Jacob

Genesis 47:7-12

We will close out Jacob’s life this morning, and then we will close out Joseph’s life the next time.

After hearing the good news that Joseph is still alive, Jacob is eager to see his son who he believed was dead. He must still have not been too sure about whether he should leave the promised land, so we see in the beginning of Genesis 46 that God speaks to him and assures him that it is OK to go to Egypt. God further explains that it is in Egypt where He will grow the family into a great nation and that He will bring them back to the promised land.

So, Jacob and his whole household heads for Egypt, where Joseph greets him, and they have a happy reunion. After that, it was time for Jacob to meet the Pharaoh, and we come to this morning’s passage.

It is an interesting encounter. Pharaoh attempts to make small talk, but Jacob simply describes how unsettled his and his ancestors’ lives have been. Pharaoh has land, security and food, while Jacob has none. What Jacob has is God’s promise that his descendants will become a great nation in the future. So, unlike Pharaoh, who already has everything, Jacob must have faith and hope for the future – Not for himself, but for the future generations. However, it is obvious who God is with, since it is Jacob who blesses the Pharaoh, and not the other way around.

The last part of the chapter tells us that Jacob survives the famine and is near death seventeen years after coming to Egypt. He is 147 years old at this point. There must have been temptation to just accept Egypt as his home, but he is loyal to God’s plans. He makes Joseph promise that after Jacob dies, he will not be buried in Egypt.

Joseph brings his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to be blessed by Jacob. Joseph makes sure that Manasseh, the elder, is placed near Jacob’s right hand, while Ephraim, the younger was placed near Jacob’s left hand. Apparently, the prime blessing is to be done with the right hand. But when it came time for the blessing, Jacob crossed his hands so that Ephraim was blessed with the right hand. Joseph tries to object, but Jacob seems to know that he is giving the blessings as God intends. Much like when Jacob was given the blessing instead of his older brother, the younger brother is being given the prime blessing. History will prove this, with Ephraim becoming the much more significant tribe than Manasseh, who ends up being half in and half out of the promised land.

Then Jacob gathers his sons and speaks to them, giving blessings and prophesies. Then he gives them his final directions – That they carry his body back to the cave in the field at Machpelah, where Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Leah are buried. Even though his beloved Rachel is buried at Bethlehem, his direction is for him to be buried with Leah. It seems that he is honoring the fact that Leah was his first wife. It may also have something to do with the fact that Leah was the mother of Judah, whose tribe will generate the king whose scepter shall not depart.

Then Jacob dies and is given full honors by the Egyptians, as if he were royalty. They officially mourn for him for forty days, and then all the dignitaries of Egypt and the sons of Jacob travel to Canaan and bury him there.

It has been quite a journey for Jacob. From fighting with his older brother while in their mother’s womb, to trading Esau’s birthright for food, and scheming with his mother to trick his father into giving him the blessing that was intended for Esau, he was all about gaining advantage for himself, no matter how it affected others.

Then the table gets turned a little when his uncle Laban tricks him into marrying the older, less attractive daughter, Leah, rather than the lovely Rachel who Jacob loved. He ends up marrying both daughters, and together with the women’s servants, produces twelve sons and a daughter.

After that, it seems that sadness followed him, starting with the death of his beloved Rachel, who died while giving birth to Benjamin. Then the news that Joseph, his favorite son, had been torn apart by wild animals.

He gains peace and joy in his final years when he finds out that Joseph is alive. Not only that, the dreams Joseph was given by God in his youth had come true. Joseph had become not only the de facto ruler of Egypt, but the savior of the whole region.

Some people start out being on the right track, but then get derailed a bit towards the end. Some examples we find in the Bible include Gideon and Solomon. Others start out not so good, but end up very strong. Jacob was one of the latter.

The characteristics we see in the earlier Jacob are not very complimentary – Trickster, liar, grabber, selfish and self-centered. Not the type of man who you would want to see your daughter marry. His early relationship with God is one of commerce – “If you would do this for me, then I will worship you”.

Then towards the end, we see a different Jacob. We see someone who better understands what God is doing – That God has been working so that a great nation can come into being and to occupy the promised land. Jacob understands that something much greater than himself is at stake. It is not about him, but about the kingdom of God.

How did this transformation happen? Much has to do with God reminding him that He is present and working. God encountering Jacob at Bethel with the vision of the stairway to heaven. God encountering him at Peniel in a wrestling match, giving him a new name – Israel. God encountering him on his way to Egypt, assuring him that this is part of God’s plan to start transforming the family of Jacob into the nation of Israel.

Towards the end, Jacob knew that he would die in Egypt and would not see the promised land. It would have been easy to fall into the temptation to be content with the good and plentiful life in Egypt, surrounded by his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. But he believed that his hope and dream were in the promised land, so he insisted that he be buried in Canaan, along with Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Leah. This would serve as a reminder to his descendants that their eventual home was not in Egypt, but in the promised land.

Like Jacob, we too are probably not going to see our final destination during our current earthly lives – A new earth with God coming down from heaven to dwell with us. Like Jacob, we need to look forward to the Kingdom of God. But we ought not to be content with the fact that we are part of the Kingdom – We became citizens of the Kingdom when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior – But realize that we need to do all we can so that others can also become part of the Kingdom. Jacob’s role in God’s plan was to be transformed to Israel. Our role in God’s plan is to do the good works that God has planned for each one of us – To be witnesses to the fact that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

(the above is a summary of the message shared by Shun Takano during our worship on February 11, 2024.)