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ISRAEL IN EGYPT

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 1, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 48.

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ISRAEL IN EGYPT

Lesson XII.—Sabbath, December 17, 1898.

ISRAEL IN EGYPT.

1 “And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father 2 Isaac. And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, 3 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 4 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. 5 And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in 6 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 7 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.”
26 “All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were 27 threescore and six; and the sons of Joseph, which were born to him in Egypt, were two souls; all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.
28 “And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to show the way before him unto Goshen; and they came into the land of 29 Goshen. And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and he presented himself unto him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good 30 while. And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, that thou art yet alive. And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father’s house, I will go up, and tell Pharaoh, and will say unto him, My brethren, and my father’s house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come 31 unto me; and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their 32 herds, and all that they have. And it shall come to pass, 33 when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your 34 occupation? that ye shall say, Thy servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers; that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.”
1 “Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, 2 behold, they are in the land of Goshen. And from among his brethren he took five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. 3 And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, 4 both we, and our fathers. And they said unto Pharaoh, To sojourn in the land are we come; for there is no pasture for thy servants’ flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan; now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land 5 of Goshen. And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy 6 father and thy brethren are come unto thee; the land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and thy brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell; and if thou knowest any able men among them, then make them rulers over my cattle. 7 And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How many are the days of the 9 years of thy life? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of 10 my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. And Jacob blessed 11 Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the 12 land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.”
27 “And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they gat them possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly.
28 “And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were an hundred forty 29 and seven years. And the time drew near that Israel must die; and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me 30 not, I pray thee, in Egypt; but when I sleep with my fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their 31 burying-place. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. And he said, Swear unto me; and he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.”
1 “And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick; and he took with him his 2 two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee; and Israel 3 strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the 4 land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a company of peoples; and will give this land to thy seed 5 after thee for an everlasting possession. And now thy two sons, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine: Ephraim and Manasseh, 6 even as Reuben and Simeon, shall be mine. And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine: they shall becalled after the name of their brethren in their inheritance. 7 And as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when there was still some way to come unto Ephrath; and I buried her there in the way 8 to Ephrath (the same is Beth-lehem). And Israel beheld 9 Joseph’s sons, and said, Who are these? And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me here. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I 10 will bless them. Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; 11 and he kissed them, and embraced them. And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face; and, lo, God 12 hath let me see thy seed also. And Joseph brought them out from between his knees; and he bowed himself with his face 13 to the earth. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto 14 him. And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for 15 Manasseh was the first-born. And he blessed Joseph, and said, The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which hath fed me all my life long unto this 16 day, the Angel which hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. 17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; and he held up his father’s hand, to remove 18 it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head. And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father; for this is the first-born; put thy right hand upon his head. 19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; howbeit his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall 20 become a multitude of nations. And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh; and he set Ephraim before 21 Manasseh. And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die; but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of 22 your fathers. Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”

SUGGESTIVE OUTLINE.

I. THE JOURNEY:
1. At Beer-sheba. (a) Offering sacrifices. V. 1. (b) Jacob’s vision. Vs. 2-4.
2. From Beer-sheba to Egypt. Vs. 5-7. Number of souls. Vs. 26, 27.
II. SETTLEMENT:
1. At Goshen. V. 28.
2. Meeting with Joseph. Vs. 29, 30.
3. Joseph’s instruction to his father and brethren. Why? Vs. 31-34.
4. Meeting with Pharaoh. (a) Of Joseph’s brethren. Gen. 47:1-6. (b) Of Israel. Vs. 7-10. See note.
5. Dwelling (a) In Goshen, or land of Rameses. V. 11. (b) In prosperity. Vs. 12, 27.
III. JACOB’S LAST SICKNESS:
1. Jacob’s age. V. 28.
2. Joseph’s first visit. His oath. Vs. 29-31.
3. Joseph’s second visit.
(a) Manasseh and Ephraim. Gen. 48:1.
(b) Jacob informed. V. 2.
(c) Jacob recalls the promise. Vs. 3, 4.
(d) Joseph’s double portion. Vs. 5, 6.
(e) Jacob refers to Rachel’s death. V. 7.
(f) Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh. (a) Introduction. Vs. 8-11. (b) The presentation. Vs. 12-14. (c) In whose name? Vs. 15, 16. (d) The contention. Vs. 17-19. (e) Ephraim placed first. Vs. 19, 20. (f) Divine assurance of faith. V. 21. (g) Joseph’s special portion. V. 22.
Suggestive Readings.—“Patriarchs and Prophets,” pages 232-235.
Gen. 47:7-10 reveals the superiority of the shepherd patriarch over the Egyptian king; for “without contradiction the less is blessed of the better.” The only true greatness is goodness.

ADDITIONAL STUDY.

(1) Show that Abraham and his seed sojourned in Canaan 215 years, and in Egypt 215. See Ex. 12:40, 41. (2) How did the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and the children of Israel, illustrate the truth of the expression, “Man’s necessity is God’s opportunity”? (3) (a) How do you know who was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Is he your God? (b) Will He deal with and do for us as He dealt with and did for them? The lives of what distinguished persons in the book of Genesis were types of Christ? In what particulars? (4) How much of the land of Canaan did Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or Joseph and his brethren occupy as their own? What do we inherit through the first birth? What through the second? See also Gen. 47:9; Acts 7:5; Gen. 49:29; 50:25. (5) Look up the following names: Goshen, Rameses, Zoan. (6) Joseph bought the cattle, the lands, and the Egyptians themselves, with corn, for Pharaoh, and thus saved their lives. Gen. 47:17, 19. Who bought us and all that we possess? With what? John 6:51; Gal. 2:20; Titus 2:14. (7) Draw a parallel between the life of Joseph and the life of Christ. (8) How does this chapter illustrate that in prosperity we forget adversity? Isa. 65:17; Rev. 21:4. (9) What beasts of burden were used in Egypt, in Canaan, in Mesopotamia, in the times of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? What other animals are mentioned in connection with their lives?