caring of Israel’s livestock. His family was fed with the allotments of grain from Joseph. Through Pharaoh and Joseph, God had brought Israel and all his house to a place where they could be fruitful and multiply, which was God’s original command to Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:28[ix]), and which the phrasing at the end of this verse echoes. In order to conquer the promised land, the children of Israel needed time to grow into a nation large enough and powerful enough to rid Canaan of its heathen populations. And that’s exactly what happened. (Genesis 17:6, Exodus 1:7, Deuteronomy 26:5, Acts 7:17)
 
         Verses 28-31: Jacob is nearing the end of his life, and he makes Joseph swear an oath that he will not bury him in Egypt but will return his bones to the same burial ground where Abraham, Isaac and Sarah were put to rest. (Genesis 25:9-10, 35:29, 50:13) Jacob’s faith in God and his belief in God’s promise regarding Israel’s seed has never wavered. He knows that Egypt is not the promised land, and he  doesn’t want the final resting place of his bones to be here.
          Joseph agrees to the oath, swearing accordingly.