NOTES for Gen 46:1-7

Why did Jacob go to Egypt? One answer would be: hunger drove him there. Another would be: his son invited him, and given the position he held in Egypt, it would have been foolish not to use the opportunities opening before him. In those days many people were drawn to Egypt with its standard of living, and here, one might say, good fortune was coming right into his hands. Many of us, in a similar situation, would not have doubted for a second that this was the will of God: we are inclined to see God's hand in every success and the devil's intrigues in every failure; such are the peculiarities of a religious perception of the world.

But Jacob, with a long spiritual path and rich experience, both spiritual and practical, behind him, does not rush to conclusions. He goes to Beersheba, to one of the altars that had appeared back in Abraham's time, in order to ask God there what he should do next. In the possibility of resettlement he sees not only rescue from famine or the chance to settle in a rich and prosperous country, but also, and perhaps first of all, the need to leave the land that God had promised to his fathers. And Jacob, it seemed, had come close to becoming master of this land promised by God: he had returned to Samaria, from which Abraham had been forced to leave under pressure from his neighbors, and he had restored there the altars of his ancestors. So had it all been in vain? Jacob could not fail to understand that if he left those places now, returning would be far from easy: vacated lands in those regions never stayed empty for long.

But God says to him, "Go." This appears to be the last serious spiritual lesson in Jacob's life: leave everything that has been conquered and acquired. For it was not you who conquered it, but God; and you are leaving what was conquered and acquired not to the neighbors, but to God. He will handle the task. And in His own time He will return His people to the land He promised Abraham.