Thy Strong Word — Genesis 46. Don’t forget the begets.

Rev. Mitchell Gowen, pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Lutheran Church in Aiea, HI joins Rev. Brady Finnern to study Genesis 46.

Israel was making his journey to Egypt filled with questions of the future. He stopped to make a sacrifice and the LORD filled him with His promise to always be with Him. In this promise we see how God blessed Israel with each member of his family. In our own families we usually make an effort to include EVERY member of your family when introducing them to others. The LORD knew everyone of Jacob’s family as He also knows you! One has a hard time not tearing up when hearing of Jacob and Joseph’s reunion. We are reminded of the Prodigal Son when the Father ran to his son and how the LORD reunites us back to Himself through Christ. “Lord God, thank You for remembering, protecting, and saving us in Your mercy. We pray once again for You to be with us so that we may enjoy the eternal family reunion with the Lamb of God who has taken our sins. In His name, amen”

Thy Strong Word reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations.

Thy Strong Word is hosted by Rev. Brady Finnern, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Sartell, MN, and graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation.

Genesis 46

Joseph Brings His Family to Egypt

46 So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. ²And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” ³Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. ⁴I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.”

⁵Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, ⁷his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters. All his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

⁸Now these are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, ⁹and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ¹⁰The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. ¹¹The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹²The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. ¹³The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Yob, and Shimron. ¹⁴The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. ¹⁵These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.

¹⁶The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. ¹⁷The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. ¹⁸These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons.

¹⁹The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁰And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, bore to him. ²¹And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. ²²These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all.

²³The son^[a] of Dan: Hushim. ²⁴The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. ²⁵These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all.

²⁶All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. ²⁷And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.

Jacob and Joseph Reunited

²⁸He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. ²⁹Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. ³⁰Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” ³¹Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. ³²And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ ³³When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

Footnotes

Genesis 46:23 Hebrew sons

Rev. Brady Finnern

Rev. Brady Finnern, host of Thy Strong Word. is an expert in all things Minnesota, including hiking the great mountains of the 5th flattest state in the Union and making his own maple syrup. Although chow mein, fried ice cream, and Peanut Persian donuts with maple frosting are at the top of his foodie list, his prized possessions include his gas station refillable fountain soda cup (which, he says, the savings will pay for college for his 4 kids). Pastor Finnern's Divine Call is as President of the LCMS Minnesota North District, and in addition he also enjoys traveling, coaching track, and movie nights with his wife and kids that may or may not include Shawshank Redemption or any of the Thriller movies. When he's not singing his favorite hymns or listening to his favorite metal music, you might find him working out or taking naps. (Probably naps.)