We will begin this lesson in Genesis 47:1 “Then Joseph came 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, behold,they [are] in the land of Goshen.”
Genesis 47:2 “And he took some of his brethren, [even] five men,
and presented them unto Pharaoh.”
Joseph brought news to Pharaoh that his father and brethren had
made it to Goshen. This representative number “five” means grace. This
had to be so that they would find grace in Pharaoh’s eyes.
Genesis 47:3 “And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What [is] your
occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants [are] shepherds,
both we, [and] also our fathers.”
Genesis 47:4 “They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in
the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their
flocks; for the famine [is] sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore,
we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”
The very thing Joseph told them not to say, is just what they
said. They not only told Pharaoh that they were shepherds, but they asked
him if they could settle in Goshen, after Joseph told them to settle
there. At least, they call themselves Pharaoh’s servants.
Genesis 47:5 “And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father
and thy brethren are come unto thee:”
Genesis 47:6 “The land of Egypt [is] before thee; in the best of
the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen
let them dwell: and if thou knowest [any] men of activity among them,
then make them rulers over my cattle.”
The Pharaoh was so impressed with Joseph, he wanted his people to
have the best. he even offered Joseph’s brother a job taking care of
his cattle.
Genesis 47:7 “And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him
before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.”
Patriarchs had the authority from God to bless whomever they
would. It was actually a message from God, spoken by Jacob.
Genesis 47:8 “And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old [art] thou?”
Genesis 47:9 “And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years
of my pilgrimage [are] an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have
the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the
days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their
pilgrimage.”
This was a question so natural to ask an older man. Jacob was 130
years old. looking back, his life seemed as a vapor. He regreted that
his life was not better, like most of us do. He explained that some of
his ancestors lived much longer. However long one’s days on this earth
are, they are very short compared to all of eternity.
Genesis 47:10 “And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from
before Pharaoh.”
Genesis 47:11 “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 land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.”
The land of Rameses was Goshen. Jacob spoke a blessing when he
met Pharaoh, and when he left him. Just as Pharaoh had requested
Joseph to do, he put his father and brother in the best area for them,
Goshen.
Genesis 47:12 “And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren,
and all his father’s household, with bread, according to [their]
families.”
Joseph saw that his brethren had enough bread to feed their
families.
Genesis 47:13 “And [there was] no bread in all the land; for the
famine [was] very sore, so that the land of Egypt and [all] the land
of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.”
This just meant that there are no producing crops throughout all this
area. The only food was that stored by Joseph.
Genesis 47:14 “And Joseph gathered up all the money that was
found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn
which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.”
When you are starving, money is not very important. The people
bought food with all the money they had, and Joseph turned this money
over to Pharao. We see what happened when the money ran out in the
next verses.
Genesis 47:15 “And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in
the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give
us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money
faileth.”
Genesis 47:16 “And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give
you for your cattle, if money fail.”
These Egyptians had no money left. They had used their last
money for food, and they were still hungry. Joseph started to barter
now. He would trade them grain for their cattle.
Genesis 47:17 “And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and
Joseph gave them bread [in exchange] for horses, and for the flocks,
and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them
with bread for all their cattle for that year.”
Genesis 47:18 “When that year was ended, they came unto him the
second year, and said unto him, We will not hide [it] from my lord,
how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle;
there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and
our lands:”
Things had gotten so bad that they had nothing left but the
bare land and their own bodies.
Genesis 47:19 “Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we
and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will
be servants unto Pharaoh: and give [us] seed, that we may live, and
not die, that the land be not desolate.”
Genesis 47:20 “And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for
Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the
famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s.”
Genesis 47:21 “And as for the people, he removed them to cities
from [one] end of the borders of Egypt even to the [other] end
thereof.”
Joseph had stored the food in the cities, so that it would be
guarded. He traded for all of the land. Now, Pharaoh owns all the
property. Joseph had not only saved Pharaoh’s life, but now, he had
become far wealthier than he was when Joseph took over. At least the
people were alive, even if they did not own anything.
Genesis 47:22 “Only the land of the priests bought he not; for
the priests had a portion [assigned them] of Pharaoh, and did eat
their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their
lands.”
These priests did not have to pay for their food, so they did not
loose their land. Their food was given to them.
Genesis 47:23 “Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have
bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, [here is] seed for
you, and ye shall sow the land.”
Genesis 47:24 “And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye
shall give the fifth [part] unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your
own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your
households, and for food for your little ones.”
This was the first example of sharecropping in the Bible. Pharaoh
the land owner, would furnish the land, and the seed, and get 1/5 of
the crop. The farmer and his family got 4/5 of the crop. This
practice is still in existence today throughout the world. These
people were thankful for anything.
Jesus had bought us with a price.
Genesis 47:25 “And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us
find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s
servants.”
Genesis 47:26 “And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt
unto this day, [that] Pharaoh should have the fifth [part]; except the
land of the priests only, [which] became not Pharaoh’s.”
The land still had this same law when this book was written.
Genesis 47:27 “And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the
country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and
multiplied exceedingly.”
Genesis 47:28 “And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen
years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven
years.”
God had promised that they would multiply, and this is the
fulfillment of this here. Pharaoh saw to it that they prospered for
Joseph’s sake. Isreal lived to be 147 years old.
Genesis 47:29 “And the time drew nigh 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 not, I pray thee, in Egypt:”
Genesis 47:30 “But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt
carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said,
I will do as thou hast said.”
Genesis 47:31 “And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him.
And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.”
Jacob desired to be buried in Canaan, because of the promise of
God that this was their land forever, and because his ancestors were
buried there. He made Joseph promise, with an oath, to take him back
home to be buried.
We will began in number 48 in the next lesson.