Genesis 46 - Jacob and his Family Go to Egypt | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Genesis 46 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer.In Genesis 46 at Beersheba God speaks to Jacob to reassure him. THey are on teh edge of Canaan leaving for Egypt to go to Joseph, and must have had many questions. God confirms his word to Jacob, and also what he had previously said to ABraham in Genesis 15;13 that “his descendants would be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.”Jacob is able to trust God and relax… he isn’t being deceived again.Now the Bible outlines the 70 names of the people going down, but many more not named were among them. We see this as a somewhat hidden backstory. Earlier Abraham had 331 fighting men in his family at a time when neither Ishamel or Isaac were born. It indicated the strength of the family and those with them. In the same way Jacob has others, servants, and workers with them, who are not named.Finally Jacob meets his son again, and the scene if like the ending of the prodigal son story. Joseph is the son who once was lost, but now is found. Of course Joseph wasn’t a prodigal, but he represents each of us who were lost to our heavenly father, and have now been found by him. Our finding is a great cause for celebration by our father in Heaven.Finally we see that God was protecting his family in sending them to Egypt. They would have intermarried with the Canaanites as we saw in various stories, such as with Jacob’s daughter Dinah, and also with Judah in Genesis 38. By leaving for Egypt, where they were despised as a people, they were not going to intermarry and would solidify their national identity. So God demonstrates his huge wisdom in these things.