33. Beginner Bible Course: The Children of Israel settle in Egypt

EPISODE 33  The simple Bible overview of…THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SETTLE AND THRIVE IN EGYPT

Genesis 46  through Exodus 1...

1

00:00:04

...tells us how Israel formerly called Jacob and his kids and grandkids settled in Egypt. Each child and grandchild is carefully named. And then the total has given 70, including the four Egypt Joseph has wife and his two sons Israel family 70 and all, when he gets to Egypt Joseph comes to meet him. What a reunion. They haven't seen each other for almost two decades. It's not just Joseph's arms that are wide open. The Jacob in his family. Pharaoh opens his arms to after all Joseph has the local hero. The area of the middle East is two years deep into famine, but Egypt is sitting pretty and Pharaoh is getting rich selling the grain stored by Joseph.

1

00:00:51

Joseph instructs this family to tell Pharaoh that their shepherds, the Egyptians are racists. They don't like people from Canaan at all. The Egyptians will soon call Jacob and Joseph's family, the Hebrews, the H word, but for now they're Joseph's people and that makes them a special people. Pharaoh gives them the pastoral lands of Goshen. One of the choice spots of Egypt. We fast forward 17 years and find old Jacob in a room with Joseph Jacob knows his days are numbered. He's got a request of Joseph more specifically a demand. Joseph swear to me.

1

00:01:32

You'll bring me home. When I die. Israel formerly called Jacob calls Canaan home though. He's lived in Goshen, in Egypt for 17 years and been treated like a King. This isn't his home, the land God promised to Abraham to Isaac and to him is home. That one day God will deliver that land to his people. Joseph and lay him beside Abraham, Sarah and Leah, his wife, the text then tells us Israel bowed low before Joseph surely Joseph remembered his dream. At this point, Jacob seize to other young lads in the room there Joseph sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

1

00:02:14

Jacob pass Joseph to bring these lads to him so he can bless them. He puts Manasseh the older on Jacob's, right? And Ephram the younger on his left. Jacob begins to bless the two boys and Chris crosses his hands. If you're a lefty, we'll see, you got no respect in the old Testament times either right-handers were favored. Sorry about that. But you'll get some love going forward in the text where we meet some left-handed heroes. Joseph tries to switch Jacob's hands, but Jacob won't have any of it. He blesses both boys, but makes Ephram the younger, greater than Manasseh. The older, he also adopts Joseph's two sons as his own sons.

1

00:02:58

If you know the Testament and you're counting this presents a bit of a problem. Jacob had 12 sons now in adopting Joseph's two sons. He's essentially saying Joseph when you die, a double portion is going to go to you. That would mean there are 13 sons. God will have a way of getting us back to the 12 tribes of Israel in a future podcast. Shortly after this time in the room with Joseph in his two boys Jacob cause all of his boys to his bedside, he wants to say a few words to each of them in partying. He starts with his oldest son Rubin and reminds Ruben what he did with Billa his handmade wife.

1

00:03:39

He D frocks Rubin his firstborn son from being the leader of the family. Then Simeon and Levi appear before him. His words to them are perhaps worse. He scolds them for the bloodthirsty murder of the men and the village of Shekem. He also says they kill animals for fun. Then he gets to Judah. His fourth born Judy gets the most words from his father. Jacob now called Israel they're words of complete blessing. He's called a lion, the King of beasts. And then Jacob says something remarkable. The Sceptre shall not depart from you Judah until the one comes, who will rule all nations.

1

00:04:22

Let me repeat that. The Sceptre shall not depart from you Judah until the one comes, who will rule all nations. I asked my students who holds a Sceptre Kings do when you read the rest of Jacob's words over his remaining sons, you realize Jacob has just passed the blessing on to Judah. His fourth, born Judah, the one whose idea it was to sell Joseph into slavery. The one who had not give his third born to Tamar, but instead through an act of prostitution had twin children with his daughter-in-law widow in waiting, but also the Judah who volunteered to stand in the place of Benjamin and be a substitute before Joseph.

1

00:05:07

This is another double circle dog ear. The page moment in scripture, it tells us the Stomper will come from Jacob through the line of Judah. But it also sounds like it tells us something more. That stopper would not only crush the head of Satan. He would rule all nations shortly after pronouncing words over his Children Israel formerly called Jacob dies. Joseph is at his bedside and closes his eyes. Israel is given the finest Egyptian embalming, the country mourns over him for days. And then we see a massive funeral procession heading from Egypt back to Canaan. It includes many of Egypt dignitaries.

1

00:05:49

When Joseph and his brothers returned, the brothers are afraid. Now that dad's dead. What if Joseph takes revenge on us? This makes Joseph weep. And again, he repeats to them what he told him in his quarters years earlier, brothers, I know you meant this for evil, but God meant this for good, that he might send me ahead of you to save lives. Fast forward. Almost 80 years Joseph is now 110. And he too is nearing death. He calls me surviving brothers to a side and he makes them swear an oath. Swear to me. You'll take me home. Egypt spent his home for a hundred years. He's the national hero, but Joseph goes off.

1

00:06:30

We're all in. God has promised Abraham. Then Isaac, then his father, Jacob a different home, a special land Canaan. That's his home. He makes his brother there. Swear when God gives them that promised land. They will carry his bones up with them. When they go, as you turn the page, you reach exited exit us, exit us. That's what it means to go out from the book of Exodus describes how a baby nation Israel leaves Egypt and heads for their own land. The promised land Exodus one probably covers about 300 years from God's perspective.

1

00:07:11

That's a moment in time, but from man's perspective, that's longer than we've been a nation. Exodus one tells us what happened during those years. God's people, the children of Israel, the Hebrews, as the Egyptians called them increased in flourished. They multiplied like rabbits, the minority. It was quickly going to become the majority. The generation that knew a Joseph had done to spare their lives. Tied off in a new generation, arose a new Pharaoh arose. And to him, it was Joe who something had to be done about these Hebrews who's. His first tactic was work him to death. He oppressed them as slaves and forced them to build storage cities.

1

00:07:55

But his tactic backfired. They'd worked on to dusk, eat supper and fall into bed where they'd make more Hebrews. So Pharaoh went into plan B. He told them the two Hebrew midwives, delivering babies and Goshen. If the Hebrews give birth to a boy, kill him. But after a few years, Pharaoh, just a whole lot of little toddler, Hebrew boys running around, he called the midwives in, who are named specifically in the text and asked them, why didn't you obey my order? They tell a Whopper. The Hebrew women are not like Egypt than women. These babies practically fall out. By the time we get there, they're practically walking.

1

00:08:36

I'll see a hand raised in my class, Mr. Nelson they're lying. They sure are. They're also saving lives. Welcome to MC wall in the world where you have to make difficult choices between competing values. God was not honoring their lies. He was honoring their risk-taking to save lives. That drove Pharaoh to tactic. Number three, he States to the general Egyptian public. When you see a little Hebrew boy drowned him in the Nile. I asked my students why the boys, you could control the population. Getting rid of girls to the text, gives us the answer. Hebrew men and women could both work hard as slaves, but the men were more likely to rise up and try over, throw the Egyptians to get rid of the boys.

1

00:09:23

Work the girls, and everybody's happy. The gestation period God gave to Abraham 400 years in Egypt is nearing an end. It's time to have a baby nation. God just needs a midwife. Someone to help deliver this baby. And he finds him and we'll meet him in the next wordpicture.