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Patriarchs and Prophets
in the fullness of his joy exclaimed, “It is enough; Joseph my son is
yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.”
Another act of humiliation remained for the ten brothers. They
now confessed to their father the deceit and cruelty that for so many
years had embittered his life and theirs. Jacob had not suspected them
of so base a sin, but he saw that all had been overruled for good, and
he forgave and blessed his erring children.
The father and his sons, with their families, their flocks and herds,
and numerous attendants, were soon on the way to Egypt. With
gladness of heart they pursued their journey, and when they came to
Beersheba the patriarch offered grateful sacrifices and entreated the
Lord to grant them an assurance that He would go with them. In a
vision of the night the divine word came to him: “Fear not to go down
into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation. I will go down
with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again.”
The assurance, “Fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there
make of thee a great nation,” was significant. The promise had been
given to Abraham of a posterity numberless as the stars, but as yet
the chosen people had increased but slowly. And the land of Canaan
now offered no field for the development of such a nation as had been
foretold. It was in the possession of powerful heathen tribes, that were
not to be dispossessed until “the fourth generation.” If the descendants
of Israel were here to become a numerous people, they must either
drive out the inhabitants of the land or disperse themselves among
them. The former, according to the divine arrangement, they could
not do; and should they mingle with the Canaanites, they would be
in danger of being seduced into idolatry. Egypt, however, offered the
conditions necessary to the fulfillment of the divine purpose. A section
of country well-watered and fertile was open to them there, affording
every advantage for their speedy increase. And the antipathy they
must encounter in Egypt on account of their occupation—for every
shepherd was “an abomination unto the Egyptians”—would enable
them to remain a distinct and separate people and would thus serve to
shut them out from participation in the idolatry of Egypt.
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Upon reaching Egypt the company proceeded directly to the land
of Goshen. Thither came Joseph in his chariot of state, attended by a
princely retinue. The splendor of his surroundings and the dignity of
his position were alike forgotten; one thought alone filled his mind,