JOSEPH AND THE KING

 47 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.” 2 He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.

 

Lesson One:  Now Joseph returns back to Avaris which was the capital city of Egypt.  It was a well-developed center of trade with a busy harbor catering to over 300 ships during a trading season.  Artifacts excavated at a temple erected in the Hyksos period have produced goods from all over the Aegean world.  In recent excavations they found enormous storage facilities, including numerous silos, In fact it was the largest city in the world at that time and a large statue of a non Pharaoh and some believe it could be of Joseph.  Joseph tells the king that his father and brothers came to Goshen with everything they owned from Canaan.  Joseph prepares the meeting, he was their introduction.  He chose five brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.  This was the proper protocol for the ancient world.  These boys were a delegation from one nation to another.  Joseph also mentioned about the goods because Pharaoh had offered to supply all their needs.  They instead came with all they owned and so it was a change in plan and also it meant that different resources would have to needed to meet Jacob’s family needs.  Pharaoh had not met Joseph’s family so when Joseph chose them they would have been the most articulate and responsible.  We are getting a glimpse of how things were done in the ancient world.

 

3 Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?”  “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.” 4 They also said to him, “We have come to live here for a while, because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants’ flocks have no pasture. So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen.”

 

Lesson Two:  The king asked them their occupation.  Remember lifestyle is often determined by what we do.  If you are a mechanic you often have cars, motorcycles, snow machines etc.  If you are IT that usually means you are into computers etc.  They said we are shepherds just like our fathers were.  This is a family business.  They did what their fathers did.  In Jewish society every male child had to have a trade to take care of themselves and their family.  Even spiritual leaders, Jesus was a carpenter, Paul was a tent maker.  Now here is an interesting fact here.  They told the king they wanted him to settled in Goshen for a little while because the famine was severe in Canaan and their flocks had no pasture.  Their coming was out of an invitation and a need.  From this dialogue we see that they did not intend to stay in Egypt.  Their intention was to stay only until after the famine was over.  Man has one idea and God has another.  Just a little lesson, the will of God will get you somewhere how long you stay there is often a surprise.  What we plan often is different than what God plans.  Our response to the will of God is that we must know it can be fluid and it can take us places, meet people and do things we never thought we would do.  Our only response is yes Lord here am I and I will do it.  Isaiah said, I will go, send me.  He never thought he would become the prophet who spoke most about Jesus.  Now the reason they asked was only the king could over rule all normal immigration procedures and his permission also gave them royal protection from bandits and other factors.  Like free grazing rights, water, mobility which shepherds needed and the right to protect themselves. 

 

  5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you, 6 and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

 

 

Lesson Three:  So the king makes a royal decree and tells Joseph as his family ambassador.  This royal decree comes with four parts.  First, they have permission to live in Egypt, they came go anywhere in the land.  They have permission to travel without restriction, harassment and with full royal protection.  Secondly, they can settle in the best part of the land.  This would be like giving the right to settle in the best part of Canada.  That is what Harry and Meghan are doing right now.  They see Victoria and Vancouver as the best Canada has to offer.  Thirdly, they can live in Goshen.  This would keep them separate from the Egyptians.  They can develop as a nation, not come in contact or conflict with the Egyptians and expand and increase their net worth.  Lastly, if anyone of them has special ability put them in charge of my own livestock.  Because of Joseph’s special relationship, he would trust them to take care of his possessions like Joseph did.  This just shows how much he regarded and trusted Joseph.  This is an amazing offer.  Only God could pull off something like this.  I love this story because it is an example of Eph 3:20, God can do amazingly above what we can ask or even imagine.  Talk about Wigglesworth travelling around the world and he did not start until he was 48.  What is your dream, two things God is able and you are never too late.  Colonel Saunders was in his late 60’s when he started  KFC.  Abraham was 75 when he went to Canaan. 

 

7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed Pharaoh, 8 Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?”  9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.” 10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.

 

Lesson Four:  This is an amazing meeting.  The king meets the man who fathered his Prime Minister.  Now I want you to notice that Jacob blessed the king.  He would have raised his hands and said a blessing over the king.  This was a moment of Patriarch to Patriarch, King to King and nation to nation.  The amazing thing is that the king accepted it.  This was like the President of the USA accepting the blessing of a foreign dignitary.  Talk about Trump being prayed for by Christian leaders in White house.  This is also amazing because the king was in Egyptian the physical representation of Ra king of the gods of Egypt.  Here you have the acknowledgment of the gods of Egypt being used by the God of the universe to do his will also an ungodly man being used to do the will of God.  What is amazing is that the king received it instead of being offended.

     He then asked how old Jacob was because he was obviously not a young man.  Jacob tells him he is 130. Now this is amazing too.  He tells him they have been few and difficult.  Jacob walked in forgiveness and had a proper perspective of life.  Remember he had been in conflict with his brother, his father in law and he had lost a child for 22 years.  Some would say that was difficult.  Yet Jacob saw God in all of this.  He trusted God.  He had seen God’s deliverance, restoration and healing.  His difficulties were stepping stones.  Here are some steps to handling overwhelming Problems

 

Stay as calm as possible. ...

Accept responsibility for the problem. ...

Evaluate situations before you respond. ...

Find a quick solution. ...

Identify problematic patterns. ...

Set goals to solve problems. ...

Keep your expectations realistic. ...

Have faith in in God and yourself.

 

Jacob saw his pilgrimage not equal to what his fathers had been through.