Genesis Chapter 47 

"Jacob and the Israelites in Egypt."

Genesis 47:1 "Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen."

This is the land that Pharaoh had already given to the Israelites.

Genesis 47:2 "And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh."

Five in Biblical numerics stands for grace.

Genesis 47:3 "And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, "What is your occupation?" And they said unto Pharaoh, "Thy servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers."

This is what Joseph told them to say.

Genesis 47:4 "They said moreover unto Pharaoh, "For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen."

Genesis 47:5 "And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, "thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:"

Genesis 47:6 "The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle."

The Pharaoh is now telling Joseph, you are in charge of the whole land, go ahead and let them dwell where they want, in the land of Goshen. We now see that if Apepi [Pharaoh] was also from shepherd stock, he knew where the best land for grazing would be. This also documents that this Pharaoh also has sheep, which would be an abominations to a Egyptian King.

Though very little is said about this Pharaoh, what is said is enough to help up understand secular history, and the fact that God placed a shepherd king over the land of Egypt, for the time of the famine, and in the supplying of the Israelites during the time when this family of seventy people grow into a nation. God is in control, and He paved the road in Egypt long before the Israelites arrived.

Genesis 47:7 "And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh."

Genesis 47:8 "And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, "How old art thou?"

Genesis 47:9 "And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, "the days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage."

Did you get that, "days of the years of my pilgrimage" refers to the fact that Jacob never had a place to call his home. He had never had a piece of land that he could call his own, for from his trouble with Esau, when he left home, he was always grazing sheep on other peoples lands. He was a man on the move.

With Jacob being one hundred thirty years old, it would make Joseph thirty nine, Reuben forty six, and Judah forty three. This time is two hundred and fifteen years from Abram's call by God from Ur, of the land of Chaldea.

Genesis 47:10 "And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh."

Genesis 47:11 "And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded."

Joseph was the savior of the world of his day, and God used this boy, and placed him in a position where he could keep one of God's promises, and allow Israel to be blessed when the whole world was in a famine. If you ever wonder, What difference can one person make? One person can make a great difference, when God is using that person, and he or she is in the will and faith of our heavenly Father.

Genesis 47:12 "And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to their families."

Joseph provided everything that his brother's families needed.

Genesis 47:13 "And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine."

Don't loose sight of the fact that the reason that we are given all the details, is the fact that Joseph is the type of Christ. There is a famine in all the land where there is no bread, and in Amos 8:11 we are told that in the last days there also would be a famine in all the land, like never before, but then it will not be a famine for bread, but for the truth, and hearing of the word of God.

Christ is the bread of life, so the true famine in these approaching days, is for the bread of life that Jesus Christ gives. That bread is the Word of God. The traditions of men are taking over what is being taught in the church houses of today, and new traditions are being added to soothe the conscience of Christians, and outright lies are making void the Word of God. Yet most Christians sit Sunday after Sunday, and are no better off then they were thirty years ago. Most church houses today have become a house of fairy tales. The famine today has started.

Genesis 47:14 "And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house."

Joseph was always a fair man, and the Pharaoh knew that as Joseph was blessed, he would be blessed also.

Genesis 47:15 "And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, "Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth."

What good is money when you die, and the money is no good, so take it all and give us bread to live.

 Genesis 47:16 "And Joseph said, "Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail."

Genesis 47:17 "And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year."

Joseph preserved their lives for that year, in exchange for their cattle. They could not feed their cattle, nor themselves. however now they have bread to eat. Note how much this bread cost the Egyptians. How much are you willing to give for the true bread of life, Jesus Christ, and His eternal life?

Genesis 47:18 "When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, "We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent, my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:"

The lesson in this verse is that the people are now ready to give themselves for the bread to keep them alive. How much would you give to receive Christ, the bread of life. The Egyptians would give their entire beings as slaves to have enough bread to eat to satisfy their physical bodies.

We are not talking about becoming a religious fanatic, but giving to God what He desires, and that is your love and your commitment. God owns all things, but the thing that He desires most is our love and devotion.

Genesis 47:19 "Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy we and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate."

This happens to be the seventh year, and the entire nation knows that the famine was going to be for seven years, so they are seeking seed for the next year, when the famine is over. That is the only thing that can be of value, for without the seed, the year following the famine will also be barren. This seed is the start of the new life. When they asked for seed shows that they believed Joseph, and his interpretation.

Editor's Note: Fellow Christian, Please remember: 1 Cor. 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Genesis 47:20 "And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's."

This is also a type of the heavenly Father, for the Father owns all land, and in our fleshly state we are just keepers of what belongs to Him. The Pharaoh now owns all the land, because he believed Joseph, and trusted in Joseph's interpretation vision from God.

Genesis 47:21 "And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end to the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof."

The people were moved into the cities where they could be better fed, and controlled. This is as it will be on the first day of the Millennium, when every knee will bow to Christ, or they simply will not be around. They will all be fed, both manna, and spiritual food for the preparation they did not receive in this earth age, while sitting, in most of their 21st. century Christian church pews, under the false shepherds that are manning the pulpits of the church buildings today. Keep in mind that this is a type of what will happen in the end of this earth age.

Genesis 47:22 "Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.

Just as the priests of Joseph's time were given a special portion from the king, so also the Zadok in the Millennium will not receive any land to live on, for God is their inheritance, as it is recorded in Ezekiel 44, and they will be joint heirs with Christ in the management of the whole earth [Millennium kingdom]. That means that they cannot give you anything that would not already be yours. Just as the Pharaoh owned everything, and the people occupy for a while on the kings land, so also any portion given in the Millennium age is yours as an heir to the kingdom [joint heir with Christ]. The Zadok in the Millennium is not concerned with ownership, but giving instruction to those that need it.

Genesis 47:23 "Then Joseph said unto the people, "Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land."

Joseph is giving the seed for the people to sow on Pharaoh's land.

Genesis 47:24 "And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones."

This is a form of share-cropping and the going rate in most cases is two thirds to the sower, and one third to the land owner. So this is a very generous offer that Joseph made to the people. Today is is similar to the government giving land and you pay twenty percent of the gross production production that comes from the land.

Genesis 47:25 "And they said, "Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants."

Genesis 47:26 "And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part; except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh's."

The priests received their portion because they earned it.

Genesis 47:27 "And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly."

As Joseph was taking the cattle and the sheep for bread, remember that Pharaoh requested that Joseph's brethren take care of the Pharaoh's sheep and cattle. The Israelites were multiplying and prospering greatly in Egypt during the famine.

Genesis 47:28 "And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so that the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years."

Genesis 47:29 "And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, "If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:"

Israel made this request even before he left the land of Canaan, and now he is making Joseph swear an oath to him that upon his death he will take his body back to the land of Canaan, where his father and wife and Leah were buried.

Genesis 47:30 "But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace." And he said, "I will do as thou hast said."

This was a covenant promise that Joseph made to his father Jacob, and we will see that he remained true to that promise. It had only the part of the burying of the body of Jacob.

Genesis 47:31 "And he said, "Swear unto me." And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head."

What this verse means in the Hebrew text; is that Jacob was so happy that he found his favorite son, that when Joseph swears to him this oath, he took his staff and pulled himself up from his bed, and knelt to worship God. Jacob was thankful to God for bringing back his son, and for all the provision that was given to him and his family during the seven years of the famine.