#120 To walk, To sleep Genesis 46

Genesis 46 King James Version (KJV)

46 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.5 And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.6 And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:7 His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.8 And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn.9 And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.10 And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.11 And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.12 And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.13 And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.14 And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.15 These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.16 And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.17 And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.19 The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.20 And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.21 And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.22 These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.23 And the sons of Dan; Hushim.24 And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.25 These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob: all the souls were seven.

26 All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six;27 And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.

Jacob was excited to see his son, but would appear to have had some doubts about the journey. It was a big move to a culture where they were not considered equals. His grandfather had received the prophecy of their bondage some years prior, and so far all that God has said has come to pass. What would he be marching his family into, and why would God have them going away from the land of promise? God speaks to him again, and the words of God are a comfort; he is no longer without direction, even if the details are vague. The more time a man spends with the word of God and seeking the direction of God, the more capable he feels to the task. When he does not feel so capable, he returns to the word of God and prayer, and so finds God able to help him complete what He has asked him to do. It is a puzzle often to me, in the minute details of these conversations with the Creator of the universe, that he would mention the closing of Jacob's eyes. It must have been important to Jacob, and God must be less the absentee parent we think. These conversations were so few, yet even those who believe the Bible to be the inspired word of God, spend so little time in it. We hold out that God does not care, or we wait for Him to speak to us like Jacob. He comforts him for the journey present and the journey last. His son will be there to close his eyes. It is a beautiful promise to an old man.

1 Kings 19:4

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers."

John 4:6

and Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.