Day 17 - Genesis 46-47

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE

Day 17 - Genesis 46-47 (Fear Not)

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“So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.  Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, "Jacob, Jacob!" And he said, "Here I am."  So He said, "I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there.  I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes."  (Genesis 46-47)

Here’s the background of our text above: Jacob gathers up all of his family and everything he owns in order to go to Egypt to see his son Joseph whom he thought was dead and whom he had grieved for so long.  Jacob decides to make a stop at Beersheba to offer sacrifices to God before a long and ardous jouney through the desert separating Canaan and Egpyt.

It was at Beersheba where God spoke to Jacob calling him by his old name which signified his weak nature instead of his new name Israel which signified strength in God.  God was reassuring Jacob that He was with him and He even told Jacob not to be afraid.  Now, God would only tell someone not to be afraid if he is indeed fearful - and that was what Jacob was feeling as he commenced his move from Canaan to Egypt.

Jacob was 130 years old at the time he moved to Egypt and anyone at his age would fear for such a journey before cars were invented.  Jacob must have also feared that in leaving the land that God has promised to give to his fathers Abraham and Isaac and then to him, that his descendants might never return.  In modern day terms, he and all of his family were moving from the boondocks to the big city and for most people, there is no turning back.

It is in that moment of weakness and apprehension in Jacob’s life that God shows up and reassures him of his eternal promise to make him a great nation (in Egypt) and will return him (which God did upon his death in one of the grandest burial recorded in the Bible) and his descendants after 400 years as He promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:13).

What a blessing and comfort to know that God cares enough for us when we are fearful and is always with us to encourage and strengthen us during our weakness.  King David said when he was being pursued by his enemies who wanted to kill him, “ Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.  In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?”  (Psalm 56:3-4)  Are you afraid?  God says to you, “Fear not.”