Genesis

Genesis 47: God sustains His pilgrim family

Begin in prayer

Before we read how God sustains Jacob's family in famine, let us thank Him for our daily bread and seek a hope beyond possessions. Please ask Him to show us Christ, whose finished work secures a lasting home for all who trust Him.

You visit the earth, and water it. You greatly enrich it. The river of God is full of water. You provide them grain, for so you have ordained it.

Psalm 65:9

Father, please help us understand Your care for this family and their hope beyond Egypt. Show us Jesus, who gives life that death cannot take away. Make us more like Him, thankful for bread and ready to care for those in need. Please bless our family with faith in Christ and hearts set on Your lasting promise. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Pharaoh receives Joseph's family, grants Goshen and offers work for able men, while Jacob blesses him and describes his years as a pilgrimage. Joseph settles and feeds the household, as famine exhausts money in Egypt and Canaan. Egyptians trade livestock for bread, then offer themselves and their land for food and seed, and Joseph buys the land for Pharaoh. He moves the people to cities and supplies seed, requiring a fifth of harvests while four parts remain for their needs. The priests keep their land because Pharaoh feeds them, and the people thank Joseph for saving their lives and agree to serve Pharaoh. Israel gains possessions and grows in Goshen, and after seventeen years Jacob requires Joseph's oath to bury him with his fathers outside Egypt.

As you read Genesis 47, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God sustains Jacob's family in famine while keeping their hope in His promise beyond Egypt.

Joseph presents five brothers to Pharaoh, who grants Goshen after they explain that famine has left their flocks without pasture in Canaan. Jacob blesses Pharaoh on entering and leaving, describing his years as few and hard, shorter than his fathers' pilgrimages. Joseph settles the household in the best of the land and gives them bread, fulfilling his promise of care during famine. Meanwhile Israel gains possessions and grows in Goshen, showing the fruitfulness God promised even while the family lives outside Canaan. After seventeen years in Egypt, the dying Jacob requires Joseph's oath to bury him with his fathers, then bows at the bed's head. His hope reaches beyond present shelter, toward the better country God prepares for believers through Christ (Hebrews 11 verses 13 to 16).

How does Genesis 47 show us that God sustains Jacob's family in famine while keeping their hope in His promise beyond Egypt?

God gives His pilgrim family food and a place.

The brothers ask to live as foreigners in Goshen, and Pharaoh grants the best of the land through Joseph. Jacob blesses the king while speaking of his own years as a pilgrimage marked by hardship. Joseph provides bread for the whole household according to their families, keeping the care he promised.

God preserves lives when people's possessions run out.

The Egyptians spend their money, trade their livestock and finally offer themselves and their land for bread and seed. Joseph buys for Pharaoh, moves the people to cities and supplies seed. A fifth of harvests goes to Pharaoh, leaving four parts for the people's needs. The priests' land stays theirs because Pharaoh supplies their food, and the people thank Joseph for saving their lives.

God's promise holds hope beyond Jacob's years in Egypt.

Israel gains possessions and multiplies in Goshen, yet Jacob's approaching death turns his request toward the fathers' burial place. Joseph swears to carry him from Egypt, and Israel bows at the head of his bed. The fathers sought a better country, and God prepares a city for those who believe (Hebrews 11 verses 13 to 16).

Memorise

Joseph nourished his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.

Genesis 47:12

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what trust in possessions do I need Jesus to forgive and change?

Jacob tells Joseph, “Please don’t bury me in Egypt”. The family has bread and land, yet Jacob asks to rest with his fathers. Egypt's food has kept people alive through famine, and Jacob's death still draws near. His burial request holds onto the promise beyond the place where he has been fed.

We need a Savior who can answer the sin and death no store of grain can remove. Jesus willingly carried His people's guilt and bore God's judgment in their place on the cross. His sacrifice paid the debt fully, and God raised Him from death. His finished work is enough to forgive every sinner who trusts Him and secure their lasting home with God. He promises to raise those who believe in Him at the last day (John 6 verse 40).

Please turn from treating your possessions as your safety and trust Jesus Christ. Everyone who repents and comes to Him receives forgiveness and eternal life. If you belong to Him, receive today's bread with thanks, keep the promise you have made and care for someone in need. Your Savior holds the inheritance that famine and death cannot take away.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God sustained the family in Egypt while Jacob still looked toward the promise beyond his present home. Explain Egypt's exchanges and service plainly, and call each child to repent and trust Jesus, who bore His people's sins and rose. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Pray that God would give them new hearts that thank Him for provision and seek lasting life in Christ.

Pray together

Please bring God the false trust named in the heart question and ask for faith in Jesus. Thank Him for bread, shelter and the lasting hope Christ gives to believers. Invite each child to pray if they want to, thanking Him for a gift or asking help for someone in need.

Not that I speak in respect to lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it.

Philippians 4:11

Father, thank You for the food and shelter You give and for the eternal life found in Christ. Please forgive our trust in possessions and our lack of gratitude. Give our family repentance and faith in Jesus. Teach us contentment, faithfulness to our promises and care for those in need as we await the home You prepare. Amen.