Genesis 45
After hearing Judah’s plea to release Benjamin and his offer of himself as Joseph’s slave in Benjamin’s place (Gen. 44:18-34), Joseph can no longer keep up his pretense in front of his brothers and tearfully reveals that he is the sibling that they had sold into slavery seventeen years before. They, in turn, are so terrified that they are speechless. Joseph, however, reassures them saying that God sent him into slavery in Egypt “to preserve life” while the famine ravaged their lands. “God sent me ahead of you . . . to preserve you all, a great band of survivors” (v. 8). [We need to keep in mind that this is being written during the Babylonian exile, after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the loss of the Ark of the Covenant. God will keep His promise that a remnant of the faithful will always survive.]
When Pharaoh hears of the reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers, he offers the “best there is in Egypt” to Jacob and all his household if they will relocate from Canaan. Jacob, stunned at the news that the son he long thought was dead is alive and prosperous, agrees to make the journey “before I die.”
Genesis 46:1-4
Israel (these first 4 verses are an insertion from the J writer, who uses the name God gives Jacob after wrestling with Him [Gen. 32:28]) pauses at Beersheba on his way to Egypt to offer sacrifices to God (it was from Beersheba that Jacob started his long-ago flight from the wrath of Esau after he had stolen his older brother’s blessing). God calls to him in the night, and he gives the traditional answer, “I am here.” God reassures Jacob that He will be with him in Egypt and “there I will make you a great nation.” He also promises to bring Jacob back again [to the land of the patriarchs], and “Joseph shall close your eyes” [the son he had lost will be with him at the end of his days]. Once again, the writer is emphasizing the theological concept of a moveable God, not one who is attached to a particular place or a specific altar.
Submitted by Karilyn Jaap
"A moveable God" -- that'll preach!
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