The Basis of Decision Making.
Genesis 46: 1-30 [Patr 1]
Some decisions are simple. The menu contains your favorite meal. Simple decision. You offered your dream job. Simple decision. The person you’re in love with asks you to marry them, even that can be a simple decision when all the correct caveats are in place.
Some decisions, however, are more complicated because they contain conflicts. I had a friend who when she was sixteen had two twin brothers asked her out on a date. In the end she went out with neither. Two jobs are offered, and you are not sure which wanted to take, But a I said, some decisions are a little more complicated. I don’t know how many times. I have had somebody tell me they had a hard time finding a job, and they said I prayed and all of a they had two offers and I’m not sure which one to take. I’ve heard stories like that several times.
In the Bible a man named Jacob once faced that kind of a situation and at the time he was living in Canaan. On one he had an invitation from his son to move to Egypt, but on the other hand, he knew that Canaan was the land that God had promised Abraham and Isaac before him, and he had lived in Canaan for many years and was uncomfortable with the thought of leaving it because he knew that was the land that God had given to him and his descendants. So, on the one hand he was conflicted, namely there was a famine in the land and they couldn’t stay and if they did, they would starve to death, but on the other hand there was food and security with his son in Egypt. He had a decision to make, what should he do if it was the will of God for him and his descendants to inherit the land of Canaan? God was certainly able to end the famine in Canaan, or was it the will of God, for him to go to Egypt to escape the famine and be united with his son. Should he leave the land that God had promised his forefathers and his descendants or go to Egypt? Here in lies the heart of the matter. On what basis, was he to make that decision?
Well, I think if we can see what he decided to do, it might influence some of the decisions we make. If we understood this passage properly, I believe it can help solve some of the tensions for us when it comes to our decision making. I wish I’d known what this passage taught when I was younger before I made some of the decisions that I made as a young man. So, let’s talk about decision making by looking at Jacob. And consider the decision he had to make as to whether or not he would leave Canaan. Let’s turn to Genesis Chapter 46, beginning at verse one.
So, Israel, [as you know, that’s another name for Jacob] took his family and journeyed with all that he had and came to Barsheba and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac. Alex,
(Genesis 46: 1)
Let’s pause here for a minute and let me give you a bit of background. I just referred to the fact that there was a famine going on and as you recall from the previous chapters we’ve looked at. One of his sons, Joseph, had been sold into slavery, and ended up in Egypt and was based there for several years before this famine took place. When the famine took place and spread into Canaan, Jacob sent his other sons down to Egypt to buy food. Then after a series of events, they discovered that Joseph was now the Prime Minister or Vice President of Egypt. Joseph sent his brothers back to Canaan and said, tell my father to come back to Egypt, he tells them he is able to take care of them all because he had been in charge of storing up food in anticipation of the famine. This verse is telling us is Jacob decided to go to Egypt, so he packed up everything and started toward Egypt and that is what this verse tells us. He arrives in Beersheba, which is right at the southern tip of the promised land. So, at this point, he's still in the promised land, but he's clearly made the decision to go to Egypt.
On what basis did he make that decision? There is nothing in the text to tell us that God had revealed to him that he should go to Egypt, or that he had any way of knowing that that was the will of God. He just picked up his stuff at Hebron and started toward Egypt and got his far as possible. Let me read between the lines, if I may, I would like to suggest that he made that decision based on common sense. Frankly, there wasn’t a whole lot else he could do. As I’ve mentioned, there was a famine in the land and if he stayed in Canaan, they would face extreme hunger and possibly starvation. The other issue for him is he had not seen his son Joseph in years and now he’s been told if he simply travels down to Egypt, he will be able to be reunited with his son Joseph.
So, I say based on common sense he packs up and he goes. Beersheba, now look again at verse one. In a sense he is responding practically to the reality of the situation he and his family find themselves in and is trusting that God will act providentially in the everyday. It also tells us, that when he got there, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father, the God of his father Isaac. I think it’s interesting if I’m correct in saying he simply made the decision because he had to, it was common sense but clearly, by his offering of a sacrifice he still hasn’t left his commitment to the Lord behind, in fact, in the latter part of his life it even gets deeper.
At Beersheba and he offers sacrifices for the Lord. In other words even if he's just operating with common sense, that is clearly not contrary to his commitment to the Lord. In the Old Testament the offering sacrifices was an indication of someone’s relationship to the Lord and their commitment to the Lord. So even though there’s not been any revelation disclosed that he should go to Egypt, he’s doing that solely based on necessity, or I’m calling it, common sense. Yet that was not contrary to his commitment to the Lord, so he gets to Beersheba, and he sacrifices there…. Then verse 2
And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he replied. I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”
(Genesis 46: 2-4)
He may have initially decided without hearing directly from the Lord, but in the middle of the trip, he does hear from Him. The Lord appeared to him and said, “Don’t be afraid to go to Egypt? That is, according to my will. I don’t think he knew that before he went because there’s no indication that he had a vision before he went. He had the vision after he made the decision to go and had actually started the trip and God later confirms it.
Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Israel’s sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. So, Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt, taking with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan. Jacob brought with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons and his daughters and granddaughters—all his offspring.
(Genesis 46: 5-7)
I believe that is what is going on here is that God is confirming that this is where he wants him to go. Look at verse three, in the end God says, “I will make you a great nation there. That’s interesting, why are you going to take Jacob to Egypt to make him a great nation there? Why didn’t he do that in Canaan? If you’ve looked at the Book of Genesis carefully, you will recall that some of his sons intermarry with some Canaanite women. I think by God allowed them to go to Egypt perhaps part of the reason was there no way the Egyptians would normally intermarry with outsiders. A lot of Canaanite customs where in fact an abomination to Egyptians. By going to Egypt, Gods going tis o make him a great nation in Egypt, and there won’t be any intermarriage and dilute the line of Israel any further. There was such rampant idolatry in Egypt, it is likely they wouldn’t and want to, or be allowed to enter into Egyptian society, therefore they were much less likely to depart from the Lord while they stayed there, they would live in isolation. We’ll see in a minute that they will be isolated down in Goshen, but because of the Egyptian culture, they would also be isolated socially and therefore they wouldn’t intermarry and therefore they didn’t get involved in Egyptian idolatry.
Therefore, God is saying, it’s OK, take all of your extended family and all of their possessions, and he go to Egypt. What happens next in this passage is nothing more than a long list of names starting in verse 8 and going all the way through verse 27, we are given the names of people that went down into Egypt. Now I’m not exactly sure what to do with this long passage of scripture to read it to identify all the people. Is not something that is very profitable, frankly, but I think what I would like to do just give you a basic analysis of what it tells us in these verses. But the main text I am covering in this next section, although I’m not going to read it will be included in its entirety in the Podcast episode notes.
8 These are the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob and his descendants) who went to Egypt: Reuben the firstborn of Jacob. 9 The sons of Reuben: Hanok, Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. 10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. 12 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez and Zerah (but Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul. 13 The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah,[a] Jashub[b] and Shimron. 14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon and Jahleel. 15 These were the sons Leah bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram,[c] besides his daughter Dinah. These sons and daughters of his were thirty-three in all.
16 The sons of Gad: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi and Areli.
17 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi and Beriah. Their sister was Serah. The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malkiel. 18 These were the children born to Jacob by Zilpah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Leah—sixteen in all. 19 The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 20 In Egypt, Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. 21 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard. 22 These were the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob—fourteen in all.
23 The son of Dan: Hushim. 24 The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer and Shillem. 25 These were the sons born to Jacob by Bilhah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Rachel—seven in all.
26 All those who went to Egypt with Jacob—those who were his direct descendants, not counting his sons’ wives—numbered sixty-six persons. 27 With the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family, which went to Egypt, were seventy in all.
For example, in verses 8 to 15, we are given the children and the grandchildren of Leah. These are the sons of Leah, and so 8 to 15 are the names of the sons and the grandsons of Leah. In verses 16 to 18, we are given the sons of Zilpah {Jacob/Israel’s second wife] the servant whom Laban [Rachael’s father] gave to Leah, his daughter and niece. She bored to Jacob 16 children. Now, if you’ll recall the story when Jacob fled because his brother Esau threatened to kill him. He ends up with two normal wives and had wife who he took as concubines out of their maids. This passage is telling us is that Leah had loads of children, Zilpha had 16. The text says that. That Leah had 33 in total - wow.
Then, in verses 17 to 22, we are told about the sons of Rachel. So, the sons of Rachel are given in verses 17 to 22. And we are told they were 14 in all.
Then one more category in verses 23 to 25, we are given the story of Bilhah who was Rachel’s maid so if you’ll recall, in essence, Jacob had four wives and each of them had children and what this little section is telling us is the whole tribe went to Egypt and its listing them by their mothers, by the women who gave birth to them.
So, Leah had 33. Zilpah had 16, Rachel had 14, and Bilhah had seven, and if you Add all of those up, you get 66. However, look at verse 26 and all the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt, who came from his body besides Jacob’s sons wives were 66 persons in total.
I’m going to bring this up for the simple reason that if you talk to people about the Lord or about the Bible, someday somebody might point out to you there’s a contradiction in the Bible. The close of this passage [v28] says that 70 went into Egypt and another passage elsewhere says there were 75 that went to Egypt. Now what do you have to say about that? Well, I want to talk about that for a minute …. But we will do that next time.