GENESIS 37 TO 46
GENESIS 37 TO 46
In chapter 37 and in those following, a leading thought is the preservation of Israel in view of the famine in Canaan. God had this specially in view in raising up Joseph. “God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance”, Genesis 45:7. In Peter’s address (Acts 2) we see the same thing: “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain”. Acts 2:23. The guilt of the Lord’s murderers remained, but God accomplished His counsels through their act: the exaltation of Christ involved the preservation of the Jewish remnant and blessing for all men. The Egyptians, and indeed the whole world, were blessed through Joseph, as well as Jacob and his family.
In chapter 35 Jacob comes definitely to the house; he recognises it in its true character. Then Rachel (Israel, as the first and especial object of affection of him who had faith) dies; but Benjamin is born. Here it is not the fulfilment of the promises, but Christ in power, as exalted to God’s right hand. Isaac dies, and then we get the generations of Esau. All this [p. 303] prepares the ground for Joseph. In Benjamin we get Christ in power; he should ravin as a wolf, Genesis 49:27; but in Joseph we see moral beauty and fitness to rule. What Christ is personally is touchingly foreshadowed in Joseph. A perfectly balanced personality expressed in purity, uprightness, wisdom, grace and love, render Joseph, perhaps, the most attractive type of Christ which Scripture affords. Joseph is Christ as He is known at the present time; rejected by His brethren, but glorified among the Gentiles.
Chapter 37 introduces a new section. “These are the generations of Jacob”. Genesis 37:2. But the only one mentioned is Joseph. The others are not given till chapter 46. Joseph in chapter 37 suggests Christ’s position as in the midst of the Jews. God took account of Him, but Israel rejected Him, and they are not formally taken account of until they go out to Joseph in Egypt. This had application to the remnant of Israel as seen in the Acts, The testimony moved out among the Gentiles; and where faith was fully active in the Jews this was accepted, and the promises made to the fathers were regarded as in abeyance for the moment.
The preservation of the remnant of Israel was a point of great importance with God. He foresaw the famine in Canaan, and sent Joseph into Egypt to preserve to Jacob and his sons a posterity on the earth. But the promises existed, and faith valued and clung to them. Jacob goes to Beer-sheba. Tidings of Joseph’s glory in Egypt moved him. He had now to leave Canaan, the land to which the promises applied, and Beer-sheba was at the southern extremity of it. Doubtless it was hard for Jacob to abandon Canaan, but his faith was equal to the occasion. He offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. Note that it is Isaac, not Abraham and Isaac. This is significant, for Isaac is Christ risen from the dead [p. 304] He in whom every promise is yea and amen, 2 Corinthians 1:20. Jacob’s faith is owned by God, and every exercise that he might have in his heart as to the promises is met by the gracious way in which God appears and speaks to him. “I am God, the God of thy father”. Genesis 46:3. It is true that Isaac is said to have died, as we have seen; this was historical, but for faith Isaac is Christ risen, in whom the promises are all immutably secured. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, and here He says He is the God of Isaac. God says further to Jacob “Fear not to go down into Egypt ... . I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again”. Genesis 46:3,4. How encouraging! His heart thus fortified with every possible assurance from God as to the fulfilment of the promises, Jacob sets out for Egypt.
Having turned their faces to Joseph in Egypt, Jacob’s children are now taken account of by the Spirit — their names are given. In Egypt all are under Joseph’s care. They are recognised by Pharaoh, and the best of the land is assigned to them. Other great results flow from the exaltation of Joseph, but evidently the preservation of Israel is the leading end in view. At the present time the twelve tribes are under the care of Him whom they rejected. They are nourished in Goshen — the best that the Lord can provide for them. The remnant of Israel is preserved at the present time in the assembly.