05/17/2022 – Day 079 – Genesis 44 – 47 / Jacob: A touching heart turnaround, from treachery to sacrificial love for a brother..
Henry H. Halley , in the Halley’s Bible Handbook, points out what he calls “one of the beautiful stories in all literature.”:
“The most touching incident in the story is where Judah, who years before, had been leader in selling Joseph into slavery (37:26), now offers to become hostage for Benjamin (44: 18-34). Perhaps this in no insignificant way to Judah’s line bearing the Christ, God in the flesh. We will see next week, how Jacob singles him out for the most prominent blessings amongst his twelve sons.” (reference – pg 107 – 108)
For Chapter 46, 47. Jacob and His Family Settle in Egypt:
Halley notes:
“God had planned that Israel should be nurtured, for a while , in Egypt, which was the most advanced civilization of that day. As Jacob passed out of Canaan, God gave him assurance that his descendants would return. (46:3, 4).”
In that light, one could say that Joseph took advantage of the famine, knowing that the famine would soon be over, so thereby buying up the peoples land for Pharaoh. (27: 20 – 27) But the people were thankful: “You have saved our lives,” they said. “May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be bondage in Pharaoh. But who can know the Lord’s way’s, the situation may have proliferated a resentment of the Jewish people, for they prospered and were great in number. So, that would set up the exile and the return to the promised land.
Soli Deo Gloria!