Genesis 46: 5-27
When Jacob set out with his clan, he came as far as Beersheba and offered sacrifices there; and that night God encouraged him in a dream not to be afraid to go, because He would grow his family into a great nation in Egypt.
Jacob is finally putting into practice his growing awareness that he really is a Prince with God (Israel)!
(5) Then Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their little ones and their wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry them.
Pharaoh was very considerate to send wagons in which to carry Joseph's aged father and all the wives and little children all the way from Canaan to Egypt.
(6) They took their livestock and their property, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him: (7) his sons and his grandsons with him, his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.
Jacob gathered and packed up everything they had, all their belongings, their animals, and every member of his extended family: his sons and daughters, his grandchildren, and even some great-grandchildren that had been born. The whole clan just uprooted and began the journey to Egypt.
(8) Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, Jacob and his sons who went to Egypt: ...
Verses 8-27 list all twelve of Jacob's sons, his daughter Dinah, and all of their children and grandchildren.
(27) ... All the persons of the house of Jacob, who came to Egypt, were seventy.
If you wish, you can read this list, but I don't think it necessary to duplicate it here. The only comment I would like to make here, is that they were already beginning to intermarry with the Canaanites, as Simeon had a son, Shaul, by a Canaanite woman (46: 11). So, I don't wonder why God wanted them in the Goshen neighborhood, the hot-house of Egypt.
There they will not have the temptation to be seduced by the idolatrous peoples who lived in Canaan. They will not be as tempted by the Egyptians, who didn't practice human sacrifice.
And they have grown numerous enough to dilute the DNA enough to not have intermarriage between too close relations. Every generation experiences microscopic breaks in the DNA and the RNA, and the human race was damaged when Adam disobeyed, but the damage was not very extensive until many, many generations had been born.
Abraham and Sarah were half-brother-and-sister (the same father but different mothers; Genesis 20: 12), and Isaac and Rebecca were first cousins once removed (Isaac's father Abraham was brother to Nahor, Rebecca's grandfather; Genesis 24: 15), which was still acceptable, so early in the genetic history of our race.
But by the time this family had become a nation, 400 years later, it was time for the Law God gave Moses to forbid marriages between close family members such as these.
That is also why there are laws today that forbid marriages between relatives, because intermarriage with close relatives multiplies the damage in our DNA and RNA and produces children who have anomalies and rare diseases and conditions.
God is not as concerned with the genetic dangers, though, as much as He is to the moral and spiritual dangers that were extant in Canaan, even back then.
God wants us to be like Him, so that we can have good, happy and prosperous lives here on Earth, and then to live with Him as His own family forever. He made the human race to be His children, but He wants us to want to love Him back. He does not want puppets, He wants sons and daughters.
O my Father, You always know what is best for us, in every situation at every time. You know how weak we are, and You will protect us from what we would not be able to resist. So You moved this group of chosen people out of the strong temptations that would have assailed them into the warm cocoon of Goshen.
O Father, send out Your children into all the world to share with everyone how much You love us all, and will protect us from danger that can destroy us. You are not willing for any of us to perish or be destroyed, because You sent Your Son to save us from all that. Please use us to bring all of Your babies to the birth into Your family, and to grow up and mature into the full stature of the Son of God as His body.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
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